First Sunday of Advent...At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications....

At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800. Written by Maggie Kast. Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

December 2, 2018First Sunday of Advent

Questions ◆ One evening at dinner ask your child, “What do you like to do to get ready for Christmas?” Discuss making cards, gifts, or special foods. Stress the child’s role in making the world ready for Jesus by sharing his or her talents, benefitting others. Liken the child’s preparations to preparing a smooth path for Jesus when he comes among us at Christmas.

◆ Choose a quiet moment to ask your child to remember a time of waiting—for a meal, some news, a friend, or a relative. Did it feel short or long? Hard or easy? You can measure the waiting of Advent by the candles that get shorter each day and each week. Waiting can teach us a lot!

◆ At bedtime, ask your child to name all the people he or she loves: friends or relatives near and far, classmates, teachers, even pets. Can we love mean people too? It’s hard, but we can try. God wants us to love as many people as we can. Include some of the people the child named in a shared bedtime prayer.

Activities ◆ Prepare an Advent wreath with your child. This can be as simple as arranging three purple can-dles and one pink candle on a platter (to echo Advent’s liturgical colors of violet and rose). You could also place evergreen fronds around the candles, but keep them well away from the candle flame. Light one candle each night at dinner during the first week of Advent. Turn electric lights off or down and explain that the growing light of the wreath represents the coming of Jesus, the Light of God, into our world.

◆ Accompany the evening candle lighting with a prayer, perhaps simply, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Or you could use the first verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” as an evening prayer, explaining to the child that Emmanuel means “God with us.” For an older child, you might change the verse of this song each week, so the child becomes aware of some of the many names of Jesus, who is always more than any human words. See www.hymntime.com/tch /htm/o/c/o/ocomocom.htm (scroll down) for the lyrics.

◆ Make or buy an Advent calendar with windows you can open for each day of Advent. Along with the candles, the windows will mark the watching and waiting of Advent. Some calen-dars have scriptural themes for each window and some have little ornaments for a miniature tree. Whatever kind you use, emphasize the value of mindful watching and waiting, day by day, hour by hour, for the coming of Jesus among us.

Families


Activities ◆ If your church has a Jesse tree, choose one of the symbols and tell your child the story of it, looking up the appropriate Scripture verse in a picture Bible. Alternately, you can make your own Jesse tree, with just a few or many symbols, using materials you may have around the house. More information about the Jesse tree can be found at www.liturgicalyear.wordpress.com /2010/11/11/getting-ready-plan-a-jesse-tree.

◆ With your child, choose or make a gift to donate through your parish or a service organi-zation. Help the child wrap and address it. For example, a child can help choose items for a food basket in the grocery store. Point out how good it feels to do something for others. Help the child to decorate and personalize the gift, perhaps with ribbons or a card.

◆ Tell the child in your own words the stories in Isaiah 11:6 – 8: the wolf lives with the lamb; the calf and the lion cub eat together, with a little child leading them; the cow and the bear make friends. Encourage the child to draw one of these images. Perhaps use the child’s drawing as the center of your family Christmas card.

Questions ◆ Talk with your child about the falling leaves, perhaps after raking them or shuffling through them together. What happens after the leaves fall? The child may think of snow, winter, or darkness coming earlier. Point out that the darker it gets, the closer we are to Christmas, when Jesus is born within and among us, bringing light to the world when it’s most needed, and warming our hearts with goodness and cheer.

◆ As your child gets excited about Christmas, ask what he or she would like to do to give a poor or hungry child a happy Christmas. How will that make your family Christmas better? When has he or she helped a classmate, teacher, sibling, or parent? What does helping another feel like? Plan to participate together in a parish project, give service to the poor of your neighborhood, or do or make something for someone you both know personally.

◆ Is your child afraid of the dark? Choose a quiet moment to ask, “What are you afraid of?” It could be a real situation, a dream, or something imagined. Listen well and help the child distin-guish reality and fantasy. Use a flashlight or other light source to illuminate the room’s dark corners in the same way that your listening and explanation soothe the child’s fear. Point out that this is how Jesus brings light to the world.

Families

December 9, 2018Second Sunday of Advent

At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800. Written by Michael R. Prendergast. Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Activities ◆ Light the rose (pink) candle this week at dinner as well as the first two violet (purple) ones and point out that the rose color signifies joy. You could add a celebratory gesture to your grace, perhaps saying, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it,” clapping in rhythm with the words and raising arms overhead on “rejoice.”

◆ After dinner and before bedtime, have a time for singing and dancing. Clear a space of breakables and choose a song the child knows, such as “Joy to the World,” or use music on a radio or CD player. Dance with the child, encouraging him to skip, jump, clap, or spin around the room, praising God while basking in God’s love.

◆ On a day when you are sorting clothes, ask the child if she has anything no longer needed, perhaps an outgrown shirt or a toy no longer age-appropriate. Show the child how you are eliminating extras and donating them to a church or school’s rummage sale or resale shop. John the Baptist tells us that if we have two coats we should give one to the person who has none. This is part of the way we prepare the path for Jesus.

Questions ◆ At dinner one night, ask your child if he has any good news to share. Family members can take turns sharing good news or recalling good news heard in the past, perhaps including the child’s own birth. Grace before the meal can include thanks for these events. Now Advent’s time of watching and waiting is half over. This week especially we celebrate the Good News of Jesus’ coming.

◆ One evening after dinner, ask your child if she has ever felt like shouting for joy. What made her feel this way? This Sunday’s First Reading commands us to rejoice with all our hearts and assures us that God is rejoicing and singing over us. Was the child able to sing, shout, or dance for joy? Why or why not?

◆ On a Sunday morning before Mass, practice shaking hands or embracing and saying, “The Peace of Christ be with you.” Ask, “What are you thinking when you say these words? What does Christ’s peace feel like for you?” Scripture says this peace is “beyond understanding.” How do you understand it? How do you think it helps us? Who would you like to give it to?

Families

December 16, 2018Third Sunday of Advent


Activities ◆ Tell the story of the Visitation: Mary’s long trip — perhaps on foot — to visit her older cousin, Elizabeth, who was already advanced in her pregnancy. Tell of Mary’s arrival and sudden sensation of life within her. Imagine the diffi-cult trip across rocky paths, the joy of arrival, and the knowledge of miraculous life within. Encourage the child to illustrate the story with a drawing of one of the scenes.

◆ Set up a crèche with figures you own or make. Besides baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you can include shepherds, the three kings, and all kinds of animals. Instructions for making one of pipe cleaners and yarn can be found at www .familyfun.go.com/crafts/away-in-a-manger -homemade-creche-668113. Learn and sing “The Friendly Beasts,” about the animals around the manger at Jesus’ birth. (Music and lyrics can be found at www.hymntime.com /tch/htm/f/r/i/friendly.htm.)

◆ How does your family celebrate Christmas Eve? If your parish has an early evening Mass in which children participate, this can be a fine tradition. Do you have traditional family foods? Do you light candles next to your family crèche? Do your children wait for Christmas morning, or do you exchange gifts on Christmas Eve? Do your children have Christmas stock-ings? Whatever your customs, keep them faithfully, making this a time of awe and wonder the children will look forward to each year.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Is there someone you would like to visit?” Talk about past visits, perhaps to grandparents or friends, near or far. Was the journey long or short? Were they glad to see you? What is it like to receive a visit? A visit is like a present of yourself. If possible, plan one.

◆ Ask the child, “How do you feel when you are told what to do by parents or teachers?” For example: “Get up,” “Go to school,” “Open your book,” “Brush your teeth,” “Go to bed.” Adults have to follow rules and obey commands too, and they don’t always like it. But everyone can choose to do God’s will because God wants whatever is best for us. What do you think God wants for you as Christmas approaches?

◆ If the child is old enough, and especially if the mother is pregnant or there’s a new baby in the house, tell the story of the child’s birth, or the moment when the child came into your life. Talk about how tiny each part of the baby was—fingers, toes, ears—how the child cried, cooed, slept, kicked, and so forth. Especially if your child is adopted, focus on the child’s homecoming—how loved and welcomed the child was—how each person in the family or household felt about the newcomer. Explain that Jesus was a real baby too and needed Mary and Joseph’s protection.

Families

December 23, 2018Fourth Sunday of Advent


Activities ◆ Gather with other families with children to sing Christmas carols. Make a space for the children to dance if they wish and encourage them by joining in, enacting Christian joy. You could break the ice by prescribing a simple gesture for all, such as laying cheek on hands in “Away in a Manger” on the line, “Little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.”

◆ With your child, use a crèche or other impro-vised figures to tell and enact the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:1 – 14: the travel to Judaea, search for a room, birth in a stable, and celebra-tion with the friendly beasts.

◆ Make a book, using construction paper or cardboard, that tells the Nativity story, using passages selected from Luke 2:1 – 14 and Matthew 1:18 – 25. Illustrate with pictures from catalogues, magazines, or yours or the child’s artwork. As the child learns to read, he can read the story aloud each Christmas. Keep the book in a prominent place during the Christmas season, and put it away for the year after the Baptism of the Lord.

Questions ◆ On Christmas morning, ask your child: “Who, besides our family, might be happy today? Are other children happy? Are children in other countries happy? Are animals happy? What about trees? Oceans?” Encourage the child to imagine trees shouting for joy and all the earth rejoicing. How would a tree express joy? Perhaps act it out.

◆ In the early dark of a late afternoon, ask your child, “What would it be like if you were guard-ing sheep at night and an angel suddenly appeared? What might the angel look like? Would you be scared? Would you feel special? If the angel told you not to be afraid, would you believe the angel?”

◆ Ask the child, “What’s a manger?” When she understands that it’s a trough for feeding cows and sheep, ask, “Would you put a baby in there? How could you make a trough clean and cozy enough for a newborn baby?” If you have a crèche, line it with a soft cloth and place the baby Jesus inside.

Families

December 25, 2018The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800. Written by Maggie Kast. Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America,second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Activities ◆ In a picture Bible, other book, or through the Internet, find an image of a Middle Eastern boy in traditional dress, perhaps a Palestinian, Syrian, or Egyptian. Help your child to draw the twelve-year-old Jesus in similar clothes and with similar coloring, recalling the story of his parents finding him in the Temple (Luke 2:41 – 57).

◆ Read the refrain from today’s Responsorial Psalm with your child: “Happy are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.” (And perhaps read the entire text: Psalm 84:1– 3, 5–6, 9–10.) Remind her of what Jesus said when his parents found him in the Temple. Ask what it might mean to dwell in the house of the Lord. What did it mean to Jesus? What does it mean to us?

◆ In today’s Second Reading, John reminds us of the commandment to “love one another.” At a prayer before the evening meal, pray for your family and for all the families you know, asking that in spite of misunderstandings, families be able to love one another.

Questions ◆ After a trip or an excursion, ask your child, “Have you ever gotten lost?” Or for an older one, “Have you ever wanted or tried to run away from home?” Tell the story of Luke 2:41– 52, in which Jesus gets separated from his parents and is finally found in the Temple, his “Father’s house.” What do you think Jesus felt when he couldn’t find his parents? What did his parents feel?

◆ Ask your child, “Do the people in our family look alike or different?” What about the fami-lies of your child’s friends? Do they look alike or different? Are there white parents who have children with a different skin color or vice versa? Some parents adopt children different from them. Jesus came from the Middle East where people have brown skin and dark hair, but he came for people of all colors.

◆ Talk with your child about the different fami-lies you know. Are some interracial and some monoracial? Are some children biologically related and some adopted? Do some families blend children from different marriages? How does each family, in its own way, express the love modeled in the Holy Family?

Families

December 30, 2018Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph


Activities ◆ Borrow or buy a CD of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s light opera Amahl and the Night Visitors and play it so it becomes familiar to you and your child. At bedtime, tell him the story of Amahl, the crippled boy who received a visit from the Three Kings and decided to visit the Holy Child himself. You can learn the story from the script that accompanies the CD or look it up in a book or on the Internet.

◆ Teach your child the carol “We Three Kings” and sing it as a family, learning as many verses as you wish. Perhaps you can use it as a grace before dinner this week.

◆ After dark one night, take your child outside to look at the stars. Imagine three men in a distant country seeing a very bright star and deciding to leave home and follow it, sensing its importance but not knowing where it would lead. What dangers and difficulties might they face? How would they overcome them? Encourage your child to invent details.

Questions ◆ After Mass on Epiphany, ask your child, “If you could travel like the three Wise Men to see baby Jesus, what gift would you like to take?” Can a shepherd bring a gift? Can an animal? A child? Must a gift be a thing, or can it be a feeling, a wish or intention, or a prayer?

◆ On a globe or map of the world, help your child to find his location. Then ask, “Who do you think Jesus came to save?” If the child says, “Me and you,” ask about others, relatives and friends. Then, using the map or globe, ask about people who speak foreign languages in distant places. What about a classmate he or she doesn’t like? Even them?

◆ Using the map or globe again, locate Bethlehem. Then choose a spot east of where the astrologers, or Wise Men, might have originated. Ask your child, “How do you think they got to Bethlehem? Did they ride on ani-mals? How long did it take? Where did they stay on the way, and what did they eat? Were they tired when they got there? Scripture says they prostrated themselves. What does that mean? Try it!”

Families

January 6, 2019The Epiphany of the Lord


Activities ◆ Before bedtime one evening, read some of the verses of today’s Responsorial Psalm to your child (Psalm 104:1b–2, 3–4, 24–25, 27–28, 29–30). Talk about some of the poetic descrip-tions: “robed in light as with a cloak” or “you have spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth” or “you make the clouds your chariot.” There are so many in this psalm! Wonder together about how God made our world and how much he loves it.

◆ Using one of the child’s dolls that can get wet, reenact a Baptism with water and words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Talk about how a baby who has been baptized is then a member of the worldwide Christian community who is welcomed and celebrated.

◆ Again, read or tell the story of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. But this time go to your Bible and begin before today’s reading begins to find more details about John. (Start with Mark 1:4.) Describe John’s strange appearance (wearing camel skin) and diet (locusts and wild honey), his deference to Jesus, Jesus’ insistence on being baptized, the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the voice from heaven. Encourage the child to draw any part of the scene.

Questions ◆ Tell or read your child the short description of Jesus’ baptism from today’s Gospel. Focus especially on the voice from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Talk about the word “beloved”—what does it mean? Who is beloved to the child? Who is beloved to you, the parent? What does it feel like to be “beloved” and to feel that God is pleased with us?

◆ Has your child ever seen a baby baptized? If not, describe what happens. If so, ask the child what happened. What was the baby wearing? Was water poured over the baby or was the baby dipped into the water? What did the priest (or deacon) say when the water touched the baby? Were there lighted candles? Why do you think people were so happy at the Baptism?

◆ Ask your child to think about all the ways she experiences water: drinking, bathing, swimming, when it is raining, and more. Can we live without water? Is there ever too much water? What does it feel like when you swim underwater and rise up for air? Have you ever seen grown-ups get baptized? That’s the feeling of Baptism with water and words: rising up to a new life with Jesus.

Families

January 13, 2019Feast of the Baptism of the Lord


Activities ◆ Take the child’s improvised song from the first question and pick it out on a piano or other instrument. If this is not possible, just add clapping and practice the tune. Add simple gestures. Perhaps use the song as a table grace this week.

◆ Choose the child’s favorite personal gift or ability and decide together how to develop or practice it this week. If she is a reader, spend some extra time reading together. If a swimmer, make a trip to the pool. If a knitter or sewer, help her learn a new stitch. Thank God for this gift and talk about how it could be used to help others.

◆ Prepare some food with your child, letting him help as much as possible. This could be any-thing from peanut butter sandwiches or carrot sticks to baked brownies. Talk about how food comes from the earth and is harvested and prepared by human hands, in this case, yours. Homemade food tastes so good and expresses care and love. It’s a little like water transformed into wine.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “How can you make God happy?” Wait for various answers, assuring him that there are many ways. One way is by singing a new song to the Lord, as today’s Responsorial Psalm (95) urges us. Ask, “Have you ever made up your own song to God?” If not, encourage him to find a rhythm in these lines: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands.”

◆ Ask your child, “What are you especially good at? What do you think I’m good at? Do you have a friend who is good at something else? What about your teacher? Your doctor?” Each person is good at some special thing, and these are gifts of the Spirit, like presents from God. God wants us to use these gifts to help each other.

◆ Has your child ever been to a wedding? If not, perhaps an older child can describe one or you can tell about one that is memorable to you. What does it mean to get married? What does the couple promise? If you have wedding pictures, get them out. Why is everyone so happy? Do people dance? Eat special foods? Describe the wedding at Cana. It was there that Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine, and gave people a hint about who he really is.

Families

January 20, 2019Second Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Play “Where’s your nose?” with a small child. You ask the questions for each body part, and the child responds, not by pointing to the part, but by actually moving it in some way. You move the part in question too and see who comes up with the most interesting gesture. You can also play this with several children at once.

◆ Watch liturgical dancer Betsey Beckman’s dramatization of the passage in 1 Corinthians about the body’s many parts and one spirit. A child will never forget this passage after seeing her humorous but reverent rendition. On YouTube at www.youtube.com /watch?v=-sza670_i8c&feature=youtube.

◆ Play “captive” with a younger child. Wrap the child up with her own arms and yours, folding her into as small a package as possible. Then set the child free, encouraging her to dance for the joy of freedom in God’s love. If you have chil-dren with several years between them, an older child can do this with a younger one.

Questions ◆ Ask your child: “Can your ears see? Can your eyes hear? Can your hands talk?” Sometimes they can. “Can you walk with your elbows?” No, but some people can walk on their hands. Think of how perfectly the body is designed so that each part has its own job, just like the Church: many parts, one body. Perhaps the child can identify some of the parts of the Church, such as priest, lector, and Sunday school teacher or catechist.

◆ Ask your child, “What is special about Sundays?” Perhaps the child will mention adults at home, no school, church, visits, or a meal. Each of these is a way of celebrating a day holy to God, a day of rest and rejoicing. Ask, “How would you like to celebrate this holy day?”

◆ Reflecting on today’s Gospel, in which Jesus says that he has come “to proclaim liberty to captives,” invite an older child to read this question: “What do we mean when we say, ‘God sets us free?’” Discuss captivity and freedom, literal situations and situations that feel like captivity and freedom. Encourage the older child to contribute items from current events and welcome contributions from the younger.

Families

January 27, 2019Third Sunday in Ordinary Time


the same way God formed the child, with knowledge and love.

◆ Take your child to visit the site of an appealing occupation: a firehouse, a schoolroom, a medical or dental office, or an art gallery—any place where adult work is done. Learn as much as you can about the daily routine and ask your child about differences between her day and the adult one. Children talk and act like children and adults like adults, but neither ever stops grow-ing, changing, and getting closer to God.

◆ Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 71:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 15–17) says, “You are my rock and my fortress.” Talk with your child about times when he feels uneasy or afraid of something that will happen in the future: a dentist appointment, a challenging test at school, or some other situation. Pray the psalm together and talk about how God can protect us as if God were a big, solid “rock” or a “fortress.” Encourage the child to draw a picture of him-self high on the rock or inside the fortress, shielded from anything that could bring harm.

◆ In today’s Gospel, Jesus observes that “no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Often we can notice insights about God’s presence in ordinary life more sharply when we are in an unfamiliar place. Take your child to an unfamiliar place. This could be woods if you live in a town, town if you live in the country, a new part of your town or city, or a neighborhood with a different ethnicity. Ask the child to name similarities and differences. How does it feel to be in a strange place? Try to meet someone or eat something, pick a leaf or flower, or otherwise make a connection. Where do you see God in the ordinary?

Questions ◆ Today’s First Reading speaks of Jeremiah’s call from God and how God knew him before he was even conceived. At bedtime one night, perhaps before prayers, ask your child, “Where do you think you come from?” Depending on age, your child might respond from your tummy, from God, or more fancifully, from the earth or the forest. Whatever the answer, describe God knowing and loving the child, forming the child, cell by cell, limb by limb, until she was ready to take a place in the world.

◆ Today’s Second Reading is full of details about how love can shape our behavior—a good oppor-tunity to talk about how the disciples of Jesus try to act in loving ways. Read the section that begins “Love is patient, love is kind . . . ” (1 Corinthians 13:4–8a) with your child, draw-ing on examples from the child’s life to illustrate the qualities of love. Point out times when the child has behaved according to the reading and when others have behaved lovingly toward him.

◆ One day when your child finds life unfair, ask her to talk about it. Did a teacher or parent make an unfair rule? Fail to appreciate the child? Prefer another student or sibling? Fail to understand? Tell the story of Jesus attempting to preach in his own town and being rejected. Not even Jesus was fully appreciated close to home. But he and you, the child, are still fully beloved by God.

Activities ◆ With drawing materials, fabric, clay, or paper-mâché, make a baby or a baby animal with your child, forming it step by step and part by part,

Families

February 3, 2019Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ When people grow closer to God, they some-times get a new name, like a special nickname. Jacob became Israel, Saul became Paul, and Simon became Peter, which means “rock,” because he was the rock on whom Jesus would build the Church. What would be a good God-related nickname for you? Invent names that reflect your relationship to God. They can be proper or generic names, words for objects or animals, qualities, or emotions.

◆ Tell the story of the great catch of fish (Luke 5:1–11). How did Simon Peter feel when his prayer for fish was answered? Did he get what he wanted? How was he changed? Have you ever been changed by prayer, answered or unanswered?

◆ On February 11, World Day of the Sick is celebrated. Lead your children in praying for people with chronic illnesses.

Questions ◆ Taking your cue from today’s Scriptures about the call of Isaiah, Paul, and Simon Peter, initiate this conversation with your child. At bedtime one night, ask “Have you ever felt that God asked you to do something?” This might just be a little ghost thought that flits through your mind and disappears. You, the child, can grab it by the tail and pull it back and look at it. You, the parent, can give an example of one of your own ghost thoughts that feels like God calling. Anyone can ignore the call or can choose to say, “Here I am. Send me.”

◆ If you have children of different ages, choose a quiet moment when all are present and ask, “Do you think God answers prayer? If so, how?” Older and younger children will prob-ably have very different answers. Some may relate a time they received or failed to receive an object they asked for. Others may talk about how God transformed their request and gave them something they needed more or changed them in some way.

◆ After Church one Sunday, remind your child of the “Holy, holy,” perhaps singing it together. How do you feel when you sing it? What do you think “holy” means? Are you holy? Am I? Depending on the child’s age, you can explore the meaning of “holy” as “set apart” and its connection with wholeness and health. God commands us to be holy as God is holy.

Families

February 10, 2019Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800. Written by Mary G. Fox. Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Activities ◆ Read the First Reading (Jeremiah 17:5–8) and ask family members to draw two images. The first illustration is of the cursed one who “is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season” The second drawing is of the blessed one who “is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.”

◆ At the dinner table, invite family members to repeat the Responsorial Psalm refrain “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.”

◆ Ask the children to draw a picture of heaven with people who are laughing and enjoying others’ company. They might want to show people leaping for joy at being in the Kingdom of God.

Questions ◆ Ask family members what it must feel like to be cursed as described in the reading from Jeremiah. Then ask what it must feel like to be blessed.

◆ Ask family members what it means to hope. What do they hope for? What is the possibility that those hopes will be realized? What does it mean to “hope in the Lord” as we sang in today’s Responsorial Psalm?

◆ Read the Beatitudes in Luke 6:20–26. Ask the children what they hunger for other than food. Do they hunger for things? What do they think it means to hunger for God?

Families

February 17, 2019Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Read 1 Samuel 26:2, 7–9, 1–13, 22–23 to the family and then ask them to act it out. Three people are needed: the sleeping Saul, David, and Abishai. Perhaps the children could make a spear from cardboard.

◆ During the prayer before meals, sing or say, “The Lord is kind and merciful.” During dinner ask family members how they have experienced mercy that day.

◆ In the Gospel, Jesus says, “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you.” Is there an elderly neighbor or a disabled person who you could invite for a meal?

Questions ◆ Tell the children that in the time of David, priests, prophets, and kings were anointed. They were God’s chosen to lead the people. Those being baptized are anointed. The oil of anointing gives strength and comfort. Why does a person need strength from God to follow Christ?

◆ Repeat the Responsorial Psalm refrain “The Lord is kind and merciful.” Ask family mem-bers when they have desired mercy at school, at work, or with friends. Did they receive it? Remind them that God is always merciful.

◆ Ask the children to think of a person who is hard for them to love. Ask them if they think God loves that person. Tell them that that today’s Gospel says, “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” Ask what that means about who they are to love.

Families

February 24, 2019Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Encourage your family members to take time to think about the words they use this week. At the end of each day, ask what their words said about them. At the end of the week, invite them to consider whether they are being more careful with their speech.

◆ Invite your family members to repeat the Responsorial Psalm refrain “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” Make it a dinner time practice to thank God for something specifically after saying grace.

◆ Ash Wednesday is this week. After dinner, ask the family to think over what they can do as a unit during Lent that will help them grow in the Christian life.

Questions ◆ Ask your child when they have heard a per-son’s faults appear in their speech? Does this happen in name calling? When someone teases another? How do their faults appear in their speech?

◆ Tell your child about a time that you spon-taneously thanked God for something good. Ask your child what it means to them when they are thanked. Do they feel closer to the person who thanks them? Do they think that being grateful can bring them into a closer relationship with God?

◆ In the Gospel, Jesus says that “every tree is known by its own fruit.” Ask your children to say what fruit they are known by. What is the goodness that they bring to others?

Families

March 3, 2019Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ In Sunday’s First Reading, God promises the people a land “flowing with milk and honey.” Why this symbol of plenty? With your child, make some milk and honey, hot or cold, and drink it, rereading the foundational story in the First Reading (Deuteronomy 26:4–10, 24). What would it be like to leave home far behind and live as an alien in Egypt or to leave Egypt and wander in the desert for forty years?

◆ Begin a Lenten practice of putting some money in the Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl box each evening at dinner. Even the smallest child can contribute pennies. Perhaps each member of the household can contribute daily or weekly, according to his or her means.

◆ Discuss a Lenten project with your child, an act of charity or prayer, something modest you can both sustain throughout Lent. If your parish has a soup night or a prayer night, you could participate in that. Or you could plant some seeds indoors at home and tend the plant, then give it to a homebound person at Easter.

Questions ◆ In today’s First Reading, which tells the story of God’s care for the people of Israel, Moses describes how the Jews lived in Egypt “as an alien.” After Mass on Sunday, ask an older child to read this question: “Who is an alien?” Older children may be aware of immigration issues and mention illegal aliens. Are there other kinds of aliens? Homeless people? Jews or Greeks, as Paul mentions in Romans? People from other countries or other religions? How are we to treat aliens?

◆ The Devil asks Jesus to turn a stone into bread. Ask your child if she remembers hearing this story in Church and tell it again. Jesus says we don’t live by bread alone. What does that mean? What else might we live by? Why does Jesus refuse to perform the magic the Devil requests? Does he ever do magic?

◆ The Devil takes Jesus to the parapet of the Temple. Imagine standing way above a huge city and looking down. The Devil says if Jesus is the Son of God he should jump because God will save him. Why do you think he refuses to jump?

Families

March 10, 2019First Sunday of Lent


Activities ◆ Lent is a time of abstinence and fasting— avoiding certain foods, and eating less or no food at certain times. Roman Catholics forego meat on the Fridays of Lent. Consider observing a vegetarian Friday for the rest of Lent.(Vegetarians: see the vegan option for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A). Get a child’s cookbook from your library and let your child help choose and prepare a vegetable dish for the family meal. Many resources are also available through the Internet. Money saved on meat or dairy can go in the Operation Rice Bowl box.

◆ Lent is a fine time to explore Bible stories with your child. You could use a children’s Bible, or use an adult Bible and explain the hard words. Begin with the stories you love best, telling or reading them, and then talking about them together.

◆ With your child, take a look at your Lenten centerpiece. If it contains water, does it need refilling? Are leaves getting dry or crumbly? If it includes cloth, does it need to be washed? Does it still serve as a symbol of the season? Ask your child if there is any way he or she would like to modify the centerpiece as Lent progresses.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever made a promise and kept it? Or not kept it? Has anyone ever made a promise to you and kept or failed to keep it? How does it feel when someone keeps a promise? When they break a promise?” God promised Abram as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. Do you think God kept that promise?

◆ Thinking about the Second Reading, in which St. Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven,” ask an older child to read this question: “What does it mean to be a citizen?” The older child might know about and mention citizenship of city, county, state, or country. How are we also citizens of heaven? What might that mean? This could lead to a discussion of what is most important in life. Money? Food? Family? Loving our neighbor? Loving God?

◆ In today’s Gospel, Peter, John, and James go up a mountain with Jesus to pray, and there they see his clothes turn dazzling white. Afterward, they tell nothing of what they’ve seen to any-one. Why not? What might be some reasons that they would keep silent? Did you ever see something special, wonderful, and puzzling and decide to keep it to yourself? If so, why?

Families

March 17, 2019Second Sunday of Lent


excited? Can something that is boring one day be exciting another day?” Lent is half over.

Activities ◆ Did you plant a seed for Lent? Has it sprouted? If so, you have a sign of the spring (Lenz, in German) for which Lent is named. Has it failed to sprout? Tell the parable of Jesus and the fig tree (Luke 13:1–9) and encourage your child to have patience with the plant. Then, if it needs more help, perhaps add fertilizer or move it to a new, sunnier location.

◆ Read some of the prayers and statistics on the Operation Rice Bowl box aloud to your child. With her, compose your own prayer for any of the people or groups described there. You can use some of the words on the box as starting points. Let this be your mealtime prayer for a week.

◆ Help your child sort through outgrown clothes and toys he has set aside. The child can help with cleaning and repairing them and packing them up to give away. Find a suitable charity and let your child help with transporting and presenting the donation. Tell your child about Lenten alms, explaining why we do this.

Questions ◆ Does your parish have adults preparing for Baptism or preparing to be received into the Church at Easter? (The initiation process is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.) If so, today they will be celebrating the First Scrutiny, when the priest celebrant will lead the assembly in prayer for those adults. He will also lay his hands on their heads as he prays. Explain this to your child and then ask, “Why would a grown-up want to become a Roman Catholic Christian? What do you think today’s rite felt like for the adults? Did you wish you were one of them?”

◆ Moses was tending sheep at the mountain of Horeb when he saw a bush burning and heard God call to him from the bush. Tell your child this story (Exodus 3:1–8, 13–15) and ask, “How do you think Moses felt? Was he scared?” Moses hid his face at first, but then God said he had come to save the people. Ask, “How do you think Moses felt then?”

◆ Ask your child, “How does Lent feel different from other times of the year in church?” If you sense the child is finding the practices of Lent interesting and fulfilling, ask more about why. If you sense that the child is feeling tired of Lent, don’t be surprised. It’s common for some to grumble or feel bored. Ask your child to name all the things that make him bored or tired and list them in one column on a piece of paper. Then in a second column list all the things that make him feel excited, happy, or creative. Ask, “How can you get from bored to

Families

March 24, 2019Third Sunday of Lent


Activities ◆ Tell your child the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5–42), shortening and summarizing yourself or using one of many synopses available online or in a child’s Bible. Point out that it was considered improper for men to speak to women in public and that Jews and Samaritans did not like each other. Yet Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman anyway.

◆ Think of times when you (the parent) have tested your child (for example, if you fold the laundry or set the table every night this week, we can go to the movies) or times when the child has tested you (for example, deliberately misbehaving to see what you, the parent, will do). How are we sometimes tempted to test God? Why should we not do this?

◆ Invite your child to imagine with you living in a hot, dry climate and hauling water from a well every day. Draw a bucket of water and let your child feel its weight. Dip a hand in and feel how cool. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman he is giving her living water and if she drinks it she’ll never be thirsty again. Discuss what “living water” might be and how it could slake her thirst for good.

Questions ◆ Ask an older and a younger child together, “Do you ever feel that someone is testing you?” It might be another child who challenges them to a race or another contest, or it might be a teacher with a test in school. How does it feel to be tested? To test someone else? How many different kinds of tests can you think of? Why is it wrong to test God?

◆ Ask your child, “How do you know that God loves you?” Give the child plenty of time to answer. Then ask, “Do you ever fear that maybe God doesn’t love you?” God loves us when we are good and when we are bad, the way the rain falls equally on everyone, just and unjust, good and bad, right and wrong. Is that fair? Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair to us, but God sees and understands more than we do; God’s justice is better than human fairness.

◆ In today’s Gospel, Jesus converts a Samaritan woman—and her entire community. This is especially wonderful because Jews and Samaritans were estranged from each other. Jesus had to overcome that barrier in order to teach her about himself. To prepare your child to discuss the story, ask, “What kinds of people are our friends?” Encourage her to think of different nationalities and ethnicities. “Do we know any Mexicans, Greeks, Spaniards, Asians, Africans, (and so forth)? Do we know people with different-colored skin, eyes, or hair? People who speak different languages or dress differently? Can they be friends?”

Families

March 24, 2019Third Sunday of Lent, A


Activities ◆ The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called “Laetare Sunday,” a name drawn from the words of the Entrance Antiphon: Rejoice, Jerusalem. At other places in the Mass too, the prayers speak of joy. Today, we look forward to the coming celebration of Easter. Ask your children how the penances of Lent prepare them for the joy of Easter.

◆ With a small group, act out the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). You only need a father and two sons, but others can play the parts of pigs, companions, or hired hands. You can invent a role for the mother—what might she have said and done? Or the sons can be daughters, played by girls. This compelling story speaks boldly to a child’s concern for forgiveness and fairness, often apparently at odds with each other.

◆ In today’s Gospel, the scribes murmur, “This man [Jesus] welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Is there anyone outside your usual circle you might invite for a meal? An alienated relative, an unfriendly teacher, a stranger, foreigner, or new friend—someone your child would not expect to see at your table? Explain that eating with people is a way of sharing God’s love.

Questions ◆ At a quiet moment, perhaps on the way home from school, ask your child, “Can you think of someone you are mad at or someone you dislike?” It could be a friend, relative, or teacher. Encourage the child to talk about what irks him. Then ask, “Could you talk to that person about it? Could you find a way to solve the dispute or problem?”

◆ At bedtime ask your child, “If you make a mistake or do something wrong, what does God do?” Tell a brief version of the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) as illustration. Whatdoes the father do and why? How does the older brother feel about it? Is the father fair?

◆ A key point in the story of the prodigal son is when the son returns home, admitting his wrongdoing. The father describes it as “he was lost, and has been found.” Ask your child if she or a friend has ever been lost from their parent(s). Talk about the fear, the confusion, the grief, and then the sudden joy and relief of being found. How did the child feel? How did the parent feel? How does God feel when we return home to him after doing wrong?

Families

March 31, 2019Fourth Sunday of Lent


Activities ◆ Play this game with your child, with a blindfold, or your eyes closed. Ask her to lead you around a room, protecting you from walls and objects. After a time, open your eyes and look around, noticing something you haven’t seen before and naming it. Then reverse roles, asking her to notice and name something new.

◆ Tell the story of God’s choice of David to be king (1 Samuel 16) in your own words or use a picture Bible. Let the suspense build as each son of Jesse is brought before the prophet Samuel and rejected. Finally, tell how the young David is presented and the Lord’s spirit rushes upon him. People judge by appearances, thinking an older, stronger son would be chosen, but God looks into the heart.

◆ After telling or reading the story of the man born blind (John 9), invite your children to act out the story, improvising the lines. Four characters can do it in bold outline: the blind man, one of his parents, Jesus, and a Pharisee—the person who asks the questions. If there is only one child, the two of you could do more than one part. It’s all right for the children to not use the exact words of the story, as long as they experience the gift of sight, the amazement of the miracle, and the challenge of really believing it. Take turns with the roles.

Questions ◆ At bedtime, ask your child what it means to say, “the Lord is my shepherd.” After all, a child is not a sheep. What does a shepherd do for a sheep? Perhaps the child will think of food, water, protection, and comfort. Ask, “Are you like a sheep in some ways and in some ways different?”

◆ At dinnertime, ask an older child to read this question, “What does it mean to see?” Encourage all present to suggest different meanings of the verb “to see,” such as seeing physical objects, seeing that two plus two equals four, seeing into someone’s heart, and seeing invisible truth.

◆ After Mass, if the second scrutiny is celebrated in your parish, ask your child if he noticed anything unusual in the service. Did the child join in the intercessions for the elect? Who are they and what are they doing? Can our prayers help them? Perhaps add a prayer for the elect at mealtime or bedtime.

Families

March 31, 2019Fourth Sunday of Lent, A


Activities ◆ Race your child to the end of the block or let two children race. Don’t look back! When all are tired, point out that growing up and getting closer to God is like a race. Regardless of what lies behind, you keep charging forward. St. Paul says, “Forgetting what lies behind, but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal.” Let’s race again!

◆ After Mass, read Isaiah 43:19–21 again. Invite your child to draw a picture of the jackals and ostriches honoring God and the water in the desert for the people to drink.

◆ Make a plan for Holy Week and discuss it with your child. Lent ends before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday of Holy Week and the Triduum begins: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. This is the holiest time of our Christian year! Will your family be able to attend the services on these days? If Friday and Saturday services are too long for your child, Holy Thursday is a good place to begin, with its foot washing and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Explain it to your child beforehand.

Questions ◆ Before you leave for Mass, open your Bible to Isaiah 43 and read verses 19–21 to your child. This is a part of today’s First Reading. Enjoy the colorful images. Ask your child to listen for the jackals and ostriches and the water in the desert when the passage is read in church. Talk about the wonderful ways that God makes new things happen and helps us see new life where there didn’t seem to be any.

◆ Sometime when your child is crying, ask, “Do you ever feel like today is the worst day of your life? What is the worst thing about what hap-pened?” Let the child express the misery. Then suggest that tears can be like rain, watering the earth and making things grow. The Israelites were very sad when they were exiled, but God brought them back. God can bring good things from bad. Read Psalm 126, today’s Responsorial Psalm, the song of the exiles, and summarize it for your child. Perhaps you can even recall the melody for the refrain sung at Mass today.

◆ At a quiet moment, ask your child, “Have you ever done something you regretted, at school or at home?” You might open this discussion with a regret of your own. What happened? Was there punishment or some other conse-quence? Were you able to undo your action? What does Jesus say about this in today’s Gospel? He does not condemn anyone, but says “do not sin any more.”

Families

April 7, 2019Fifth Sunday of Lent


Activities ◆ If you haven’t already done so, tell your child the story of Lazarus (John 11) in simple terms. Mary and Martha were very sad when their brother Lazarus died. Jesus came to comfort them and wept. He wanted people to believe that God sent him, so he brought Lazarus back to life as a sign. Stress that this was not magic but a sign of the invisible God. The child’s own life is another such sign.

◆ If the Third Scrutiny was celebrated today at Mass, discuss it with your child. Why are our prayers for the elect so important as they prepare for Baptism? What do you think it felt like to stand up in front of everyone? Did the child pray for the elect and participate in blessing them? Include a prayer for the elect in a mealtime or bedtime prayer.

◆ Vegetarians might consider having a vegan meal. Help your child think through which foods besides meat come from animals. Eggs can become chickens; milk comes from animals and can feed their suckling babies. Plan a menu with the child and let him help as much as possible with preparation. Omnivores can try the vegetarian option on the Second Sunday of Lent.

Questions ◆ Picking up on the refrain from today’s Responsorial Psalm (“With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption”), one morning ask your child, “How do you know that the sun will rise every day? Or that the days will get longer every day from now until summer?” Help the child to sense the presence of a kind and merciful God in the order of night and day and in the sequence of seasons. Thank God for daylight.

◆ At a quiet moment, ask one or more children, “What was the best day of your life?” A discus-sion can follow. Children might think of holi-days, birthdays, vacations, days of achievement, or quiet times of comfort and closeness. Help them to recognize that each of their best moments reflects the Spirit of God dwelling in them, enlivening their days, giving them enthusiasm and joy.

◆ Sometime when your child is downhearted, ask, “Do you think Jesus ever wept?” Encourage the child to imagine all the human activities of Jesus: eating, sleeping, getting lost, finding his way, praying to his Abba, making friends, and choosing disciples. Read or tell them the story in today’s Gospel, describing how Jesus wept in empathy for his friends Mary and Martha when their brother died.

Families

April 7, 2019Fifth Sunday of Lent, A


Activities ◆ Ask your child to picture Jesus entering Jerusalem accompanied by the disciples and followed by a crowd. Jesus is triumphant, but he’s riding a donkey. Does this look strange — a king on a donkey? Perhaps draw the image of Jesus, victorious but still humble, with the crowd waving palms and spreading cloaks on the path before him. Jesus says if the crowd stopped shouting, the stones would cry out. Can you draw the stones cheering Jesus?

◆ Did you bring palms home from church? Learn how to weave the palm into a cross and do it with your child (instructions at www.squidoo .com/FoldingPalms). Leftover palms will be burned next year to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday. Tell your child about this as you weave. Like the sun rising each morning or the sequence of seasons, our annual Lenten prac-tices give a rhythm to life that can convey God’s faithful love to the child.

◆ Tomorrow begins Holy Week, the holiest week of the year. Talk with your child about how you can create a holy atmosphere in your home during Holy Week and Triduum. Discuss plans for the week. Perhaps help your child to dismantle the table centerpiece you’ve used during Lent and leave this spot empty, waiting and ready for Easter flowers or other celebra-tory decoration.

Questions ◆ After Mass, ask your child, “How did it feel to carry palms today?” If there was a procession outside or into the Church, ask if the child waved the palms or wanted to dance. Did she sing? Was it a little like a parade? Why did people seem so solemn at today’s Mass?

◆ Today is the last Sunday of Lent. Ask your child, “How do you feel about the end of Lent? Glad or sad? Did Lent do our family some good? Other people?” Perhaps count the money in the Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl box and plan to take it to the church on Holy Thursday or another appropriate time. How will the family move on from here? What plans could you make for the fifty days of Easter?

◆ The reading of the Passion in church today was very long. Ask your child, “Do you remember anything from that story?” Any detail that he noticed is praiseworthy. If your child remem-bers nothing, perhaps prompt with something you remember, such as the cock crowing three times or the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothes. If there was music or singing during the reading, you or your child might recall that.

Families

April 14, 2019Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord


Activities ◆ Help your child act out, perhaps with dolls or other figures, the events of John 20:1–9. First Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb and is devastated. She says, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Then Peter and John head for the tomb, running side by side. John races ahead, bends down, and sees the empty wrappings. Peter arrives and enters. John follows, sees, and believes that Jesus is risen.

◆ Easter flowers, decorated eggs, marshmallow chicks, and chocolate rabbits can all be related to fertility and new life; they can be integrated into a religious celebration of Easter. Seeds produce flowers, from eggs chickens hatch, and rabbits develop—all are signs of Easter’s new life. Ask your child, “Where do you see new life?” Perhaps grass is greening or bulbs bloom-ing. Maybe a seed you planted has sprouted. Is there a new interest, new friend, or new skill? Has your child learned something new, eaten something new, said something new?

◆ With your child, fill the empty spot in the center of your table with anything that celebrates renewal: flowers, fruit, dyed eggs, a stuffed or edible rabbit, or a decoration the child has made from construction paper or other material. Plan to keep the centerpiece fresh for the whole Easter season.

Questions ◆ After Mass, ask your child, “What was different in church today from the many weeks of Lent? What different colors? What flowers or banners? Why was everyone so happy? What kind of songs did we sing? Did you hear the Alleluia?” Happy Easter!

◆ If you and your child attended any of the services of the Triduum, ask your child, “What did you notice about that service? How was it different from today?” Help your child remem-ber light or darkness, use of color, special vestments and actions of the priest celebrant or the assembly.

◆ Ask your child, “What happened on the morn-ing of the first day of the week after Jesus was laid in the tomb? How did his followers feel? Sad, disappointed, hopeless? Astounded, unbelieving? Joyful, enthusiastic, renewed? How do you feel on this Easter morning?”

Families

April 21, 2019Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord


Activities ◆ Caring for a pet is a good way for children to learn mercy. Take your child to visit an animal shelter to see how animals are rescued and cared for. If it is possible for you, consider fostering a kitten. Or if an animal is too demanding, a child can show mercy to a plant, watering it and watching it grow.

◆ If there is a food you restricted during Lent, bring it to your table during Easter Time with joy and relish. Let your child help prepare it and thank God for it as you serve and eat it.

◆ Encourage your child or children to develop a mealtime prayer you will use throughout the Easter season. You could base it on, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it,” possibly adding a tune and gesture. Repeating it daily can make each meal a heart-felt celebration.

Questions ◆ After Mass, ask your child, “What do you think Jesus meant when he appeared to the disciples after Easter and said, ‘Peace be with you’? What do we mean when we say it to each other in church? How is it different from saying, ‘Have a good day’? Is the peace of Christ a special kind of peace?”

◆ In the same Gospel, Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Ask your child, “What does it mean to be sent? Whom is Jesus sending? Is he sending you or me? All of us? What might we be sent to do?”

◆ Today is sometimes called Divine Mercy Sunday. Ask your child if there is someone or something to which she could show mercy. It could be a friend, a relative, a stranger, or an animal. Showing mercy is a way of being sent.

Families

April 28, 2019Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy)


Activities ◆ In today’s reading from Revelation 5:11–14, we hear all creatures praising God. They live in four places: heaven, earth, under the earth, and in the sea. With your child, make a list of creatures in each of these categories, including every one the child can think of. Then make a drawing of one from each category, all praising God together, each in his own way. How might a mole praise God? A spider or a bat? An angel or an octopus?

◆ With a group of children, act out the great catch of fish in John 21:1–19, letting the children improvise their lines. Assign locations for the boat in the water and Jesus on the shore. Help the actors feel the exhaustion of a night fishing without success, the weight of the full net, confusion about what happened and who is on the shore, recognition of Jesus, and the experi-ence of eating with him.

◆ Is April bringing signs of new life in nature where you live? Take a walk with your child on a spring afternoon in your neighborhood or to a park or woods. Can the child spot any green shoots pushing up, wildflowers, or bulbs? Perhaps count or list the sightings, evidence of nature’s collaboration in the resurrection.

Questions ◆ With older and younger children, recall the First Reading where the Apostles say, “Better for us to obey God than people.” Then ask, “Can you think of any person, long ago or recently, who made that decision to obey God, even if people thought they were wrong?” You can start them off with a well-known martyr, such as Joan of Arc, then perhaps suggest modern figures like Bishop Oscar Romero or Martin Luther King, Jr. Accept all answers—the people need not have perished and need not have been famous.

◆ The refrain from today’s Responsorial Psalm is “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” Ask your child if she has ever needed to be rescued. If not, think of situations that might call for rescue. How would you call out to God for rescue? The psalmist says, “O Lord, be my helper,” and then says, “You changed my mourning into dancing.”

◆ At Sunday dinner, tell your children the story of Jesus’ interrogation of Peter in John 21:1–19, where Jesus repeats the question, “Do you love me?” three times. Then ask, “When Jesus says, ‘Feed my sheep,’ what do you think he means?” Encourage all children (and adults!) present to consider this question. Who are sheep or lambs? What has love got to do with it?

Families

May 5, 2019Third Sunday of Easter


Activities ◆ If your parish has a project that helps refugees, perhaps from Iraq or a South or Central American country, see if you and your child can participate, perhaps by collecting clothing and donating or preparing food. Take the child with you and let her make the donation and meet the refugees. They are people, just like us.

◆ If you have a pet, give your child a specific, manageable task in pet care, such as feeding, watering, or cage cleaning. If not, consider feeding birds or taking a trip to a zoo where feeding is allowed. Point out the analogy between the child’s care of animals and God’s care for us.

◆ Water is a scarce resource in many parts of this country and the world. Consider with your child how water can be conserved and make conservation a household practice. Learn about issues surrounding water use, reuse, and distribution, and share as much as possible with your child. This is one way we can be stewards of God’s creation.

Questions ◆ In today’s reading from Acts, Paul quotes Jesus: “I have made you a light to the nations.” Ask your child, “Who do you suppose he means by ‘nations’?” Encourage your child to think of people or groups who are “not us” or “not like us.” They could be ethnic groups (“nations” is a translation of ethnoi), economic groups (like the homeless), or kids in another grade or from another school. Jesus is a light for each and all of these.

◆ Today is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. Ask your child, “What does it mean to say ‘The Lord is my shepherd’? After all, you are not a sheep. What does a shepherd do for a sheep?” Encourage the child to imagine a shepherd protecting flocks at night, keeping them together, leading them to water, and finding good pasture. Then help the child find analo-gies in her own life.

◆ Today’s reading from Revelation says, “He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.” If you have plants and are watering them with your child, this would be a good time to ask, “What’s so important about water?” Help your child to enumerate all the roles water plays in his life and think about where the water comes from. Why is water such a good symbol for God’s care for us?

Families

May 12, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Easter


Activities ◆ If your child has come up with a way of show-ing love to strangers, put this into practice with a plan and action. It could be participation in an ongoing project of your parish or other community group, such as a food pantry or clothing donation program, or it could be a private initiative you undertake with your child.

◆ Keep the spirit of Easter alive by refreshing your Easter centerpiece and making Sunday dinner especially festive. Let your child suggest a special food she could help prepare and serve and help the child make this contribution to the table. Point out that every Sunday is a “little Easter” and include thanks to God for your child’s dish in your mealtime prayer.

◆ With your child, continue to keep track of the progress of spring, watching the earth renew itself as Pentecost approaches. List, photograph, or draw the signs of spring you and your child observe. As you walk and work, help your child to imagine life in the earliest church, when groups of followers gathered in homes for the breaking of bread and prayers, holding all their property in common.

Questions ◆ Today’s reading from Revelation speaks of God dwelling among us. Sometime on a quiet walk, ask your child, “Do you ever sense God living right here with us, helping us or loving us?” Be prepared for both positive and negative answers, opening a door for the child to talk about spiritual experience. If he says something positive, ask, “When did it happen? What was it like?”

◆ Today’s Gospel commands us to love one another as God has loved us. Ask your child, “How can we love each other when we get angry, impatient, or bored?” Give the child time to think about this and respond, and then perhaps raise the possibility of different kinds of love, that even anger can be loving—witness Jesus in the Temple, overturning the tables of the money lenders.

◆ Question 2 refers mainly to family and friends, intimates of the child. On another day, ask, “How can we love people we don’t yet know, strangers?” These could be people on the street, refugees, homeless people, children at another school, or people of a different faith.

Families

May 19, 2019Fifth Sunday of Easter


Activities ◆ Is there a disagreement about rules or actions to take at your Church, your child’s school, or in your family? Tell your child (and others involved, if appropriate) the story of the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:1–29). How did the early Church resolve the debate about Jewish and pagan customs? They decided on reasonable compromise and adaptation to circumstances. Could these principles be applied in your situation?

◆ Days will be getting longer and warmer in many places now. If it’s warm enough, plan an outdoor picnic with your child. Encourage him to notice any budding leaves on trees or other growth and thank God for the return of the summer sun. In the spirit of the ancient may-pole, do a little outdoor dance.

◆ Since May is a special month devoted to Mary, Mother of God, pray the Rosary as a family and make up a tune for these words and sing them together: “O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the angels and Queen of the May.”

Questions ◆ In today’s Gospel, Jesus says goodbye to his friends. Ask your child to tell you about good-byes he or she has said. Some will be casual, like goodbyes to schoolmates after school or siblings in the morning. Some may be serious and sad, if an animal, friend, or relative has died. What does “goodbye” really mean? It’s a prayer and a blessing: “God be with you.” With your child, pray this prayer for anyone absent.

◆ When Jesus says goodbye, he promises to send the Spirit as a teacher and reminder of every-thing Jesus taught. Ask your child, “Do you ever feel filled with God’s Spirit?” If the child is responsive to the question, you can help him or her think of times of enthusiastic energy or quiet calm. What did it feel like? If not, you can mention Spirit-filled times in your own life.

◆ Explain to your child how the early Church had to decide if all people could be Christians or only Jews, like Jesus. Then ask, “How do you think it is today? Can everyone be Christian? What about people of different colors? Different customs? People in prison? The bully at school?” Yes, all of them, even the bully. If he becomes a Christian, maybe he will change.

Families

May 26, 2019Sixth Sunday of Easter


Activities ◆ Collect images of the Holy Spirit from a picture Bible, reproductions of paintings, or the Internet. Let your child see the number and variety of images that are possible. Encourage her to think of and draw her own, perhaps illustrating a familiar Bible story such as the Spirit descend-ing on Jesus when John baptizes him.

◆ Today’s psalm says, “All people, clap your hands. Cry to God with shouts of joy.” With your child, make up a song and gesture prayer using these words and clapping. Offer to teach it to your child’s Sunday school or religious- education class.

◆ At bedtime prayer, count up the ways that Jesus is present to the child, even though he has ascended to heaven. Let the child think of the way he experiences Jesus, perhaps in the love of parents, relatives, or friends, perhaps in his own life, gifts, and abilities. Often, in this way, parents may learn from children.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever felt happy and sad about something at the same time?” The child might mention the end of an anticipated event, such as a vacation, birthday, or holiday. When Jesus left the Apostles for the last time, they were “filled with joy” (Luke 24:46–59). Ask, “How do you think this was possible? What were they so happy about?”

◆ When Jesus leaves, he promises that the Apostles will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1–11). This is partly like Baptism with water and partly different. The Holy Spirit is sometimes shown as a dove, sometimes as fire or wind. Ask, “What do you think Baptism with the Spirit might be like? What other images from nature might represent the Spirit? What might a person baptized by the Spirit go out and do?”

◆ Jesus tells the Apostles to be his witnesses, here in Jerusalem and “to the ends of the earth.” Ask your child, “Can you be a witness? Can I? What does it mean to be a witness at home, in church, at school, here in our town or city?” Perhaps think of a good witness the child knows or knows of and talk about that person. How do they witness to the Gospel?

Families

May 30 or June 2, 2019The Ascension of the Lord


Activities ◆ Bring a drink of water to a thirsty pet or family member. See how eagerly an animal laps it up or how gratefully a family member takes a drink. If you have an opportunity, give water to a friend or stranger outside your house, and note your twofold gift: care and water.

◆ Parents, discuss with your child how you might extend God’s care to a stranger, perhaps with a donation of canned goods to a food pantry or outgrown clothes or toys to a resale center. Let the child choose the items and present the donation.

◆ Open a discussion among older and younger children about the unfairly accused. Encourage the discussion to broaden from personal hurts to current affairs, national and global, depend-ing on the children’s ages and awareness. Then help them select one or two so-called enemies to pray for, incorporating the words of the martyr Stephen (Acts 7:62).

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever felt unfairly accused? Accused, for instance, of bothering another child, or taking his or her toys, or fail-ing to clean up someone else’s spill?” Stephen was persecuted merely for proclaiming a vision of Jesus and God, but he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Could you pray for someone who did you wrong?

◆ Today’s Second Reading from Revelation describes the voice of the Alpha and Omega, ready to give judgment, saying, “Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.” A more child-friendly version of the concept might be a conversation that begins with the question, “Can you remember a time when you were really thirsty? Think back or imagine such a time, perhaps walking or riding on a hot day or sitting in school in early fall or late spring, waiting for a drink. Thirst for God can be just that strong. God promises water that satisfies both kinds of thirst, and both kinds of water keep you alive.”

◆ To help your child approach the concept presented in today’s Gospel, “that they may all be one” (the Father, the Son, and Christ’s disciples), ask “Whom do you love?” List all the family members, friends, teachers, pets, and even fictional characters that come to mind. “Who loves you?” Another list. “God loves Jesus even more, and God sends Jesus to bring God’s love to you. You can complete the circle by bringing God’s love to others.”

Families

June 2, 2019Seventh Sunday of Easter


Activities ◆ The Spirit gives each of us special gifts. Ask your child, “What are you particularly good at? Think of friends or family members. What is each person’s special gift? How can you use your gift for the common good?” Plan a specific action to share your gift, such as helping a parent, creating something beautiful, or mak-ing a new friend.

◆ If anyone (or everyone) in your family speaks a language other than English, discuss the difficulties of learning a new language. Alternately, listen to a foreign-language broadcast on radio or television and note how the disciples must have felt, surrounded by foreign tongues. List words the child can learn to use in any language. Then imagine the sudden clarity of understanding of everything you hear.

◆ Read your child the first few lines of Acts 2. What happens when a strong wind blows? Think of scarves flying, people grabbing hats and leaning into the wind, having trouble walking. Encourage the child to try to walk as though against the wind. Then have the child draw a picture of the bewildered crowd at Pentecost, maybe adding tongues of fire.

Questions ◆ Today we celebrate the Holy Spirit filling Jesus’ disciples with energy and courage to spread the Good News. Scripture describes the Spirit as “tongues of fire.” Ask your child, “What kind of fire helps and does not hurt? Think of all the good things fire can do for you.”

◆ One morning, ask your child, “What wakes you up full of energy in the morning when you went to bed tired the night before? What renews your courage when you’ve been feeling scared?” When you jump out of bed, it’s the Spirit that enlivens you. The same Holy Spirit that came as fire to the disciples renews you and me each day.

◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever said, or felt, ‘Aha! Now I understand?’” Perhaps she has just learned a new word or a new skill. Recall the time when it was still vague and murky and the moment when the child suddenly “got” it. At Pentecost, Jews from every nation were assembled in Jerusalem, and each heard the disciples tell the Good News in his or her own language. Suddenly, they got it.

Families

June 9, 2019Pentecost Sunday


Activities ◆ Although the verses in today’s First Reading don’t include it, the Book of Proverbs personi-fies the wisdom of God as female. (At the beginning of chapter 8, we read “Does not Wisdom call, / and Understanding raise her voice?”) In Greek, “wisdom” is “sophia.” Introduce your child to Sophia, the Wisdom of God, using a children’s Bible or reading and paraphrasing Proverbs 1:20–21 and then some lines from today’s First Reading, Proverbs 8:22–31. Help your child envision and then draw this female companion in God’s creation, firming up the sky or setting limits on the sea, always both wise and playful.

◆ Read Psalm 8 with your child. It says that God has given us power over creation. We have to use this power wisely, to care for “all sheep and oxen . . . the birds of the air and fishes of the sea.” Discuss each group of animals with your child and consider how you can care for the earth. Then choose one action, such as buying local, humanely raised meat, choosing sustain-able fish, or joining your local zoo.

◆ The psalmist looks at the heavens, the moon, and the stars and marvels at the scope of God’s creation and the place of mortals in it. If you live in a place where you can see stars at night, help your child to identify some of the constel-lations, pointing out that God cares for all his creation, including the child and the stars. Or find a child’s book about constellations and read it together.

Questions ◆ Ask your child to tell you about favorite games and the ways the child likes to play. Include in your discussion make-believe, physical activity, and any creative activities the child enjoys. Then help the child see that his or her play, “playing on the surface of the earth” (from the Proverbs reading), delights God, as does all of God’s creation.

◆ At a tearful moment, ask your child, “When you fall and hurt yourself or have a stomach-ache, can you still love God?” Let the child explore feelings about and expectations of God, maybe adding your own response to adversity. People are often angry with those they love, and wrestling with God is a biblical tradition (as in Genesis 32:23–32). This week’s Scripture (Romans 5:1–5) reminds us that affliction can lead to endurance and hope.

◆ In today’s Gospel, Jesus has physically left the disciples, and he promises the Spirit of truth to guide them. You might include older and younger children in this discussion. Ask, “Do you ever hear the Spirit of truth guiding you? It might be in your own choice to tell the truth when a lie would be easier or to do the right thing when that is difficult. Can you listen for the voice of truth inside you?” Younger children may profit from more articulate older ones.

Families

June 16, 2019The Most Holy Trinity


Activities ◆ With your child, prepare some food to share. Let the child help plan, shop, prepare, and serve or deliver. It could be a meal to share with friends, cookies to take to a nursing home or homebound person, or some time preparing or serving food at a shelter. Point out how sharing creates “community,” a word close to “communion.”

◆ Plan a memorial event at home. It could be a toast to a deceased relative on his or her birth-day, a prayer service for a departed pet, or a celebration of one of the child’s achievements. The event could include a meal, a song, or a prayer of thanksgiving, perhaps with an object to remind the celebrants of the event, creature, or person remembered.

◆ God’s justice favors the poor and the weak. Does your child know anyone younger who could use some help? A younger sibling? A child in a younger grade who might like company for a walk to school or help with math or reading? If there is any mentoring or tutoring program at your school or church, your child could get involved, doing his or her part to bring about God’s Kingdom.

Questions ◆ King Melchizedek was a priest who blessed God with bread and wine (Genesis 14), and his name means “just king.” Ask your child, “Are the rulers of your life just?” Consider bigger kids, parents, teachers, police, and elected officials. Have you ever been bullied? What makes a just ruler? How does God’s justice regard the weak? The strong? See what the beautiful Catholic prayer, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) has to say about this.

◆ Jesus commands us to eat bread and drink wine together “in memory of” him. Ask your child, “What else do we do ‘in memory of ’”? Think of celebrations that help us to remember past events and the passage of time: birthdays, holidays and events specific to your family. What do we remember about Jesus? Help your child reconstruct the night he was betrayed (1 Corinthians 11:23–26).

◆ Tell your child the story of Jesus feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fishes or read the story from a children’s Bible (Luke 9:11–17). Then ask, “How do you think this was pos-sible?” Let the child speculate and imagine. Then help him consider generosity, sharing, kinds of hunger, and kinds of satisfaction. Consider that human hungers are not for bread alone.

Families

June 23, 2019The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)


Activities ◆ Give a young child a flashlight and let him take you for a walk outdoors, showing the way. Or turn off outside lights and do the same inside. Sometimes one person shows God’s path to another.

◆ Tell your child the story of the Good Samaritan using a children’s Bible or read Luke 10:29–37 and paraphrase it for your child. To Jesus and his fellow Jews, Samaritans were foreigners. With a group of children, act out the story.

◆ Help an elementary-age child to make a simple map of your neighborhood. Then get a biblical atlas from your library or find a Bible with maps in the back and locate Galilee, Samaria, and Jerusalem. Can you trace Jesus’ path from Galilee in the north to Jerusalem in the south? The Lord’s path can be a physical journey in your neighborhood or in the Holy Land as well as a choice of action.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “How can you follow Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor as your-self? Encourage the child to think of concrete examples in her own life and the life of the family, parish, or classroom. Then ask, “Who is your neighbor?” Move from literal neighbors outward to friends, acquaintances, and strang-ers. Are people from other countries neighbors? Other religions?

◆ Ask a younger and an older child, “Do you ever have trouble deciding what’s the right thing to do?” Perhaps an issue has come up at home, school, or church requiring a choice of action. Do you consider principle or practicality? Do you list pros and cons? Try to avoid hurt feel-ings? Consult your conscience? Pray? Both the prophet Elisha and the disciples had to choose between responsibilities to their families and following God’s command.

◆ The psalmist says, “You [God] will show me the path of life.” Ask your child, “Have you ever prayed for something and gotten it? Prayed for something and failed to get it?” Many people have both experiences, and both can be experi-ences of God.

Families

June 30, 2019Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


July 7, 2019 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Questions ◆ In this week’s reading from Isaiah, God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Ask your child, “Have you ever felt comforted by God as if by your mother?” Let the child ponder and reflect. Then ask, “How is God like a mother, like a father, or like a child?” Point out that God is none of these, but each can be a way of gaining understanding of something about God.

◆ Jesus sent the disciples out and said, “Wear no sandals and take no traveling bag.” Yet we wear shoes and take bags wherever we go. What might this instruction mean in the life of our families? What things do we rely on that we could do without? Extra clothes? Extra dishes? Extra furniture? Make a list of extra things in your life.

◆ In this week’s Second Reading, St. Paul says, “may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Cross of Christ is a great mystery that children (and adults too) will come to comprehend a little at a time. In a way appropriate for your child’s age, talk about the Cross and what it means. Why would Paul want to boast about it? What great value does it have for us?

Activities ◆ With a sheet of art paper and crayons or markers, help your child make a list with words or pictures of people and things that show what God is like: mother, father, child, judge, teacher, infant (baby Jesus), rocks, flowers. Every time you look at a child’s Bible you will see more images of God. Add them to the list with word and illustration.

◆ Look at your list of extra things and collect some to take to a resale shop that benefits a charity or to a rummage sale or shelter. Let your child help choose, pack, and deliver.

◆ With your child, read today’s Responsorial Psalm. If the child can read, let him or her take a part. Talk about God’s wonderful deeds in history and in the life of your family. During the week, try repeating the last line in the first stanza as a short prayer at odd moments throughout the day. Parent can give the cue: “Say to God.” Child can answer: “How tremendous are your deeds!”

Families


Activities ◆ Tell the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), paraphrasing or by using a children’s Bible. Change the Levite to a group familiar to your child, such as teacher. Change the Samaritan to a group foreign to your child or marginalized in your community. It could be a foreign national or a member of a different religion or social group, such as a homeless person. Ask Jesus’ question: “Who was neighbor to the man robbed?”

◆ Help the child make an illustrated list of things he or she loves about God. If the child is old enough, you can divide the list into things he loves with heart, with mind, and with soul.

◆ Think of a person or group in your school, town, or parish that could use some compassion, or perhaps choose a community that has recently suffered a natural disaster. With your child, plan one small way to play the good Samaritan in relation to this person, group, or community.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Why do you love God?” Help the child think of things he or she loves that come from God, such as the child’s own life, parents, friends, animals, aspects of nature. You can discuss why you love God as well. What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

◆ Ask your child, “How can you be a good neigh-bor? To the person who lives next door or across the hall, to a friend at school, to a stranger? What makes a good neighbor?” (You can connect this question with Activity 1).

◆ Ask your child, “How do we know what God wants for us? Where can we look to find out?” In this week’s First Reading, Moses suggests that people might want to look to the sky for answers or across the sea. In truth, the answer is already in each of our hearts, in the child’s own mouth and heart.

Families

July 14, 2019Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ If there is a pregnancy in the family or the family of friends, collect images of fetal devel-opment from the Internet or an encyclopedia. Depending on your child’s age, you can investi-gate the intricate details of fetal development. The closer you look, the more miraculous it appears.

◆ From an art book, encyclopedia, or the Internet, collect images of Jesus. See how different he looks at different ages and in different artistic traditions. Remember that he came from the Middle East and must have had brown skin. He probably spoke Aramaic (related to Hebrew) and was a Jew. Compare an infant Jesus with an adult one and a crucified one.

◆ Tell the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42), paraphrasing or using a children’s Bible. Help your child to make a drawing or painting of Martha busy with hospitality while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, listening.

Questions ◆ If your child has already asked where he or she comes from and received a biological answer, ask, “Where do you think you come from?” After the child answers, “From your stomach” or some variant, find some images of the earliest development of a fetus. Discuss the miracle of human life springing from cell division and differentiation. Ask, “How can a cell know to become skin or brain, heart or bone?”

◆ Ask your child, “How do you picture Jesus? As a baby, a child, a traveling preacher and teacher, a condemned man?” St. Paul in this week’s reading speaks of “the mystery of Christ in you.” Ask, “Have you ever thought about Christ being in you? What would that look like? Feel like?”

◆ (After Activity 3) Ask your child, “Have you ever seen your mother or father racing around, trying to get dinner on the table or get the house clean, anxious and worried? Have you ever wished they would stop worrying and calm down?” Now invite your child, “Next time you feel this way, remind us of the two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha kept busy with household tasks, while Mary sat and listened to Jesus. Remind your parents to be calm and listen to the Lord.”

Families

July 21, 2019Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With older and younger children together, identify a justice issue among current events. It could be an issue in international relations, a matter of immigration law, or something else. Discuss this issue in light of Genesis 18:20–32, where God tells Abraham, “For the sake of ten just men, I will not destroy the city.”

◆ With your child, pray the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s simpler version (Luke 11:1–13). Pray it slowly. Let the less familiar version help you to get closer to the deep meaning of the words. Remind your child “whoever knocks is admit-ted.” Prayer is a kind of knocking.

◆ Ask your child to choose a sibling or friend and think of one simple thing that person wants. Is it something you can give them? As parents give good things to their children, children can provide goodness to each other. Help your child prepare and present this simple gift.

Questions ◆ On a day when your child feels unfairly treated or is otherwise protesting injustice, ask, “Has your whole class ever been punished for some-thing one child did wrong? How did that feel? Do you think God would punish a whole country or city for something one or a few people did? What would you do if you were in God’s place?”

◆ Ask your child, “How does water help us?” Let the child list as many uses for water as he or she can. Then ask, “How can water hurt us?” Again let the child list the dangers of water. Then ask, “What do you think happens when the Church baptizes with water? You were baptized once. Do you think it changed you?”

◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever prayed for something and gotten the opposite thing you asked for or nothing at all? Prayed and received what you wanted? Has anyone ever asked you for something and received it from you or asked and been refused?” Jesus says persistence pays off. Just as you wouldn’t refuse a needy person a loaf of bread, God won’t refuse the Holy Spirit to anyone who persists in asking.

Families

July 28, 2019Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Psalm 90 says in the final stanza, “Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.” Have you and your child ever been up early to expe-rience daybreak together? Set your alarm and try it. Find a place in your yard or a view out a window that allows you to see the sun’s first rays. Together, notice all the colors and sounds of the dawn. Then pray this stanza of the psalm and feel the gladness!

◆ Before or after dinner, gather the family and read aloud this week’s Gospel (Luke 12:13–21). Discuss the meaning. If appropriate, consider what extra accumulated goods in your house-hold you could dispense with. If there are no extras, consider unnecessary activities that occupy time and attention, like long periods of watching TV.

◆ With your child, collect pictures from maga-zines or the Internet and make a collage of images of God. Remind your child that these are not pictures of God but ways we can imag-ine the invisible God. Be sure to include a photo of the child.

Questions ◆ At a time when there is a contest or other competitive situation at school or Church, ask your child, “Do you think the best player or contestant always wins? Are there times when someone less deserving gets first prize or the best grade? How do you feel about this? Do you think this happens in the grown-up world too?” Whenever we lose in a human contest, does it mean that God doesn’t love us?

◆ In this week’s Gospel, someone says to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share.” Ask your child, “Have you ever felt cheated of your share? Do we as a family feel cheated of our share?” With your child, reflect on whether your family has come to value things over more long-lasting values.

◆ The refrain for this week’s psalm (90) is “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” How can we keep our hearts open to the voice of God during the day so that we can remember his love for us and know what is most important?

Families

August 4, 2019Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Tell the story of the call of Abraham (Genesis 12), recapitulated in this week’s reading from Hebrews (11:1–2, 8–12), paraphrasing or using a children’s Bible. Ask your child to imagine leaving home with all you own, not knowing where you are going or why, living in tents with your family. Would that be adventurous, scary, or both?

◆ For mealtime prayer, ask each family member to think of a blessing for which he or she is grateful.

◆ With older and younger children and adults, discuss a justice issue currently in the public view. It could be anything from curfews for young people to affordable housing to overseas nation-building. Discuss how justice might be served in relation to this issue. Pray about the issue together as a family.

Questions ◆ Have a discussion with your child about invis-ible things that are real, asking him to name some. The child might think of God and angels, or atoms, molecules, and air, or hail forming, hidden in clouds, or water after it evaporates, or affects like love or anger. Make a list. Then ask, “Do you have to see, touch, or hear some-thing for it to be real?”

◆ Ask your child whether she feels blessed. Allow for both positive and negative answers. Perhaps join your child in listing blessings received by the child and your family. Enlarge the discus-sion by considering people in other parts of the world or living under different conditions, such as war, drought, or other hardship.

◆ This week’s reading from Wisdom (18:6–9) speaks of “the salvation of the just.” Ask your child, “Whom do you know who is just and fair? A friend, a teacher, a parent or relative, other authority figure, any public figure?” Discuss what makes a person just.

Families

August 11, 2019Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ If it is practical for you to make a fire outdoors and cook on it or even toast a marshmallow, let your child gather leaves and twigs and blow on the fire to get it going. Discuss how fire can help and hurt. Or if this is not feasible, use crayons or markers to draw a fire and surround the picture with a list of good and bad things fire can do. Consider the way fire transforms wood into ash and smoke that rises to heaven like incense, into prayer.

◆ This week’s Second Reading says we are sur-rounded by “a cloud of witnesses.” These are all the good people who encourage us to lead a Catholic Christian life. Help your child make a picture with herself in the center. Then let the child identify all the people who support her in the life of faith. Use drawings, photos, or other symbols, as well as names, so that this will be a picture of the cloud of witnesses around your child.

◆ Today’s Responsorial Psalm is an urgent prayer for God’s help. Talk with your child about times when he or the family has been in trouble. Pray this psalm together. If the child cannot read, let the refrain (“Lord, come to my aid!”) be his part, and you read the verses. Explain that even when we are not in trouble it is good to pray these psalms. It is good practice for the times when we do need help. Or we can pray the prayer on behalf of someone we know who needs God’s rescue.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “What do you think Jesus meant when he said (in this week’s Gospel, Luke 12:49–53), ‘I have come to set the earth on fire?’ Was it a literal fire?” Talk about the qualities of fire. Which of these qualities might Jesus have wanted to bring to the earth? Read the rest of the short Gospel and discuss what kind of fire it might be.

◆ To explore what Jesus says in the Gospel about establishing division on the earth, with your child reflect on any quarrels he may have had recently with friends, family members, or teachers. They probably felt bad at the time. Ask, “Looking back, can you see anything good or worthwhile about this quarrel? Did you or the other person change in any way? Learn anything?”

◆ The prophet Jeremiah got punished for speak-ing the truth, for letting the Holy Spirit within him speak. Ask your child, “Do you know anyone who’s been punished for speaking the truth?” Consider friends and family members but also public or historical figures such as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or saints such as Joan of Arc.

Families

August 18, 2019Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ If your family has any connection to other countries, such as ancestors, relatives, or friends, bring some of their customs, lan-guages, or food into your home. You could cook a meal of these “brothers’ and sisters’” foods, teach your child some of their languages, or tell some of their stories. If you have no personal connections, learn about a Mexican, Canadian, or Native American tradition and practice it at home.

◆ With your child, think of someone at school, church, or in the community who is “last,” whether because of illness, poverty, recent arrival, job loss, or something else. Think of one simple thing your child could do to make that person feel “first” — whether a call, a card, a visit, or a gift of something homemade. Be sure the child makes and presents the gift or participates in the visit.

◆ Does your child know someone discouraged in school or church? A kind word or invitation to play can turn grief into joy. Discuss with your child the children he knows and think of a simple way your child could offer comfort.

Questions ◆ In this week’s First Reading, the prophet Isaiah says, “I come to gather nations of every language . . . they will bring all your brothers and sisters to the Lord.” Find a map or globe and identify some of the countries near the United States. Ask your child their names and what languages are spoken by the people in those lands and share what you know about some customs different from ours. For an older child, ask, “How can we understand our neighbors better? How can we all proclaim God’s glory together?”

◆ Ask your child, “Do you ever feel droopy and weak or discouraged?” Encourage her to tell you how it feels and what causes the feeling. Tell your child that low feelings can teach us something and that we can be joyful in the end. If you’ve ever had drooping spirits, tell your child about it and how you came out of it. Then ask, “Has that ever happened to you?”

◆ This week’s Gospel ends, “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Ask, “Is anyone of your classmates or friends always first? Best in sports or best at reading or math? Are you ever first? Are you ever last? What does that feel like? What does the Gospel say about that?” Identify well-known people who are first: presidents or pop stars. Then identify those who are last: the homeless or recent immigrants. What do their futures look like?

Families

August 25, 2019Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Play a listening game with your child. Have the child close his or her eyes. Name five objects you can see. The child opens her eyes and tries to repeat the five back to you. Reverse roles. You can do it with any category of things, seen or unseen, such as colors, animals, people, cities, countries, or kinds of weather. See who has the most “attentive ear [which is] the joy of the wise,” according to this week’s reading from Sirach (3:17–18, 20, 28–29).

◆ Think of a child in your child’s class or circle of friends who is often excluded. Plan an event for this child and your own, such as a play date, a meal, or an excursion. Try to make the event comfortable and enjoyable for both your child and the other.

◆ Make a meal prayer from Psalm 67 using the lines, “The just shall rejoice at the presence of God / They shall exult and dance for joy.” The whole family can pray this standing, circling the table, and clapping and raising arms on “dance.” Encourage the child to invent gestures.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “What does it mean to humble yourself?” Help the child to find concrete examples, such as letting another child go first or letting him or her sit in front. If your child is overly humble and never tries to go first, distinguish between appropriate humility and self-negation.

◆ When a birthday or other event calls for cel-ebration, ask your child, “Whom should we invite?” First on the list will inevitably be best friends. Then ask, “Whom can we invite who might not invite you back? Is there a child who never gets invited anywhere? Can we include that person too?”

◆ Ask your child, “How do you imagine God? Like a mountain or a fire, a storm or a trumpet blast? Like a beautiful city where angels are having a party? Or in some entirely different way?” You can help the child expand on these biblical images. Ask, for instance, ”If God were a musical instrument, what kind would it be? What kind of sound would the instrument make?” You can share your own image of God as well.

Families

September 1, 2019Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With your child, carry out the project planned in Question 1. When it’s completed, look back at the plan and see if it worked or if it needed to be changed. Then make a similar, modest plan for responding to a justice issue in your com-munity, such as helping at a food pantry or with a clothing drive. Keep the steps within the child’s capacity and execute it.

◆ If possible with your morning schedule, take a minute with your child at waking time to experience God’s love filling and enlivening you for the day. With the child, invent a short morning prayer of thanks. (You can consult Psalm 63 for ideas.)

◆ With your child, building on your discussion of loved ones, make a map you can call “circles of love.” Family could be a central circle sur-rounded by circles of friends, church members, and other social groups, perhaps camp or your child’s play group. If your child has cousins, they might be both friends and family, and the circles will intersect. Don’t forget pets and fictional characters. Fill in the circles with names and drawings, and photos or symbols of each person.

Questions ◆ In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the mature, committed disciple to an architect who plans carefully before undertaking the construction of a tower. Coming to maturity in faith will be an ongoing task for your child, but to plant seeds of understanding, watch for a time when your child has a project to do for school or church and ask, “How do you go about plan-ning this?” Sit down with the child and ask, “What materials do you need? Where can you do this? How much time will it take? What will it cost? Is the plan practical or do you need to change it?”

◆ Taking inspiration from the last stanza of today’s Responsorial Psalm (“Fill us at daybreak with your kindness . . .”) at bedtime, ask your child, “When you wake up in the morning, do you feel filled with God’s love? At other times? When are you most aware of it?” You can share your own experience of God’s love filling and animating you.

◆ Ask your child, “Whom do you love so much that you would call them ‘my heart,’ as Paul does his servant Philemon in this week’s read-ing (Philemon 9–10, 12–17).” Let the child consider friends, family members, pets, even fictional characters. Then share your own loves and be sure to include the child.

Families

September 8, 2019Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With a group of children, act out the story of the prodigal son. The father and two sons are obvious roles, but a girl can play the mother. Discuss how the mother might have responded to the father’s actions. Other children can be companions to the prodigal son in “dissolute living,” or play the role of the servant, pigs, or participants in the celebration.

◆ Look at paintings of religious subjects in a museum, children’s Bible, or on the Internet. Discuss with your child whether these works might be seen as idols. What’s the difference between a painting of a Madonna and Child and a golden calf? In the Catholic Christian tradition we use visible and audible beauty as well as edible bread and wine to point to the invisible.

◆ Make a mealtime or bedtime prayer from these lines of this week’s Responsorial Psalm 51: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” Point out that our lips and mouth can praise God, and our thoughts and feelings will follow. Actions as well as objects can point to the invisible.

Questions ◆ Tell your child how the people once made a calf out of gold and prayed to it, calling it God. Then ask, “What do you think is wrong with praying to an object?” After the child has considered and you have discussed it, ask, “Do you think we, in our family, town, or church, ever worship things or people as though they were God?” You might consider money, armaments, or people in power.

◆ At a time when your child has lost something, like a key, a sock, or a paper for school, ask, “How does that feel?” Help the child to look for it, and if you find it, rejoice! If you don’t find it, remind the child that God rejoices when someone makes a mistake or does something wrong and then returns to God, sorry for what they’ve done.

◆ At a time when your child feels treated unfairly, tell the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:1–32). Ask, “Was it fair to the elder brother that the younger got the big welcome home and the party?” After discussing this, ask, “Is life fair? Do we understand God’s ways?”

Families

September 15, 2019Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ In this Sunday’s First Reading, the prophet Amos castigates those who “fix [their] scales for cheating.” With younger and older children, list your usual sources for groceries, drugs, and other routine supplies. What do you know about these stores? Are they chains or locally owned? Do they charge fair prices? Do they pay their workers fairly? If they don’t use fair practices, is there any way you could change your family’s patronage to avoid the injustice?

◆ The Second Reading from 1 Timothy (2:1–8) asks that we pray “lifting up holy hands.” Try praying your mealtime prayer with hands in the traditional orans position, palms upward and open to receive God’s gift of grace, raising arms at the end.

◆ This week’s Gospel teaches, “If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?” Talk with your child about how important it is to be trust-worthy with the possessions of others. Create an opportunity for her to practice this trust-worthiness. A young child might be responsible for carrying someone’s umbrella or jacket on a walk. An older child might be designated the “treasurer,” carrying the money to be spent for a visit to an ice cream store or some-thing similar.

Questions ◆ When an issue of cheating or stealing comes up in the family, at church, or in school, ask your child, “Do you think it is okay to cheat in small things? How about things that don’t hurt anyone?” Discuss glancing at another child’s paper while taking a test, stealing a small item from a large store, taking pennies from an adult’s purse. What do you, the parent, think about accepting payments in cash to avoid reporting income?

◆ When talking with your child about what he would like to be when grown up, ask, “Which is more important to you, making a lot of money or doing a lot of good? Is it possible to do both?” Depending on your child’s answers, ask, “What would you do with the money you make? What kind of good would you like to do?”

◆ Following up on Paul’s recommendations in the First Letter to Timothy, today’s Second Reading, ask your child, “Do we need to pray for the president, governor, senator, bishops, or pope?” Choose one person in a position of authority and ask, “What would you like to pray for that person?”

Families

September 22, 2019Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ If you live in an area where a café offers free meals for homeless and paying customers alike, take your child to share a table and a meal with homeless or impoverished people. Two projects that do this are Soup and Bread, www.soup andbread.net, now active in many cities around the country, and Inspiration Kitchens, www.inspirationkitchens.org. Jesus People USA www.jpusa.org also offers similar opportunities.

◆ Psalm 146 says the Lord sets captives free. (Some translations of the Bible say “sets prison-ers free.”) Children will naturally be puzzled by this, viewing prisoners as people who have done something bad. Tell your child the stories of Catholic witnesses unfairly imprisoned, from St. Paul, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, and Thomas More to Dorothy Day. Find information about these people in books at the library or on the Internet.

◆ With your child, make prayer cards for use at meal or bedtime, using your favorite words from Psalm 146. Decorate the cards with crayons or markers and glue them to card-board, then use whenever you wish.

Questions ◆ Perhaps after a conflict at school or in church, ask your child, “Is there such a thing as a good fight?” Discuss the things people fight for: property and power but also justice and equal rights. This week’s Second Reading (1 Timothy 6:11–16) commands, “Fight the good fight of faith.” Ask, “What might that mean?”

◆ Ask your child, “How do we, as a family, live?” Help the child enumerate the specifics of your way of life, perhaps drawing or listing them: house or apartment; heating or cooling; electric light, gas, or kerosene; availability or lack of water and food. Awareness of what your family has or lacks is a cure for complacency, against which the prophet Amos preaches.

◆ Now that the child is conscious of how your family lives (Question 2), ask, “How can we give bread to the hungry, as this week’s psalm (146) commands?” Respond favorably to any ideas your child suggests.

Families

September 29, 2019Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ If your child is personally involved in a dispute, discuss the issues and make a plan for peaceful resolution, seeking justice for all involved. With the child, list in two columns what each party wants and then what each could give up to reach a compromise.

◆ With your child, plant a seed in a pot and set it in a sunny window. It could be a citrus seed you would otherwise discard or a seed you found or bought. Let the child water it and observe what happens over the next days and weeks. Faith the size of a mustard seed can grow in the same way.

◆ Find the image of God in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, looking in an art book, encyclo-pedia, or on the Internet. Point out to your child how God gives life to humans, just as God’s Spirit animates you, your child, and all people. Find other images of God by other artists and compare. Ask your child which images seem truer to him.

Questions ◆ At a time when there has been a fight or other discord in the family, among your child’s friends, at school or at church, ask your child, “Can you envision a world without fighting or violence? What would it look like? How would people settle disagreements or conflicts?”

◆ This week’s Responsorial Psalm, 95, says of God, “let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.” Of course God is not a rock any more than we are sheep, but “rock” is a way to imagine God’s strength and steadfastness. Ask, “What else in nature might God be like? A tree? Mountain? Cloud? Canyon? Flower? Sunset?” Explore the many qualities of God through his creation.

◆ At a time you find appropriate, ask your child, “Did Jesus’ followers ever feel doubt? Were they ever unsure about their faith?” If you have a mustard seed in the house, find it and look at it, or find an image in a book or on the Internet. In today’s Gospel, Jesus’s disciples asked him to increase their faith, and he responded that faith the size of that little seed could be powerful.

Families

October 6, 2019Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With older and younger children, act out the story of Naaman and Elisha, using the longer version in the Bible, 2 Kings 5:1–20. There are multiple roles for boys and girls. Then discuss Naaman’s conviction that God belongs to a particular plot of earth. It is human and natu-ral to seek God in a particular place, but ask, “Is God attached to one nation more than another? One country? One ethnic group?”

◆ With a young child, make a list of blessings for which the child would like to thank God. Then help him or her invent a little song of thanks, loud or quiet, fast or slow, tuneful or tuneless. Sing it together. This can be a private song for bedtime or waking.

◆ With older and younger children, talk about the experience of people coming from other countries to make a home in North America or to find seasonal work. What different kinds of migrants and immigrants are there? How do we treat them? How did Jesus treat foreigners? Information on the Church’s position is at www.justiceforimmigrants.org/index.shtml.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “Do you have a favorite place to pray? A place where you feel especially close to God? Perhaps a favorite seat or pew in church? Or a place indoors or outdoors, in nature?” If the child answers with a place or places, ask, “What happens if you try to pray in a different place?”

◆ When Naaman, a Gentile, was cured of leprosy, he came to believe in the God of Israel. Tell your child the story (2 Kings 5:14–17) and then ask, “Why do you think he asked for two mule-loads of earth? Do you see any connection between Naaman and your feeling that one place or another is better for prayer (Question 1)?”

◆ Tell your child the story of this week’s Gospel, Luke 17:11–19, about the ten lepers Jesus cured and the one Samaritan who came back, prais-ing God. Ask, “Do we know any foreigners, people from another country or faith, who remember to thank God for blessings?”

Families

October 13, 2019Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Label a sheet of paper “Evidence of Faith on Earth” and divide it into two columns: “Faithful” and “Faithless.” With your child, put items in each column. Evidences of faith might be personal, like prayer or attending Mass, but they could also be social, like the work of Catholic Charities. Evidence of faith-lessness could range from personal failings to social evils like crime, war, and decimation of the environment. Then put the list away for a few months or longer. When you look at it again, see if anything has changed. Has God’s justice been revealed in any new ways?

◆ Read this week’s psalm (121) to your child, especially these lines: “I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; / whence shall help come to me? My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” With crayons or markers, help your child to draw a picture of a world that includes mountain, sun and moon, and maybe heaven and earth as well.

◆ Tell the child the story of today’s Gospel, Luke 18:1–8, and then talk about what it means to be persistent. Help the child create a way to practice persistence, either for the child indi-vidually or for the family as a whole, choosing a long-term goal for which “success” will not come quickly.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “When you beg for something, do parents or teachers ever get exasperated with you? Do they ever say, ‘You wear me out’? What do you do then?” After the child has had a chance to talk about this, ask, “Do you get impatient when parents or teachers nag you to finish chores or homework? What do you do when you feel that way?”

◆ Ask your child, “Do good people ever do bad things or bad people ever do good?” See if the child can think of a good person among family, friends, or public figures who has done some-thing bad. This is easy. Then think of a person generally considered bad, like the corrupt judge in this week’s Gospel (Luke 18:1–8), and see if you can discover some good he or she has done.

◆ This week’s Gospel (Luke 18:1–8) ends with a question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Ask your child, “What do you think about that?” The Gospel promises that God will do justice. Is it possible that we are already bringing God’s justice to earth? Ask, “Do you see any evidence of faith around you?”

Families

October 20, 2019Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With any art materials you have, help your child draw his or her faith journey as a walk through a landscape. If there are milestones, important events in the child’s life, she can indicate them with any sort of symbol, such as a pond for Baptism or a cake for a birthday. Don’t insist on literal representation, and let the child include any part of her life that comes to mind. All of life is a faith journey.

◆ With your child and a friend or two siblings, read or paraphrase the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14). Discuss people in the children’s lives who might be a braggart like the Pharisee or who might be despised like the tax collector. Then help the children improvise a boastful prayer for their Pharisee character and a humble one for the despised. Act out the scene, and be sure to reverse roles!

◆ With your child, choose one of the oppressed groups the child identified in the first question. Look into existing efforts to help this group, whether immigrants, orphans, farm workers, the bereaved, or another, either in your com-munity or on the Internet. Find one simple thing your child can do to help, perhaps a phone call, visit, note, or small donation.

Questions ◆ This week’s First Reading says, “[The Lord] hears the cry of the oppressed.” Ask your child, “Do you ever feel oppressed?” After the child has explored this, ask, “Who (else) do you think the reading is talking about?” Help your child consider and identify groups such as the poor, the imprisoned, the politically oppressed, the powerless, and the broken-hearted.

◆ Ask your child, “Is there anyone among your friends at school or church who takes pride in being better than others, a ‘goody-goody’ or ‘teacher’s pet?’ How do you feel about that person? How do you feel about other people who exalt themselves?” Perhaps consider movie or sports stars or political figures. Ask, “Do they exalt themselves?”

◆ In this week’s Second Reading, St. Paul says, “I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Ask your child, “Does your faith ever feel like a race? When and how? Perhaps it is more like a slow walk or even a ride. Does it sometimes speed up or slow down? Is it ever a roller coaster, rushing up to peaks and plung-ing into valleys?

Families

October 27, 2019Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With a group of children, act out the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). The Gospel itself gives you spoken lines. Encourage the child playing Zacchaeus to improvise words for the character’s thoughts throughout: while trying to see Jesus, climbing the tree, and delighting in Jesus’s decision to stay with him. Or use the script in verse available online at www .prisonsweek.org/2009/downloads/Zacchaeus _Sketch_2009.pdf.

◆ Introduce your child to a new form of making such as modeling clay, woodworking, painting, knitting, sewing, or other activity that produces a handmade object. When the object is fin-ished, give it a place of honor and praise the child’s creativity, pointing out that the Spirit of God in the child has enabled her to be a maker, as God is the Maker of all.

◆ Take any speculation circulating among your child and his friends. It could be an urban legend, a characterization of an ethnic group, a conspiracy theory, or an apocalyptic prophecy. Make two columns on a piece of paper and label them “true” and “false.” With your child, list evidence on both sides and then discuss which is more likely.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “How do you know that God loves you?” Give the child time to explore and reflect on this question. Then choose something the child has made and is proud of and point out the child’s love for what he has made. So it is with God, as expressed in this week’s reading from Wisdom, 11:22—12:1.

◆ In today’s Second Reading, St. Paul attempts to calm people who have heard a false statement, supposedly from Paul, that the second coming was at hand. At a time when a rumor or piece of gossip is circulating at school or church, ask your child, “How do you decide what is true and what is not?” The rumor could be personal or one circulating widely, such as an approaching date for the end of the world or imminent rapture.

◆ Ask your child, “Why do you think Jesus befriends bad people, stays in their houses and eats with them?” Perhaps give your child an example, like this week’s Gospel about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). Then ask, “Have you ever befriended someone considered by others to be bad?” You could give an example from your own adult life.

Families

November 3, 2019Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Find images of angels in a children’s Bible, art book, encyclopedia, or on the Internet. Paintings of the Annunciation to Mary always have an angel. Are they scary? Beautiful? “Angel” means messenger of God. How do various artists make angels different from men and women?

◆ With any art materials you have, help your child to draw or paint animal images of God. Let the child’s imagination run free, always pointing out that God is not a dog, a bird, or a lion, but like each of these in some respects.

◆ Martyrdom means witnessing, not choosing to die but being so strong in faith you are willing to risk death. Tell the story of one of the tradi-tional or contemporary martyrs and the risks he or she took, the justice he or she sought, and what he or she accomplished. A children’s book from the library can fill in the details.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “What does it mean to be like an angel?” This week’s Gospel says good people “can no longer die, for they are like angels.” Ask, “How do you picture angels?” If the child has lost a friend or relative, discuss what that person might be like as an angel.

◆ This week’s Responsorial Psalm prays, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings.” In this image, God is like a protective mother bird, hiding a baby bird. Ask your child, “Can you think of any other animal images for God? A faithful dog? A powerful lion? A glorious peacock?”

◆ Some people are willing to die rather than betray their faith. Ask your child, “Why do you think anyone would do that?” If the child is aware of a contemporary martyr, like Bishop Oscar Romero, discuss that story, or tell the story of Joan of Arc.

Families

November 17, 2019Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ With older and younger children, look up “healing,” “health,” “wholeness,” and “holiness” in a big dictionary or on the Internet. Discuss how these words and concepts are related and what the “healing rays” of the “sun of justice” might mean. Parents, if you want to bone up in advance, check out poet Wendell Berry’s essay “Health is Membership” about spirituality and healing at http://home2.btconnect.com /tipiglen/berryhealth.html.

◆ Join your child in pretending to be a river, using the whole body. How will it move and flow? Then try being a hill or mountain. Make a movement prayer in which the river claps and the hill rings out, perhaps singing a familiar song or setting the lines of the psalm to music.

◆ Make a list of the child’s current fears. It could include personal ones, like darkness or night-mares. This is a good time to surface amor-phous fears of things the child has gleaned from the media, such as wars, crime, and accidents. Remind the child that if she stands firm and waits patiently, not a hair of her head will be harmed.

Questions ◆ At a time when your child is feeling hurt, physically or mentally, ask, “Where do you think healing comes from?” The child may describe a physical process or the kindness of other people. This week’s reading from the prophet Malachi promises “the sun of justice with its healing rays.” We are all wounded in some ways, and justice can help us heal.

◆ This week’s psalm commands, “Let the rivers clap their hands and the hills ring out their joy.” Ask, “How can a river clap or hills ring out? What do you think the psalmist means?” Try to imagine what it would look or sound like if rivers clapped and hills rang out.

◆ Ask your child, “Have you ever had to endure a long wait? What’s the longest, hardest wait you can remember? Perhaps you thought you didn’t have the patience, but somehow you did.” It can seem like the world is full of dangers, such as wars and crime. Jesus says if you can endure patiently and wait for his return, “not a hair on your head will be destroyed.”

Families

November 17, 2019Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time


Activities ◆ Consult an art book or the Internet to see some of the many ways artists have pictured Jesus. See how different they are. Does any one of the images correspond to the way you imagine Jesus? Which one do you like best?

◆ Using a globe, map, or the Internet, locate Jesus’ country of origin in the Middle East. People from this area generally have dark skin and hair. Using any art materials available, help your child make a drawing or painting of Jesus, perhaps doing something from one of the Gospel accounts.

◆ Read or paraphrase this Sunday’s Gospel about Jesus and the two thieves. Make a script from the dialogue in the text, adding stage directions. With a group of children, act it out. There are roles for Jesus, two thieves, and any number of people watching, some of whom have lines.

Questions ◆ Ask your child, “What do you picture when you think of a king? What does he look like? How does he act? Does he have a scepter? A crown? Does he give orders? Are there bad kings as well as good?” Talk about any countries currently ruled by kings.

◆ This Sunday is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Ask your child, “What kind of king would Jesus be?” Help your child recall the stories he has heard about Jesus, such as asking children to come to him, healing a blind man, or accepting water from the Samaritan woman. Then ask, “What kind of a king would such a person be?”

◆ In this week’s Second Reading, it says that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” Point out to your child that you’ve talked about images of God, such as rock, whirlwind, fire, and shelter-ing wing. Ask, “How do you imagine Jesus? What does he look like? What is he doing as you picture him?”

Families

November 24, 2019Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

First Sunday of Advent...At Home with the Word® 2019 © 2018, Liturgy Training Publications....

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