Liturgy Helping Children

Understand

and Celebrate Liturgy!

BRAIN DUMP

Use this space to write down every-thing that is on your mind… Shopping lists, worries, people you are praying for….keep writing for the whole 2 minutes.

Cross Prayer

Give everyone a cross Begin the prayer slowly with the sign of the cross

Imagine yourself at Mass Picture yourself in a particular seat, think of the people who are around you, young and old, rich and poor, happy and sad. Remember that each of these people—the little girl wiggling in the front row, the elderly man in the wheelchair, the young couple holding hands– each of them has been called by God, each of them is related to you. You are a part of the Body of Christ. Think of all the needs of the people in the assembly with you: Someone’s parent just died, Someone just broke up with his girlfriend, Someone just had a baby, Someone feels far away from God, Someone is lonely, Someone's parents are getting divorced, Someone just got a new job, Someone just found out she or he has cancer. Think of all these needs: al the joy and all the pain. Allow time for quiet reflection.

Some people describe liturgy as the two beams of the cross: The Vertical beam representing our relationship with God The horizontal beam representing our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As you gather with these other Christians, you recognize them as your family members. Play quiet music. Pray quietly as I read these questions. • How does my encounter with God in the liturgy help me in my relationship with my brothers and sisters

in Christ? • How does my encounter with my brothers and sisters in Christ in the liturgy help me in my relationship

with god? Invite the participants to pray for their brothers and sisters in Christ. Pick up the candle and share the first name of a person you would like to pray for. Pass the candle to a participant, inviting him or her to share a name, to mention a group of people or to pray for a special intention, and then pass the candle to another participant Conclude with the Glory Be.

Matthew 17:20 I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."[a]

The Inborn Hunger for God

The human heart is filled with hunger. No matter who we are or where we live, no matter how rich or poor we’ve

become, no matter to whom we’re married, or not married at all, no matter what, we hunger.

And for what is it that we humans hunger?

When we pause to consider this, in all its magnitude and power, we realize that we hunger for that One who made

us. We hunger for the divine heart.

We hunger for God.

This desire for God is written into our very hearts, because we are created by God and for God and God never ceases

to draw us to himself.

Only in God will we ever find the truth and happiness for which we never stop searching.

Reflection

When you think about your own life, how do you sense that you are on a “journey of faith?”

Liturgical Year

Advent is the beginning of our Liturgical Year

Christ the King is the last Sunday of the Liturgical

Year.

The church observes a cycle of feasts and seasons, repeated annually, through which we remember the mysteries of our

faith. Since the time of Moses, and maybe before him, the People

of God have followed such a calendar. In the Christian calendar of feasts, each Sunday is special.

It is a celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, and the me-morial of God’s “rest” in Genesis during the creation of the

world. On this day, we celebrate the Lord’s Super in our assembly,

which is the central activity of our shared life. Even though we also celebrate Mass each day, the celebra-

tion on Sunday holds pride of place because this is when the whole church assembles.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=17&verse=20&version=31&context=verse#fen-NIV-23721a#fen-NIV-23721a

Suggestions to make church feel like their home. Tours Scavenger Hunts Let them touch and feel Let them ask questions. Talk about family celebrations—birthdays, holidays—moments when we share a meal with those we love. How do they celebrate birthdays in their family? What is their favorite holiday and why? Tie in their life experience with Liturgy. BASICS coming into the church

The Holy Water or Baptismal Font • Blessed at Easter Vigil for express purpose of being used in the baptizing of cat-

echumens. • It is appropriate that this water of baptism is the first sacred matter you encoun-

ter as you pass through the doors into the church. This water is the price of your admission.

• At your baptism you, your parents, or your godparents vowed that you would die to sin and live for Christ. Have you don’t that? At this moment where is your mind? What are you concerned about? It is Christ?

Blessing Yourself • This is a manual recalling of your baptism “in the name of the father, and the son

and the holy spirit. You bring the water to your body and once again claim that you are Christ’s by making His sign over your body with the waters of baptism.

• Do it with great reverence, thoughtfulness and gratitude.

Genuflecting vs bowing – • In prayer we are talking to someone, not something. • If tabernacle, which contains the Blessed Sacrament – the Real Pres-

ence of Jesus Christ – is at the front of the church, we genuflect to-ward our King, honoring Him, before entering the row where we will sit.

• This is an act of adoration

In Our Father’s House

Treasure Hunt

How well do you know your parish family’s home?

Look carefully at its furnishings, decorations,

sacred vessels, and other holy objects.

Check those that are in your church.

Draw a line to the sentence that best describes it

Baptismal Font

Ambo/Lectern

Altar/Table

Pews

Reconciliation room

Blessed Sacrament Chapel

Sacristy

Stations of the Cross

Paschal Candle

Tabernacle

Vestments

Ciborum

Chalice

Holy Water

Statues/Shrines

Water blessed by a priest used for Baptism or to

bless the faithful.

Container used to hold the bread, which becomes

Jesus’ body at the Eucharistic Celebration

(Mass)

Special cup that holds the wine, which becomes

Jesus’ blood at the Eucharistic Celebration

(Mass)

The special clothes the priest wears at Mass to

show that it is a special celebration.

A devotional prayer that meditates on 14

moments experienced by Christ on His way to the

crucifixion

Reminds us of members of our “faith family” who

are role models.

Room reserved for the Blessed Sacrament; also

used for prayer.

Room where the priest and faithful come

together for the Sacrament of Penance and

Reconciliation.

Place where the gifts we offer are brought and

consecrated (altar is the place of “sacrifice”)

Room where vestments are Kept and the priest

“dresses”.

Place where infants, children & adults are

Baptized and become members of the Church.

The place where the reserve Blessed Sacrament

is kept for Viaticum (communion for the sick)

The bench where people sit in Church

The Scripture Readings and Gospel are

proclaimed from here.

Part 1—Gathering Rite We begin the Mass with the sign of the Cross - the oldest gesture of our faith - and a greeting. In this way we go back to the earliest traditions of the Eucharist. The sign of the cross, a traditional prelude to prayer, is a form of self-blessing with strong baptismal overtones. Every Christian has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Community at worship is first and foremost a baptismal commu-nity.

Includes • The entrance song and procession • Veneration of the cross • Sign of the cross • Greeting and response • Introduction to the mass of the day • Penitential rite—Recalling our faults and sins, in preparation for the unity of

the Eucharist, is an ancient tradition in the Church. We recall our common need for salvation and God's merciful compassion.

• (kyrie) or renewal of baptism (asperges) • Gloria– Song of Praise & Joy to our God! • Opening prayer—The Collect—"to gather up". Even in the early days of the

Church, it was a tradition for the leader of the assembly to gather up the needs of the people and offer them to God in prayer.

watch for… The Opening Song and Greeting – The song and the greeting are a way of saying “Hello

and welcome back” to the family that gathers for liturgy. The Penitential Rite and Gloria – If friends have been fighting or are mad at each other,

the first thing we do is say we’re sorry and make up. In the liturgy, we remember our friendship with God and ways that we have hurt others. We take time at the beginning of our celebration to say we’re sorry. This part is the Penitential Rite asking for God’s mer-cy and forgiveness. We also remember our friendship with all of the good times we have shared. That part is the Gloria, “give glory to God in the highest.”

The Opening Prayer – This is our chance to remember what is special about our gathering.

The priest gathers all of our prayers together as one family in this opening prayer.

Everything we are, everything that happens to us, all our cares, concerns, struggles, joys is what we bring to mass with us each Sunday. We should prepare ourselves for coming to meet God.

Part 2—Liturgy of the Word The church teaches that all Scripture is the Word of God. God is speaking to His chosen people in the words of love through Scripture. Taking time to listen to what God is saying to you today is important. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Liturgy of the Word includes:

• First reading (Hebrew Scriptures-Old Testament) • Responsorial psalm • Second reading (New Testament Letters) • Gospel proclamation (and procession) • Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) • Homily • Profession of faith—What we as Catholics Believe • General intercessions—Prayer needs of our world and community Watch for… First Reading – Our first story is usually drawn from the Old Testament and the stories of God’s love and call to

the Hebrew people. Psalm – What do you do when you get good news? The Israelites sang about it. They sang about their friendship

with God when they wanted to shout out THANK YOU or when they wanted to say WE NEED YOU GOD. The Psalms are those songs. It is our time to say thank you and we need you in song.

Second Reading – The second reading is typically a part of a letter that was written to encourage the new Chris-

tian communities just after the time when Jesus rose from the dead.

• Gospel – Good News, hear all about it! The Gospel is a sharing from the life of Jesus. These are the stories of the miracles, the teachings, the friendships, the struggles and the great love of Jesus. In today’s Gospel we put our-selves at the table with Jesus as he shares himself in the bread and the wine. Jesus wants to give us everything. We pray that we are open to this gift. We have heard the stories, now is the time to connect them to our lives. In this next portion of the liturgy, Homily – Breaking open the word. That is what a homily is. The priest or homilist takes the stories and brings

them alive into our day to day life. In other words, the homily is the time when we take THE STORY and we make it OUR STORY.

Creed – We Believe.... The creed is a time when we share what makes us special as a community. We remember

our baptism and join ourselves as part of a history of people who believe in a loving God that calls us to love, share and be faithful.

General Intercessions - Prayers of the Faithful – One of the gifts of Eucharist is that we become committed to

all of those people that Jesus wants to love and heal. We become Jesus’ loving hands and touch. The prayers of the faithful are a time for us to ask God for the strength to be part of this mission of love for the world. We always pray as a community for leaders, for those who are hungry and hurting, for ourselves that our friend-ship with God will grow and for the world that all people might know God’s love.

Lectio Divina

Listening to God! Gospel / Evangelio Underline/circle words that jump out at you…

Part 3—Liturgy of the Eucharist Jesus desires to be with us in intimate, personal, simple and humble ways • What could possibly be simpler than bread and wine? • What could possibly be a greater example of God's humility, than to make Himself present,

known and available through such means? • What could ever be a more personal exchange between God and man? Now, bearing all of these questions in mind, re-read these verses from St. John's Gospel:

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.'" - John 6:51-57

Ask yourself, why didn’t Jesus correct their misunderstanding? He was ministering, He wanted people to hear God’s truth and He was building a large following. He would have to be crazy to let them go simply because they ‘misunderstood’ His metaphor. In other cases, when people were confused, Jesus was sure to “clarify” what He was saying (Matthew 16:5-12, for instance). Also, He would have a moral obligation to explain what He “really” meant to them…their sal-vation was at stake, that’s what He was talking about!

Since we weren’t present when He spoke these words, we have to rely on the Scriptures. One of the beautiful gifts of being Catholic is that we hold the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition in equal esteem, very different but both very important.

Ways to help teens understand the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. • Read and discuss—Bread of Life Discourse—John 6:51-57 (above) As we share in bread and wine around our table...discuss: • What types of rituals do you celebrate in your life? • How is the love you have for each other shared in this ritual? • How is Christ sharing His love with you in Eucharist? • Time and meditation in front of the Blessed Sacrament—Adoration • Witness how Jesus in the Eucharist is real to you. • Pray that God will reveal His True Presence to You. • Meditations on Jesus.

Reign of God Index cards - please put your name in the upper right hand

corner.. We are going to quietly put ourselves into the presence of God. I want you to listen first – then I will read the reflection again

and you can jot down ideas that come to your mind… We are going to start with the end in mind… · Imagine what the world would be like if everyone lived their

life according to Jesus’ law of love….. · what if everyone’s first concern was for the poor, the hungry,

the sorrowful, and the outcast? …. · what if everyone chose to forgive rather than seek revenge…. · what if everyone made a choice to possess only as much as

they truly needed to survive comfortably? …. · what if every person decided to live more simply?..... · what if no one turned their back on the victims of acts of in-

justice, but rather worked for change?.... · what does the Reign of God look like….? Share your ideas with each other. After you have shared – write down on another index card

what you agree is the Reign of God.

Part 4—Concluding Rite Go in Peace, to love and Serve the Lord!

When we are sent forth from mass – it isn’t because we are done with our obligation! • It is because we have just been fed, through God’s word, Eucharist,

& community to continue our fight for God’s Reign – for the vision of God’s perfect world.

• The journey begins as we leave the church after mass! • So while you are sitting here – during mass – look for ways God is

trying to strengthen you- to fill you with his love, his forgiveness, his body and blood, his Word, his direction to change the part of the world that he has in mind JUST for YOU!