Grace at meals.

AIM:   

Being grateful to God for things that we otherwise take for granted. Particularly, true for us in this country where poverty is not visible - and hence our kids can feel a disconnect with real life situations of want, hunger and need.

About this class:  

Gratitude doesn't come naturally to our children. It is learnt. 
One way would be to lead by example: 
Easy to take for granted but a life long invaluable lesson is "Please" & "Thank-you" . 
Notice and focus on nature around us. Be Vocal about the sunlight, the wind, the breeze, the chirping of birds. 
Tell the kids to help around. That way, they learn about labour and "work of our hands". They will begin to feel for all the hard work their moms put in every day. 
Encourage the kids to be a part of community or group that "gives", after all kids learn by imitation. They do what they see. 
Remind kids of those less fortunate, and encourage generosity in little things. 
Remind kids that its not a bad thing when their parents don't always give them what they ask for. In fact  they do it because they love them (the kids) so much!
Show appreciation for the little things, in this case, food on our table. 

Look at these children. What do you see? 

Are they happy? 

Why do you think they are happy? 

Would you be happy, if you were there with them? 

Why? 

They look happy to me. What do you think? Do you know why they are happy? I think, its because they are just happy to be with their friends and family and have food to eat. 

Would you be happy if I gave this food to you to eat? 

Do you know that you are very lucky and very blessed here today to come to class with a full stomach, clothes on you, and a nice, clean classroom to learn in? 

It could have been any one of us there. But God chose that you would be here today. 

Let us promise ourselves that we will not fuss over the food our mums prepare for us and be thankful to God that we have whatever we do have. 

Do you know how we got food? 

Lets start at the beginning: 

First of all we need to wheat or rice. 

Lets see , we will need a field and we need a farmer. 

The farmer will first need to plough the land. 

After ploughing the land, he will need to plant seeds. 

After planting the seeds, he will need to water the plants and wait for a good rain. Without rain, we will have no water and then the plants wont grow. That means no food. 

Who provides us with rain? God!! Yes, so we patiently wait for rain and water our plants. 

While the farmer waits for wheat to grow, he will continue to care for the crop by making sure other birds and animals don't destroy the crops. He makes sure there is enough manure for the plants to grow well. In the end, the farmer harvests the crop. 

It does not end here, he then has to store it properly and again protect the crop from pests. The crops are then sold, sorted, cleaned. 

It is then taken to factories or mills to make flour. 

Flour is then taken to another factory to make bread. The bread is then packed and sent to shops , where we buy from and it reaches our table. 

In the same way, there are many hands that work for food to reach our table. Most of all, our mums have worked hard to cook and prepare a nutritious meal for us. 

We need to be thankful to our parents for the food we have and not always fuss. 

When you go home today, thank your parents and pray for all the hands that have helped to get you your food. 

Pray for all those who are not as unfortunate as you. 

Above all Thank God. 

GRACE BEFORE MEALS: 

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

GRACE AFTER MEALS: 

We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all the benefits. 

Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.May, the Lord grant us His peace and life everlasting. Amen.

LET US PRAY : 

We Thank-you Lord for your kindness. Thank-you Lord for the things we take for granted. Thank-you for life, our parents, health and food. 

Bless everyone who helps us Lord, especially those whom we do not see. 

Bless the farmers around the world. 

Bless our parents. Bless the world and Bless us. 

Especially bless the children around the world. 

Amen.

The Blind Man Of Jericho

AIM: To teach our children to see that Jesus does many wonderful things through the power of the spirit in him. Jesus is the healer of those who are sick in their bodies too. What is most important,is not to be afraid but to believe that God helps us even when we are blind and helpless.


THE BLIND MAN OF JERICHO

              As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging. When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked "what was happening?". 

"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." they told him. He cried out, "Jesus Son of David! Take pity on me!"
The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly. "Son of David! Take pity on me!"


Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Sir", he answered, "I want to see again". Jesus said to him, "Then see! Your faith has made you well".

At once he could see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.

Prayer:
Dear God we thank you for giving us the gift of sight to see and to do all things to worship and praise you. We also pray for all the people who are not able to see because of some sickness or disease. We ask you to guide and protect them along the way everyday. We thank you Jesus and we love you Jesus.

Amen.

Catch of Fish

AIM: To teach kids that Jesus can do anything. We can only so what our little hands allow us to do. Our parents can do little more than us - but God - He can do wahtever He wants and anything - because our Our God is Big and Powerful. He commands the oceans, the seas and all the fish in it!!

Catch of Fish 

If a child puts his or her hand in a BIG bag of sweets - how many sweets can they pull out 5? 6? but,  If I put my hand in a bag, how many sweets can I pull out?  I could pull out more, because my hand is bigger than yours.  What about if Jesus decided to put His Hand in the bag? He can remove maybe all of them or maybe even more than what the bag had in the first place!!  Because Jesus is God, He can do anything.  He can do miracles that we can’t explain or understand. 

One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of a Lake. A lot of people were coming closer and closer to Jesus to hear what He had to say. 

As He was standing on the shore, He saw 2 boats at the shore. They belonged to fishermen who were washing their nets after along night out at sea. 

Jesus got into one of the boats. this boat belonged to a man named Simon. He too was a fisherman. 

Jesus asked Simon to take the boat a little way into the shore. As Simon, did so- Jesus sat down in the boat and began to teach the people who had gathered to hear Jesus preach and teach. After He finished teaching, He asked Simon to lower their nets into the deep water to catch fish. Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night, but caught nothing. Yet, if you say so, I will let down the nets."  Simon and the fishermen, must have been very tired after working all night. They really did not expect to catch anything at this time, but they chose to obey the Master, Jesus. 

Obediently, Simon let down his nets to catch some fish. And miraculously, their nets were filled with fish. 

Their nets were so full that it was going to break. Imagine their surprise - when they tried to lift the nets and found that they could not. It was so full that they had to call their friends from the other boat to help them. They slowly managed to lift the nets and even then they found they had so much fish that one boat was not enough to hold it all. The used the other boat to fill the fish too. The 2 boats were so full of fish that they were about to sink!!!

 Simon was a good fisherman, but he didn’t catch anything that night.  But when Jesus was with Simon, they caught more fish than they could even carry back!  Jesus did this miracle to show Simon that He was the Son of God and that He could make anything happen.  You can only do what our small bodies can do.  I can only do what my big body can do.  But Jesus can do anything because He is God!

That was a miracle that Jesus performed. Simon, the fisherman , immediately came to know that Jesus was a Holy man. He fell down in his knees and said, "master, Go away from me for I am a sinful man" . 

The Jesus said to Simon, " Do not be afraid, from now you will be catching people." Jesus was preparing Simon for bigger things for him to do in the future. 

This story tells of Jesus's great power over fish of the sea as well. Only God can fill us with good things that we work so hard to get. 

Prayer: 

Dear Jesus,
I thank-you for loving me. Help me to remember to come to Uou when I have problems or troubles in school or at home or at play. You are a Big and Kind God, who can make my hard work look easier only if you are with me.
Dear Jesus, stay with me always, especially when i find things hard.
I love you, Jesus.
Amen

Bible Passage

 Lk Chapter 5: 

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Christmas story

The Story of the Birth of Jesus

(Images from    wallcoo.net)

Long, long ago,  about TWO THOUSAND years ago - (that's a BIG number)- there lived a young woman. Her name was Mary. She was a good lady who was kind and sweet. She was polite to all who met her and was always willing to help in any way she could. Above all, she loved God deeply.

As was the custom of the time, she was engaged to be married to a kind and good man named Joseph.

Joseph was a carpenter.

(A carpenter is one who makes furniture of wood.) Joseph and Mary lived in a place called Nazareth.

God used to notice the goodness of Mary and decided she should give birth to His Son Jesus. So he sent His faithful Angel Gabriel to meet her.

(Angels are Messengers of God- they do as God asks them to do. They are pure and holy Spirits living with God in Heaven - they are always singing God's praises in Heaven.)

So one day, while Mary was at home, she saw a bright light - and got afraid. The light was infact the Angel Gabriel.

He greeted her  saying, "Hail Mary full of Grace"

Angel Gabriel told her not to be afraid and told her that God loved her very much and she would have a son - God's son and she would name Him Jesus. Jesus being God's Son would always be special and would save the world. Mary accepted God's wish for her life peacefully and happily.

She told Joseph the news but he already knew. An Angel had told Joseph all about Jesus in a dream.

Soon after that Joseph and Mary got married and they prepared for the Birth of Jesus.

When it was almost time for Jesus to be born -Joseph had to take Mary to his hometown of Bethlehem , so Joseph put  Mary on a donkey and began their journey to Bethlehem.

When Joseph and Mary got there, they could not find any place for Mary to rest. All the inns were full.

Wherever Joseph went - the story was the same. They all told him there was no room in the inn.

Mary was very tired and really wanted to rest. Eventually, one kind inn keeper saw Mary and told Joseph that he had no room in his inn but could let Joseph use his Manger. This was where he kept his animals. They were welcome to stay there and rest.Mary and Joseph were both grateful and happy for getting a place to give birth to their baby.

And so, Mary gave birth to Jesus. The King of Kings was born to save the world - and for company he had animals and his dear parents. Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid him in a Manger.

At the same time  in a hillside - an Angel appeared in the night sky to some shepherds who were watching their sheep.

The Shepherds got scared - but again the Angel told them not be scared as He brought them good news. He told them , " A Saviour is born". He told them that they would find him in Bethlehem. Soon a multitude of Angels appeared in the sky and started singing " Gloria, Gloria, In Excelsis Deo"

After this they were eager to meet the King of Kings and hurried to meet this Special Baby. When they saw him, they knelt and were filled with awe and amazement.

Some of Jesus' first visitors were the shepherds. They knelt down and worshiped Him. It was indeed a very special night.

Far, far away in the East were some very wise men. They used to read a lot of books and read the stars.

 One day, they saw a Special Star shining in the sky. these men were very intelligent and used to study a lot so they knew this was special star. They began to follow the star.

This special Star led them to Bethlehem to the place of Jesus' Birth.                            

They too were amazed at what they saw in Bethlehem.They brought gifts for Jesus. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.

    They all worshiped their new King. 

This was the first Christmas ever in the world!!!

May the Christ Child be born in your lives anew this Blessed Season !!

God Bless you!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

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!!