Children’s Liturgy of the Word At-HomeSt. Clarence Church2020-05-03T11:28:07-04:00
Children’s Liturgy of the Word At-Home
While we are asked to worship remotely we’ll share quick guides to help you lead your children in a Liturgy of the Word at home.
Sunday, May 3:
In today’s story, we’re reminded that Jesus wants to guide us and keep us safe. Is there a place you noticed Christ in your life this week? Check out today’s optional prayer activity which you can use all week long.
How you start:
Set aside about 7 minutes to do this together. A prayer time like this may be best at a transition time in your day, like after snack or before lunch. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them:
Remind your family that we are still celebrating Easter! Christ loved us all so much that he died to rescue people from sin. He rose and he’s alive! Because Jesus is alive, we can have hope. After returning to heaven Jesus promised he’d always be with us and give us the Holy Spirit. He kept those commitments and that’s why the stories and things he promised to people in Bible times continue to be true for us today.
Read together:
Read the Sunday Children’s readings in order. They’re also attached. If you don’t read them all, just do the Gospel.
Ask each other:
What did you hear Jesus saying in the gospel?
Read aloud what this means for us:
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that, we are like sheep and he is like the gate of our sheep pen. It’s through the gate that sheep go out to find food; they travel to fields where they can find good grass to eat. After a day exploring and finding what they need, it’s through the gate that the sheep come home to their pen to find rest and to be safe. It’s through the gate that the trusted shepherd comes through too.
What does that mean for us? Jesus is reminding us today, not to do something or share something, he’s inviting us to hold a good, peaceful, important truth in our hearts: God wants to take care of you.
God wants the very best for you. It’s through Jesus, the gate, that we can find:
What we need
Rest and safety
Wise, safe people who guide us
It’s through these things that God loves us.
Ask each other:
What are things you need?
What makes you feel safe?
What makes you feel rested or refreshed?
Who are safe adults in your life who help you?
Read aloud to close:
God wants the very best for you. God wants to take care of you now and every day of your life. These good things and good people are each gifts from God. We know from God’s stories that it’s part of God’s plan to love us, not just through shocking miracles, but also through the fascinating world he’s created and especially through his most important creation: people.
God wants to take care of you. This doesn’t mean that God is like Amazon and you can order whatever you want from him. But God does want to help us find joy and peace instead of fear. And we can trust God to keep taking care of us. Sometimes just noticing that God was with us or taking care of us
can make us feel more peaceful.
So, where have you noticed God with you or taking care of you this week?
What was something this week that made you feel safe or happy?
Do you think God was there with you in that moment?
Pray:
Loving God, you sent Jesus to give us life and hope. Help us to have faith that you are God and you are alive. Help us to remember that you are with us, you love us and you take care of us. You are with us even when we can’t see you. Help us to notice your love.
(invite your child to pray. Are there people you want to pray for? Help them name some)
Please bless people who are sick and the nurses and doctors who care for them. Thank you for taking care of us and making us a family. Amen.
Optional activity:
Draw or write down one or two of the ways that you notice God with you or taking care of you which you discussed. Leave some room on the paper and come back to it tomorrow. Try drawing or writing one way you noticed God with you each day this week. Thank God, in your heart, for how he’s with you.
Sunday, April 26:
In today’s story, the Disciples’ walk to Emmaus and their discovery of Jesus with them. Check out the special activity at the bottom of the guide.
What you’ll need:
Just yourself, and the guide below.
How you start:
Set aside about 7 minutes to do this together. A prayer time like this may be best at a transition time in your day, like after snack or before lunch. You could even play calming music — whatever helps your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them:
Remind your family that we are still celebrating Easter! Christ loved us all so much that he died to rescue people from sin, and guess what, he didn’t stay dead. He rose and he’s alive! Because Jesus is alive, we can have hope! In today’s Gospel, the disciples haven’t seen Jesus in person yet, and they don’t even realize it’s him!
Read together:
Read the Sunday Children’s readings in order. They’re also attached. If you don’t read them all, just do the Gospel.
Ask each other:
-How were the disciples feeling a the beginning of this Gospel?
sad, disappointed, confused
–When did they realize the person walking with them was Jesus?
when he broke the bread and gave it to them.
Read aloud and imagine the story again:
Close your eyes and imagine this story slowly. Imagine that you are one of the walking disciples…
At the beginning of this story you and your friend are confused, and disappointed. You had put your hope in Jesus and are so sad that he has died. You thought God had sent Jesus to save your people but now that he’s died, you think it’s all over.
As you walk together another person starts walking beside you. It is Jesus but you don’t recognize him. You share your disappointment with him but Jesus explains to you God’s plan to rescue people through Jesus dying and rising from the dead.
You still don’t know it’s Jesus, but something about talking to this stranger warms your hearts and gives you both Hope. You’re beginning to see that what has happened to Jesus might not be the end of the story.
You stop walking. You and your friend invite this good, holy man to stay with you, and eat. But, once he shares bread with you, you realize something amazing. This stranger is really your friend, Jesus himself!! What amazing news!! How wonderful!! He was with you the whole time! Right away you start your journey back to tell the other Disciples that Jesus is absolutely alive!!
Tell your child to open their eyes. Read aloud what this means for us:
The past few weeks we’ve encouraged to stay hopeful and positive, but sometimes, we can feel like these 2 disciples. There are times we just feel confused, or disappointed, or really discouraged. Remember that, just like these disciples, Jesus is with you when you confused, or disappointed.
Jesus is with you no matter how we feel. Whether we can see him or not, he has promised to be with us, and just like Jesus explained to his disciples on the road, God keeps his promises.
So, when you feel disappointed, remember Jesus is with you.
He wants to help you have hope and get to know his Father better.
What questions do you have for Jesus today?
Ask each other:
-If you could ask Jesus questions like the disciples, what would you ask him?
Share these questions aloud when you pray.
–It’s hard to notice God with us sometimes but he shows his love through nature, the people who love us, music, his stories like the one we read today, etc. What helps you notice God? Where do you notice God? What’s reminds you that God is with you?
Pray:
Loving God, you sent Jesus to give us life and hope. Help us to have faith that you are God and you are alive. Help us to remember that you are with us, even when we feel sad or confused. You are with us even when we can’t see you. Help us to understand your love.
(invite your child to pray. Are there people you want to pray for? Help them name some)
Please bless people who are sick and the nurses and doctors who care for them.
Thank you for taking care of us and making us a family.
Amen.
Optional activity:
Go for a little walk outside today. Ask each other what you notice. Remind your child that walking is what the disciples and Jesus did in the story today. Ask each other ‘what reminds you that God is with you?’
Sunday, April 19th
How you start:
Set aside about 9 minutes to do this together. A prayer time like this may be best at a transition time in your day, like after snack or before lunch. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them:
Remind your family that we are still celebrating Easter! Christ loved us all so much that he died to free people from sin, and guess what, he didn’t stay dead. He rose and he’s alive! Because Jesus is alive, we can have hope! Let’s hear the story.
Read together:
Read the Sunday Children’s Readings in order. Think whether you’d like to read them all to your child or if there’s one they’d like the job of reading. If you don’t read them all, just do the First Reading and the Gospel.
Read this aloud:
Jesus’ Disciples did what they saw him do. They had followed him, ate with him and spent time together. They’d seen him pray and preach and share and heal people. So when Jesus rose and returned to heaven and he told his followers “Go and make disciples of all nations” his friends knew exactly what to do. They went to live like Jesus had shown them. That’s what we hear about in this first reading, that the followers of Jesus went and lived like he’d shown them by praying together, sharing, and healing people. Because his followers were so hopeful about God and generous with others, new people got to know the hope that Jesus gives too.
That’s what people who follow Jesus do: they live like Jesus.
Here’s the main idea for us today:
Because Jesus is alive, the Disciples could live like Jesus.
It’s important that he is alive. If they hadn’t known that Jesus was alive, the Disciples would have stayed afraid.
In fact, before he visited them in today’s Gospel they had been so afraid, they’d locked themselves away!
Jesus even came back a second time to make sure that Thomas, the Apostle who’d been missing, could know he really was alive too.
After they knew that he was alive, they became brave.
The Disciples needed to know he was alive.
Ask each other:
Talk together for a few minutes about your ideas for these questions:
-Why do you think knowing that he was alive made them brave?
-Why do you think knowing this made them feel excited to tell others about Jesus?
-Why would knowing that Jesus is alive changed the Disciples from afraid and hiding to hopeful and friendly, and generous?
Read aloud what this means for us:
Whatever your ideas are, it’s helpful to remember that it was because Jesus is Lord and because Jesus was alive that the Disciples could live like Jesus.
That’s true for us too.
It’s because we know that Jesus is alive that we can live like Jesus.
Jesus is alive. He is God’s son. He is alive forever.
So how do you want to live like Jesus? What did he do that you like?
Maybe you like the way he spent time with his friends and helped them be their best.
Maybe you like the way he shared with people in need.
Maybe you like how he was close to his Heavenly Father when he prayed.
Maybe you like how he shared hope with people by telling them about God’s love.
Ask each other:
-Of these 4 ways Jesus lived, which do you like?
Read aloud to close:
Whatever piece you like, try a version of that this week. Ask God to help you.
You’re a disciple too so because Jesus is alive, you can live like him.
And remember, sometimes, all of us need more faith like Thomas. We need Jesus’ help to have faith that he’s alive. So, together let’s pray for faith.
Pray:
Loving God, you sent Jesus to give us life and hope. Help us to have faith that you are God and you are alive. Help us to remember that you are strong, you are with us, and you love us so much. Teach us to live like Jesus–sharing, praying and helping.
Please bless people who are sick and the nurses and doctors who care for them.
Thank you for taking care of us and making us a family.
Amen.
Optional activity:
Draw a picture of Jesus doing the activity you liked the most:
-Spending time with his friends, the Disciples
-Praying
-Telling people that God loves them
-Helping those in need
Past Guides:
Holy Week Challenge
As we move through Holy Week together, help your children ‘hunt’ for objects around your house which remind us of Jesus’ journey and our path towards the resurrection.
Day 1: Palms and Branches
Day 2: Cup and Plate
Day 3: A Cross (or make a cross together)
Day 4: An Egg
Easter at Home
What you’ll need:
It’s Easter so what are you kids hunting for today?… an egg! This will be a little messy. With parental help, find an egg, crack it so that at least half is in tact. Save the white and yolk in a bowl (be sure to refrigerate for later!) Rinse out and wash the shell and your hands so that everything is clean. Then bring the empty eggshell back to where you’ll pray together. Don’t forget to bring along what your children found earlier this week, branches, a cup, a plate, and a cross!
How you start:
Set aside about 11 minutes to do this together. A prayer time like this may be best at a transition time in your day, like after snack or before lunch. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them why this week is important to you:
Remind your family that today is Easter! Happy Easter! Earlier this Holy week we remembered the moments in Jesus life that led up to Easter. We had Palm Sunday [pass around the palms/branches] when everyone in the city was excited to welcome Jesus. Then Jesus said goodbye to his friends at his Last Supper [pass around the plate/cup]. Then Jesus was put to Death on a cross, [Pass around the cross].
Jesus is the Son of God. He loved us all so much that he died to free people from sin, and guess what, he didn’t stay dead. He rose and he’s alive! Because Jesus is alive, we can have hope! Let’s hear the story.
Read together:
Read the Easter Children’s Readings in order. Think whether you’d like to read them all to your child or if there’s one they’d like the job of reading. If you don’t read them all, just do the Gospel; that’s the Easter story!
Look at the story in a different way:
Pass today’s object around and say…
Hold this eggshell. What do you think this empty shell is supposed to remind us of in the Easter reading?
-What was empty?
The tomb, the cave where they put Jesus’ dead body was empty on Easter morning. This reminds us of the empty tomb.
-Why was it empty?
Yes, because he was alive! Later, the Disciples, like Mary and Peter, saw Jesus alive! They even touched his hands!
-How do you think Jesus’ friends felt when they saw that the tomb was empty?
-What about when they saw Jesus alive?
Read this aloud:
Jesus rose and that’s why we can have hope. You know, hope means trusting that good can still happen whether things are good or bad.
What Jesus went through in dying on the Cross was so painful. It looked like Jesus’ story was over. But it wasn’t! He died and then rose to life to make a way for all of us to have the promise of life forever in heaven with him. Jesus did all of this because of his love for us.
That’s why we can have hope.
Even in challenging times – hard and sad things are not the end of our story either because Jesus is with us, and Jesus is our hope.
Ask each other:
-Who is someone you know who might need some hope and encouragement? (see below for a related challenge!)
-Where could we put one of these objects to remind our family that Jesus can give us hope?
-Today’s a happy day, so what’s one way we could continue celebrating to keep today special for our family?
Pray:
Loving God, you sent Jesus to give us life and hope. Help us to have hope whether things are good or bad. Help us to remember that you are strong, you are with us, and you love us so much.
Please bless people who are sick and the nurses and doctors who care for them.
Thank you for taking care of us and making us a family.
Amen.
Community Easter Challenge: Share Your Hope
As a community we want to work together to share hope to people who might need it most. Therefore, St. Clarence has taken up the challenge of sending a card to every resident of Emerald Village Senior Living and each member of the medical team at St. John Westshore. Can your family take up the challenge? We are asking everyone to make 2 simple cards of encouragement. Cards can be dropped off in the atrium at St. Clarence Monday 4/13 through 12pm on Friday, 4/17. We hope you join in this challenge to pass on hope to people in our local community.
Most of all, we hope that you know that the Easter hope we have in Christ is for you too. Happy Easter.
Good Friday
To help your family observe Good Friday at home, here’s a Stations of the Cross resource from Sadlier Press which is age appropriate for upper elementary children. Alternatively, if you do not wish to do the stations together, read John 19:16-18, 28-30 (you can find these excerpts in this chapter of John) Below is a guide to help you reflect on the Stations or the brief reading from John together.
What you’ll need:
It’s Good Friday so what are you kids hunting for today?… A Cross. Help your children hunt for a cross in your home. If you do not have one, create one together with sticks from outside, attaching 2 sticks with tape or ribbon. Once you’ve found a cross, come back to where you’ll pray together. Don’t forget to bring along what your children found earlier in the week, branches and the cup and plate.
How you start:
Set aside about 13 minutes to do this together. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them why this week is important:
Remind your family that we are in the middle of Holy Week, when we remember the events in Jesus’ life which led up to Easter. Earlier this week, we had Palm Sunday [hold the palms/branches] when everyone in the city was excited to welcome Jesus. Then yesterday we remembered the Last Supper Jesus had with his friends. [hold the plate and cup] Do you remember that? Now it’s Friday, the day we remember when Jesus died on the Cross. This is a serious, and sad story we’re going to remember, but while we hear it, don’t forget what happened on Sunday, Easter. Jesus rose and his friends saw him alive again.
How to do this together:
Attached are pictures of the stations, and a 2 sentence description of each. Sit in a way so everyone can see these stations. Your family may take turns reading the stations, giving the speaker the cross. Pass the cross to the next person at each station. We hold or touch or venerate a cross on Good Friday because it’s how Jesus showed his great love for us.
At the beginning of each station we say, this response:
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Everyone: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Read Aloud Together:
Read these Stations of the Cross reflections together (Courtesy of Sadlier Press). Try and pause between each, beginning each new station with the dialogue above.
OR for families with younger children read John 19:16-18, 28-30 (you can find these excerpts in this chapter of John
Ask each other:
-Do you remember what happened once Jesus had died on the cross? Jesus was laid in the tomb.
-What happened after Jesus’ body was put in the tomb? What happened on the 3rd day, Sunday Morning? Jesus rose from the dead.
But these stations that we just read, these pictures, these steps that Jesus went through on Friday were so hard and sad for Jesus and for everyone who loved him.
-What are some questions you have about these stations?
-The Disciples did not know that Easter was coming. How do you think they felt after they buried Jesus?
This is a hard story, but Jesus faced the hurt and the cross, these hard, sad moments because he wanted to make a way for people to have life. He took the weight of people’s sins, and died, and rose again so that, when we connect ourselves to Jesus we can one day have life in heaven with God forever.
Pray:
Lord, you love people so much that you gave up your life so that we could all enjoy life with you in heaven one day.
Help us to love the people we find it hard to love, remembering that you love them so much.
Challenge:
Stay tuned for Easter when we’ll share a fun way you can serve others along with St. Clarence. In the meantime, help each other follow through with your ideas for serving around the house.
Set aside a shelf or table in your home to put the branches, the cup, the plate and the cross you and your children gathered. These are your Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday symbols. Your kids will be challenged to hunt for a new object on Easter morning! Leave each on the shelf together and take them out each time you begin a Children’s Liturgy at home this week to remind them how they’ve followed Jesus’ Holy Week Journey so far.
Holy Thursday Children’s Liturgy of the Word
What you’ll need:
It’s Holy Thursday so what are you kids hunting for today?… A Cup and Plate! You begin together by going off to pick one cup and one plate. Maybe a special plate, maybe it’s one of your children’s favorite cups. Once you’ve picked them, come back to where you’ll pray together. Don’t forget to bring along what your children found last time, branches!
How you start:
Set aside about 10 minutes to do this together. A prayer time such as this may be best at a transition time in your day. After dinner or before bed might be good. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them why this week is important:
Remind your family that we are in the middle of Holy Week, when we remember the events in Jesus’ life which led up to Easter. Earlier this week, we had Palm Sunday [hold the palms/branches] when everyone in the city was excited to welcome Jesus. Do you remember that? Now today is Thursday. Thursday was the night when Jesus had his last meal with his friends before he went to the Cross. That’s why we have a cup and plate.
-Do you miss eating lunch with your friends at school?
-What’s your favorite meal we eat together as a family?
Well, Jesus was getting ready to eat a special holiday meal with his friends – Passover.
Read Aloud Together:
Read the Holy Thursday Readings in order. Think whether you’d like to read them all to your child or if there’s one they’d like the job of reading. If you don’t read them all, just do the Gospel.
Look at the Story in a different way:
Ask each other:
Jesus was more powerful than anyone because he is God. Just like this video said, he could work miracles!
-So, why do you think he would have washed the feet of his friends?
-If you were Peter, would you have been surprised or said no too?
-Can you remember a time when it was hard for you to accept help like Peter? Maybe you thought you could do something by yourself and you needed help? Do you have a story like that?
-When do you find it hard to serve people? (Do you find it hard when it’s a chore or when you’re busy doing something else?)
-What’s one small way you could serve someone around the house tomorrow?
-Jesus has never washed our feet, but what’s a way that God has helped you or shown you he loves you.
Jesus wanted his followers to know that serving people, putting other people first, is the important if we want to follow him. God loves everyone and we can share that message by telling people with our words and with our actions.
Tell:
Can I tell you what else happened that night? After he washed their feet, Jesus shared dinner with his friends, but it was going to be the last time he was with them before dying on the cross. Jesus wanted to make a way for them to stay close to him, and for any one of his followers to remain close to him. So, for the very first time, he took bread, blessed it, passed it around, and he blessed and passed around the wine, and told them that it was his own body and blood and he told them to eat it. He told them he would sacrifice his own body, his life, to save people from Sin.
So, he said prayers over the bread and wine but the last thing he told them was to continue sharing this to be close to him. At that dinner, Jesus started the Eucharist, which we continue whenever we have Mass because he told us to. Every time we share Communion the bread and wine become for us, the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Last Supper was the Disciples’ First Communion.
Holy Thursday is so special because Jesus showed us 2 great ways we can stay really close to him.
1. By sharing Communion at Mass. — Jesus is really with us, and we receive his love in a special way.
2. By serving other people. — We share the love God has given us with others.
Pray:
Lord, you love people so much that you said goodbye to your best friends, and gave up your life so that we could all enjoy life with you in heaven one day.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to serve others and put them first like you did.
Help us to know that you are with us, and encouraging us, when we find it hard to serve others.
Please bless all those who are serving people with the Coronavirus, like Nurses, and Doctors.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Challenge:
Stay tuned for Easter when we’ll share a fun way you can serve others along with St. Clarence. In the meantime, help each other follow through with your ideas for serving around the house.
Set aside a shelf or table in your home to put the branches, and the cup and plate you and your children gathered. These are your Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday symbols. Your kids will be challenged to hunt for a new object for Good Friday and Easter morning! Leave each on the shelf together and take them out each time you begin a Children’s Liturgy at home this week to remind them how they’ve followed Jesus’ Holy Week Journey so far.
Palm Sunday Children’s Liturgy of the Word Guide
What you’ll need:
It’s Palm Sunday so come to get your palms from St. Clarence (10 am-2 pm) or encourage your children to gather some branches from the yard and bring them inside to where you’ll pray this together.
How you start:
Set aside about 9 minutes to do this together. A prayer time such as this may be best at a transition time in your day. In the morning, after dinner or before snack time might be good. You could even play calming music–whatever helps to your child and you get comfortable.
First, lead your child in the Sign of the Cross.
Remind them why this week is important:
Remind your family that you’re starting Holy Week-when we remember Christ’s Last Supper, his suffering, his death and how he rose for us on Easter. Today is Palm Sunday, the start of that special week and we begin with the story of Jesus’ big arrival in Jerusalem. Watch this video together to remember that story.
Read Aloud Together:
Read the Sunday Children’s Readings in order. Think whether you’d like to read them all to your child or if there’s one they’d like the job of reading. If you don’t read them all, just do the Gospel. This will take some time because we are going to read the serious story of Jesus’ death.
Ask each other:
The people in Jerusalem used Palms to welcome Jesus. If Jesus came to visit us here in our town what do you think we would do to decorate or to welcome him?
That was a long story about Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s hard to understand it all but Jesus went through all of these difficult moments because of his love for all people including us. What are some questions you have about the story? What surprised you? Was there any part that you haven’t heard before or forgot?
What important event happens after this, 3 days later? I can’t wait for us to celebrate Easter together. Jesus’ power and love for us all is so great that he went through this difficult, sad death and then rose again on Easter so that we could all have life with God forever.
Pray:
Lord God, we remember your love for all people. Your love is why you went through this sad, hard time of your suffering and death. We know you rose and are now alive. It’s hard for us to understand the story of your death, so, for now, help us to know your love and your strength.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Challenge for this week:
Set aside a shelf or table in your home to put up some some of the branches you and your children gathered. This is your Palm Sunday symbol. Your kids will be challenged to hunt for a new object for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter morning! Leave them on the shelf and take them out each time you begin a Children’s Liturgy at home this week to remind your children how they’ve followed Jesus’ Holy Week Journey so far.
