Advent

We are at the season of Advent.
Advent is a special time set aside by the Church to prepare.
We are preparing for the Birth of Our Lord Jesus.
When we go for Holy Mass - we will see how we prepare with the rest our Community through Mass and other traditions.
In our Parish we also have the lighting of the Advent Wreath.
The Advent Wreath is only of the many traditions we follow.
We too can anticipate, prepare for Jesus in various ways in our own homes.

During Advent, we will find that the Priests wear Purple Vestments during Mass.
The Priests wear Purple because it is also a time for Adults to fast and pray in preparation of Jesus' Birth and to remind us, little ones to keep in in mind that  Jesus is waiting to be born in our homes and our hearts.



NOTE: The following is for information only and the children are not required to learn  it. It will be  nice, however,  to make the Christmas Tradition come alive in our families by trying at least some of the below:



At home, we can ask our parents to make an Advent wreath for us.

ADVENT WREATH: 

An Advent wreath is made up of a wreath and has 4 candles.
There are 3 Purple Candles & 1 Rose or Pink Colour Candle.
We light one Candle every week.
The light of the Candle represents the Light of Christ.
On the first Sunday of Advent the Wreath is Blessed. (This can be done at home with a Simple Prayer)
Then every every day - one candle is lit on correspondence with the week of Advent we are in.
There are many prayers and hymns that you can look up and make personal for your family.

A simple and easy tway to make a paper Advent  Wreath

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/mpaperadvent.htm

How to make an Advent Wreath: 

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=954

ADVENT CALENDAR

An Advent Calendar is a Special  Calendar made to count the days to Christmas . Children will especially enjoy this tradition as it will help build up their excitement to Christmas. 

There are many different creative ways to make an Advent Calendar - they can either have pockets opening to something or windows that show something. 

The pockets or windows generally open up to a Verse or Thought or a small prayer or even Christmas Images  leading up to Christmas. 

Here are some links for free printable Advent Calendars  or ideas to make your own:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/madvent-tree.htm

http://www.sermons4kids.com/santa_advent_calendar.htm

http://www.craftinterrupted.com/2010/11/advent-countdowns.html

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/advent_calendar.htm




Wishing you a Blessed Season!!

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

AIM: To teach us to be humble. God does not like proud people. If we humble  ourselves, God will exalt us.  Jesus tells us a story of two people, one a pharisee and the other was a tax collector.  Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." First of all Who was a Pharisee? Pharisees were people from Jesus's times, who followed the Law of God very strictly. In fact  they followed them so strictly that they forgot the original purpose of the law. They were so caught up with "following the law" that they forgot to be human  good and kind.They thought they were very "holy" and were careful not to mix with anyone who may make them "unholy". They were also very proud and rarely cared for others. Who was a Tax Collector? Tax Collectors were Jews who used to work for the Roman Government. they used to collect taxes on behalf of the Romans. They were very unpopular with the Jewish people , because often the taxes were rather hard to come up with. Many tax collectors were also dishonest and would collect extra money in the name of taxes and kept the extra money for  themselves. This story is very simple, but what does it really mean?  Jesus clearly says that the prayer of the tax collector was more acceptable to God than the Pharisee!! But how can that be? The Pharisee used to follow God's law while the Tax collector was by nature not good!! What Jesus was telling us was that God hates pride. He does not like a boastful look. God can read our hearts and our minds. He knows what our thoughts are. We must not judge by outer signs or by what we see of a person from the outside. So even though visible a Pharisee was a good man, his heart was not good. While the Tax Collector seemed bad to others but in his heart he was God loving and God fearing.  The Moral of this Parable is  1) Be humble. God loves a humble heart.  2) Never judge a person by appearances. God can see his heart.

Prayer: 

Lord, help me to be a child- pure and kind. 

Help me to tell wrong from right. 

Make my heart like yours dear Lord - Big and good. 

Keep me from pride and vice. 

May I be close to You and Do what Your Heart tells me to do. 

Amen.

Action Song: 

Give me oil in my lamp. 

Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning

Give me oil in my lamp, I pray - Alleluia!!

Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning,burning, burning

Keep me burning 'til the break of day

Come on and Sing hosanna, sing hosanna

Sing hosanna to the King of Kings

Come on and Sing hosanna, sing hosanna

Sing hosanna to the King of Kings

Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising, praising, praising

Give me joy in my heart, I pray - Alleluia!

Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising, praising, praising

Keep me praising 'til the break of day

Come on and Sing hosanna, sing hosanna

Sing hosanna to the King of Kings

Come on and Sing hosanna, sing hosanna

Sing hosanna to the King of Kings

Hail Mary

One of the most common prayer for us Catholics is the Hail Mary.
Hail Mary is a beautiful Prayer where we ask Mary, Our heavenly Mother who is also the mother of Jesus to pray for us.
Mary is a very loving Mother and she always prays for us and our needs to Jesus.
We show our love for Jesus's mother in this prayer.
Please remember we DO NOT WORSHIP to Mother Mary.
We worship only God.

Remember , we say Holy Mary, Mother of God - "pray for us" , 
We do not say  , " Grant us our wishes"   Prayers can be granted by God alone. 

We only respect and love the Mother of Jesus.
We ask her to pray to Jesus for us.
We can pray to Jesus directly - and we always do that.
Like little children who first ask their mommies for something they need from daddy - we too sometimes got our heavenly Mommy first.


Video downloaded from here  and here

Image Courtesy from Mary Pages



For Parents:

Please encourage the Daily Rosary at home. Encourage reverence and fear of God in your kids at a very young age.
It helps leading by example. Our kids learn from us. If they see us taking recourse to prayer, they too will do likewise when they become adults.
There are many attached blessings to family prayers and in particular the Holy Rosary.

The Rosary also offers promises attached to it. They are as follows:

1.	Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
2.	I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3.	The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
4.	It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5.	The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
6.	Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.
7.	Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8.	Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9.	I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10.	The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.
11.	You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.
12.	All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13.	I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.
14.	All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.
15.	Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Reminder: these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying the Rosary, Our Lady will obtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises. It is still up to each individual soul to respond to those Graces in order to obtain salvation.

For more information on promises, click here

How to pray the Rosary, click here

About the origins of the Holy Rosary, click here

Parable of Dives and Lazarus

AIM: The aim in this parable is to make children sensitive to the sufferings of others, even though we enjoy many pleasures and good things. God wants us to share and care. Sharing is Caring.

















Jesus told a parable to his followers:

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham said, " Remember  when you were alive- you had lot of luxuries and comforts while Lazarus suffered, but now in this life he is comforted but you are suffering" 

It is not wrong to have a comfortable life.It is not wrong to have food , a house , clothes. But anything, that is excess and without a care or thought for those who have nothing is not right. Like us, even the poor and suffering are God's children.  God gave us these comforts - but at the same time- we must remember that God gave us all this not for us to hoard for ourselves but to care for those who are less fortunate than us. 

Prayer: 

Dear God, I love you. I love you with my whole heart. Help me to love you more and more. 

Thank-you dear Lord for blessing me and my family. Help dear Lord to have a caring heart. 

Teach me love and compassion.Help me help those in need. 

Bless all  the children around the world today who need help and care. 

Amen. 

Action Song: 

 This little guiding Light of mine. 

This little Guiding light of mine, 

I'm gonna let it shine, 
This little Guiding light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine, 
This little Guiding light of mine, 
I'm gonna let it shine, 
Let it shine all the time, 
Let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, oh no. 

I am gonna let it shine. 

Hide it under a bushel, oh no. 
I am gonna let it shine. 

Hide it under a bushel, oh no. 
I am gonna let it shine. 

Let it shine all the time, 
Let it shine.

God Cares for Me

AIM:  To teach children that they are loved, they are special. God sent them Parents, friends as angels to care for their needs , their feelings and all they might require.

Story time: 

Once upon a time, there was Ladybug. Ladybug had a friend, the Turtle.
turtle and Ladybug were the very best of friends. the used to play together every evening after they had finished their homework.
One day, Turtle told Ladybug some sad news. Turtle was moving! He would moving to another house. Ladybug was very sad because now she would not have her dear friend the Turtle to play with her.
Ladybug continued to be sad for a long time. One day Turtle telephoned Ladybug to speak to her. turtle told Ladybug he was very happy as he made new friends with Cat. Ladybug was happy for Turtle but continued to be sad. Turtle could make out Ladybug was sad. Turtle cared fro Ladybug deeply. So one day  Turtle took Cat to Ladybug's house and they began to play together. Soon all three became good friends and they used to play with each other everyday. !!




God knows we cannot be alone, and so He sends us different people at different times to be happy. God wants us to be happy. When we are little God gave us daddies and mommies to care for us. As we gtrow older our daddies and mommies are still very important to take care of us but we also need freinds- so God gave us friends.
Everything around us is because God gave us thee things so that we may be happy. He gave us the world, the universe, animals, plants, birds, parents, friends, teachers etc.

Why did God give us all this?
Because God cares for us!!

Repeat this to yourself  EVERYDAY

 " I am special. I am good. God Loves me!!


Action Song: 

I am Special. I am Special .
Don't you see?
Don't you see?
Someone very special. Someone very special,
God made me. God made me.





Bible verse:

" The Lord is my Helper. I will not be afraid." Heb 13:6

The Good Samaritan

AIM: Our whole lives will be spent in actually putting into practice this Parable. We are to love our neighbors especially those who are most in need. We need to be sensitive to the needs , requirements of others - both materially and emotionally. As kids, we teach the children to recognize situations where they can help in any way they can. We also teach children to care.

This Parable begins by a young man asking Jesus a question, "Teacher, what must I do to have Eternal Life? " , he was asking Jesus what he could do to reach heaven and be with God and the Angels.

Jesus asked the man, "What does God's law tell you to do? "

This man was very well versed with the Scriptures of Jesus's time and had a ready answer.

He said , " Love the Lord your God with all your heart , with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself"

Jesus replied, " You are right!! Do this and you will live in Heaven"

This young man was not convinced. He asked Jesus, " Who is my neighbour? "

Jesus decided to answer his next question with a parable.

Once there was a  Jewish man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road to Jerusalem was rocky with small hills all around. It normally took about 1-2 days to walk that distance. Since he was walking that distance he must have had some clothes, food, water and some money or valuables with him.
The man was probably enjoying his solitary walk and enjoying the views. All of a sudden a group of thieves jumped from nowhere and attacked this man. They attacked him and stole all his belongings before running away.

The poor man must have not been prepared for such an ambush and was lying, abandoned on the road - helpless.They not only stole his belongings , they even tore his clothes while hurting him. They made sure he would not be able to follow them by hurting him pretty bad. He was wounded and bleeding as well. The only way he could be saved was if some kind passerby helped him out. He was too weak to move and help himself.

In a little while a priest was passing by the same way. Thank God!! at least now, this Jewish man would get to safety and out of harms way. Well atleast that is what we would expect of him. sadly, the priest just continued to walk by and pretended he did not even see this helpless man!
A little while later, another man passed by. he was a Levite. Levites are people who used to work i God's temple and would sing praises to God. So yes, you could call them good and holy people after a priest.
So maybe the priest earlier was in a big hurry to attend a very important meeting and could not help this poor man, but now a Levite has come!! Good man that he is, surely he will help this poor man stranded helpless on the road!
But he too, saw this man and continued on the other side of the road - as though he did not exist!! How terrible - to be abandoned like that by the people you would have otherwise trusted!

In a little while a Samaritan man was passing by. You see, you must know that Samaritans and Jews were not exactly the best of friends in those days. In fact  they did not like each other at all! The Jews used to treat Samaritans quite bad - so they never ever really mingled at all. 

I do not expect the Samaritan would help a Jew!! After all, they were enemies! But the strangest thing happened. Humanity took over. The Samaritan saw not a Jew but a human being. He saw a man like him, wounded, hurt , helpless, bleeding and in need of quick help or he might die. 

He felt compassion. He stopped. He saw the extent of the hurt and began to bandage the man's wounds. He then kindly lifted this man and put him on his own donkey. He took him to an Inn (it was like what hotels are these days)In the Inn he cared for this Jewish man the whole night. 

The next day, he removed sufficient money, about 2 silver coins or 2 dinari and gave it to the Inn keeper. he asked the inn keeper to take good care of him and also promised to pay whatever extra money he might spend afterwards on this man. 

Jesus ended his parable by asking, " Which of these three men do you think was a neighbour to the man? " 

"The man who took pity on him" , answered the man. 

" Go and do the same" answered Jesus. 

Likewise, we too must care for others. We must ask Jesus to give us a kind heart and courage to help everyone, friends and others when they need our help. Only then can we be God's friends - and go to heaven.





Image Courtesy : Sermon4kids

Feelings are Important

AIM: Understanding feelings, though taken for granted, are very critical in a child's development. 

They aid in personal well being as well as building new relationships. In this lesson we focus on helping children identify and manage their as well as other's feelings. 

Kids are very receptive to feelings. They instinctively know when someone is hurting. However they may or may not always know how to deal with varying situations. 

We began by showing kids some faces and asked them to identify the feelings therein. 

Images got from here

So how do you thing our pal (lets call him Ken) feels today? 

Why do you think he feels that way? Does Jesus likes us being Happy? 

What about now? How does Ken feel now? 

Why do you think Ken feels sad now? 

Do you ever feel sad? When? Why does that happen? Do you think Jesus wants you to feel sad? 

What can I do to feel better? 

What has happened to Ken now? He sure looks angry now, doesn't he? 

Wonder what made him this mad? Do you get mad at times? What causes you to get angry? What do you do when you are angry? Is it right to show your feelings? Is it right to show my feeling by hurting others? What would Jesus do? Did Jesus ever get angry? 

oh! oh! looks like Ken here is a little nervous!! He must be nervous about something thats about to happen - or he might be thinking its about to happen....We all feel nervous at times. I feel nervous when I am waiting for some news to reach me....Is it ok to be nervous? For how long? Should i get sick with nervousness? 

Heres Ken now. He looks scared. I hope he does not stay that way for long! We all get scared, but we should remain scared forever. God wants us to be free !!

Ahhh , here's Ken , feeling loved and content. You too are loved. You too are special . Smile always because you are special and you are loved - Always!!

Feelings are very important. It is okay to feel sad, hurt, scared even angry. But its not always okay to act on our feelings. If I am angry , its okay to let my friends and family know I am angry - but hat does not give me the right to punch someone !!! I will make them angry- and if they get angry and punch me back - It will be a mess!!

JESUS had feelings too: 

Jesus was angry too, when He saw sellers in His Father's house in the temple. He showed His feelings to everyone- BUT He did not go about hitting and shouting at anyone!!He did what was necessary. 

Jesus was scared too ( as human - as you and me) when He was about to die and He was praying to His Father - but He did not run away from His problems. He faced them and it passed. Our problems too will pass - but we must take it Jesus in prayer. He will help us. He will send His angels to help us. 

Jesus used to laugh and smile a lot with His friends. He had lots of friends. Jesus wants us to be happy the same way always. 

So what do we do? 

1) when I really want something real bad? 

First of all, ALWAYS ask Nicely. It is always good to be polite. Request - Never snatch. Do it with a smile. 

Try it. If you snatch what is not yours - you will be making your friend very angry and there can be sadness and a fight. 

2) When someone is teasing me, annoying me? 

If there is no teacher or adult (like your parent nearby) .

First ask them to " Please Stop"  

If they still do not listen,  The best would be to IGNORE till you get some help. It will be noce of you to pray for them , once you get home- before that please go somewhere safe. 

3) What is the best way to be happy and play fair? 

Share with friends. Sharing is Caring. 

Say, "Please" 

Play fair, play together

Wait your turn while playing. 

Action Song: 

I AM HAPPY TODAY: 

I happy today, I’m happy today,
In Jesus Christ I’m happy today,
He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m happy today.

I'm sharing today,I’m sharing today,
In Jesus Christ I’m sharing today,
He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m sharing today.

I'm praying today, I’m praying today,
In Jesus Christ I’m praying today,
 He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m praying today.

I'm smiling today, I’m smiling today,
In Jesus Christ I’m singing today,
He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m smiling today.

I'm singing today, I’m singing today,
In Jesus Christ I’m singing today,
He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m singing today.

I happy today,  I’m sharing today,
In Jesus Christ I’m praying today,
He’s taken all my sins away,
And that’s why I’m singing today.

IMAGE COURTESY : http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/research.html

PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN

AIM: To teach children how much God values us - and how much he wants us to be with Him always.
Teach them the value of saying sorry to God and being with Him at all times.

Revision:
What are Parables?
Parables are stories that Jesus told with examples to teach us special lessons. Parables were short and simple but had very good (read deep, moral and spiritual ) lessons behind them.

PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN: 

Images from here 

Bible Passage: Lk 15:8-10

Jesus was talking to a lot of people. He liked people and liked to listen to what they say. He enjoyed spending time with them and while He was at it, He loved talking to them about God,His Father in Heaven.
One day, while He was about His Father's work, some Pharisees and teachers of the law (Very interlligent people who studied a lot, taught others and followed laws very strictly) saw Him and started to grumble amongst themselves.
They wondered why Jesus, such a good man who never did anything wrong wanted to be with "sinners" or people who always disobeyed what God asked them to do.

Jesus wanted to tell them that God loved everyone, especially those who wanted to go far from God by disobeying them. He wanted to tell them that God eagerly waited His "lost " children's return and always kept looking for them.

He told them a story about a woman who had 10 silver coins.

In the time when Jesus lived, women used to wear a headband made of silver coins on their forehead. It was the "fashion" of those days. Like many women of her time, this lady too had a similar band. She was extremely fond of it, and never missed an opportunity to wear it. 

One day, as she was working, she noticed one coin missing. 

She was very upset. She could not rest till she found it. She began to search for it everywhere.

She swept her house.

 She searched every corner.

 She looked in different rooms.












She bent and searched the floor.

 As it grew darker, she lit a lamp and searched all over the place.
 High and low she searched, and could not rest.

Finally, in the end - she found her coin.

  What joy!! What happiness!

She found her lost coin!!She ran to tell her friends and neighbours about her find!!

She tells them , "Rejoice with me. I have found my lost coin" 

 And so it is with God our Father. Just like this woman did not rest till she found her lost coin and ultimately rejoiced when she found it, so are we precious to our Lord. He wont rest till he seeks us out and are re-united with Him.

Jesus went on to say, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of Angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Remember: 

God Loves You very Much.
He thought of you when He made the world.
How special you must be in God's eyes!!
God wants you near Him in your thoughts and in prayers.
He wants to love you and wants you to love Him.
When we wrong God by our actions, all we need to do is say "I'm Sorry, God" , that way God finds us even more easily.
All Angels in Heaven join God in celebration when we do that.


Action Song: 

Jesus Loves me.