Lent 2009
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Children's Liturgy Sunday March 1st 2009.
The
FIRST SUNDAY in LENT 2009 |
| We are now in the period of the church's
year called Lent, which lasts from Ash Wednesday until Easter Day. It is a time for taking a look at ourselves and trying to put things right; a time for cleansing and a time for reconciliation. We have begun our journey with Jesus through the Stations of the Cross. Stations are places where people wait when they are going from one place to another. They could also be places where people take the time to think about Jesus as he went to die on the Cross. |
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| The FIRST STATION of the CROSS:
Jesus is condemned to death. Jesus is told by a judge, Pontius Pilate, that he is going to die. Jesus remains quiet, even though people are telling lies about him. We thought about how our hearts felt when someone hurt us or told lies about us. We imagined showing our hearts to Jesus, asking for his help. |
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| The SECOND STATION of the CROSS:
Jesus is made to carry his Cross. Soldiers put a heavy cross on Jesus's shoulders. Jesus knows he has a long and painful journey in front of him, but he accepts his cross and asks God to help him carrry it. We thought about the times that have been very difficult for us and we imagined our hearts at those times. We showed our hurting hearts to Jesus. |
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| Here are some pictures of lifesize Stations of the Cross on a hillside in Lourdes in France. People pray as they climb a very steep slope, thinking of all that Jesus had to endure on his way to die. At some of the Stations, some people choose to climb on their knees, to help them think about Jesus's pain and to say sorry for things they might have done wrong in their own lives. |
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| In Lent, you might choose to give up something you normally enjoy, in order to make an extra effort for God- or you might decide to do something more for God or other people, to show how much you love God. If you have any good ideas, please write in and let Frankie know! (You can always put a note through Fr. John's door.) |
Children's Liturgy Sunday March 8th 2009
The
SECOND SUNDAY of LENT 2009 |
| In today's liturgy, we looked at the Third Station of the Cross, when Jesus falls for the first time under the Cross. |
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| In the Fourth Station of the Cross, Jesus is met by his mother. |
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Dear God, Thank you for the great family of those who follow you, for they are family to all of us and give us help and encouragement, as we, also, try to follow you. Amen. |
Children's Liturgy Sunday 15th March 2009
The
THIRD SUNDAY of LENT 2009 |
| We began today's liturgy as always, by making
the Sign of the Cross. Sometimes we may do this without really thinking
very much, but today, we began to think how the Cross is at the heart
of all we believe: that Jesus died out of love for us and rose again on
the third day. We thought about stations as places where we wait on a journey. We might take time to think there. During the Stations of the Cross, we take time to think about all the experiences Jesus must have gone through on his way to die and how these experiences may help us to reflect on the way we live our own lives. At Station 5, we heard how a man called Simon, who was from Cyrene, was asked to help Jesus carry the Cross. Jesus was already so weak, the soldiers did not want him to die before he was crucified. We asked ourselves how Simon must have felt. Some of us thought he would be very frightened, because now everyone would link him with Jesus, which meant he, too, might become a target for hatred. Some children thought he would be glad to help, but might hide this. We thought about times when we don't really want to help someone. We closed our eyes and imagined our hearts at the times when we don't help. Then we imagined our hearts when we decide to help anyway. |
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| Here is a picture from the Stations of the Cross Frankie saw in Lourdes. |
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| Next, we thought about the story of a woman called Veronica, who felt so sorry for Jesus that she wiped his face with a cloth. He would have been drenched with sweat and bleeding from the Crown of Thorns which the soldiers had forced on to his head. The story tells us that the image of Jesus' face remained on the cloth. |
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| Jishel thought very deeply about his own heart at the times he decides whether or not to help someone. |
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| Here are some more ideas the children had. |
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| Here is a photograph taken in Lourdes of the
Sixth Station of the Cross. Can you see how the artist imagined the face
of Jesus on the cloth? |
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Children's Liturgy Sunday March 22nd 2009.
The
FOURTH SUNDAY of LENT 2009 |
| MOTHERING SUNDAY. |
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| We talked about the Seventh Station of the
Cross: Jesus falls for the second time. Jesus is exhausted and can walk no further. The noise from the soldiers and the crowd makes him feel worse. Jesus falls. We closed our eyes and imagined our hard times, when something kept going wrong and we couldn't get where we wanted. We thought about how our hearts felt then. We showed Jesus how our hearts felt and we pictured Jesus loving us, knowing how we felt. |
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| The Eighth Station of the Cross: Jesus meets the Women of Jerusalem, who are crying. They are so sad to see him suffering. Jesus does not think only of himself, even now. He tells the women to take care of other people and especially to look after their children. We closed our eyes and imagined our hearts when we think only of ourselves. Sometimes, when things are going badly, it's easy to forget about what is happening to others. We imagined showing our hearts to Jesus and Jesus still loving us with our hearts that way. Then we asked Jesus to help us have a heart like his, a heart that always cares about other people. |
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| The Ninth Station of the Cross: Jesus falls
for the third time. Jesus can hardly breathe. He cannot go on along the dusty road. Jesus asks God to help him and gets up again, even though it is so hard to do. When we have really tried our best and not succeeded, it is easy to feel like Jesus did. Sometimes people shout at us or make fun. We remembered times when we felt so tired in our hearts. We showed our sad hearts to Jesus and we asked God to help us at times like these. |
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| When we returned to church, we carried the
Cross. We also took flowers for our mothers, because today is Mothering
Sunday. We take time to thank our Mums for all they do for us. We put
some of the flowers in Mary's chapel, as she was the mother of Jesus and
is a mother to us all. |
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| Mother's Day. As Mary cradled the infant Jesus so mothers cradle their babies. As Mary worried about her missing son so mothers worry about their children. As Mary believed her son could work miracles so mothers believe in their children's talents. As Mary wept at Jesus' crucifixion so mothers weep at their children's suffering. God, who blessed Mary, bless all mothers with the strength to go on loving and to trust that God will make all the things that happen to their children work together for the good. Here is a picture the Eighth Station that Frankie saw on the hillside in Lourdes. |
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Children's Liturgy Sunday March 29th 2009.
The
FIFTH SUNDAY of LENT 2009 |
| Did you know who first had the idea to create
the Stations of the Cross, to help us think about what Jesus had to experience
on his way to die and to think about the way we lead our lives? It was the same person who first thought about having cribs to help us think about Jesus' birth! SAINT FRANCIS! And his followers. Today in our liturgy, we heard about the Tenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is stripped of his garments. The soldiers pull off his long robe and almost all his clothes are taken from him. Jesus stands in front of the crowd with only a small cloth covering his body. Have you ever found it difficult to give something away, or do you often want to keep everything for yourself? Ask Jesus to help you have a heart like his, which was prepared to let everything he had be taken. |
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| Station Eleven: Jesus is nailed to the Cross. It must have hurt so much to be nailed to the wood. Jesus still forgives those who are doing this to him. He asks God to forgive them. He still considers his Mother, telling her to take care of others. Even when he is dying, he thinks of other people. Is there anyone who has hurt you with unkind words or actions? Do you find it hard to forgive? Jesus can help to change your heart if you imagine showing your heart to him and ask him to help you. |
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| Station Twelve; Jesus dies on the Cross. Finally, after all his suffering, Jesus bows his head and dies. Jesus has given his life for all of us. Did you ever feel you wanted to make something better, that if you tried hard enough you could change something?Maybe you could not change it and feel you should have tried harder. Show Jesus your heart and let him love you. |
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Here is a picture of a crucifix which one
of our children, Grace, made at school.
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Children's Liturgy Sunday April 5th 2009
The
SIXTH SUNDAY of LENT 2009 |
PALM SUNDAY/PASSION
SUNDAY. |
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| First of all today, we remember the way Jesus entered Jerusalem. Crowds of people welcomed him, shouting ,"Hosanna!". They rushed to collect greenery to wave. We made palms out of paper- |
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| -and practised waving them as we assembled in the chapel. |
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One little girl brought flowers, which is the custom in Poland, where her family comes from. |
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| We also made a banner on which you can see two crowns for Jesus- the crown for a king and the crown of thorns. |
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| We processed into church, carrying the banner,
waving our palms, as everyone sang 'Make way for the King of kings'. Then we stood around the altar for the first reading, which described Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The people were glad to see him, but they soon changed their minds, wanting to get rid of him. This is why we have palms made into crosses to take home. Soon, Jesus was condemned to death upon a cross, which is why today is called Passion Sunday, to remember his suffering and death to come. Here we can see Fr. John has just blessed the palm crosses, which are in the basket in front of the altar. |
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| We began our own liturgy by thinking about
the Thirteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is taken down from the cross. Jesus has died; there will be no more pain and suffering for him. His Mother and friends are so sad as they hold him. We closed our eyes and remembered the people we love who have died. We imagined how our hearts look when we remember. We showed our hearts to Jesus, telling him what we miss about our loved ones. Jesus loves us when we show him our hearts. He can make our hearts more like his. |
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| We thought about the Fourteenth Station of
the Cross: Jesus is buried in the tomb. Jesus' friends put his body in the tomb. They push a large stone over the entrance, so no-one can get inside. They go home sad and tired. They do not know that Jesus will rise again; they think they have lost him for ever. We remembered times when we were sad to leave someone, to say goodbye. We imagined showing our sad hearts to Jesus and pictured Jesus loving us, knowing how much we are hurting. |
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| We made a wreath for Jesus and all those we
love who have died. On each leaf, we wrote a message of love. We carried our wreath, also our wooden cross with pictures of each station, back into church. Now the music is very sad- 'When I survey the wondrous Cross'. The people in church have just heard the whole story of how Jesus died- his 'PASSION'. |
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| This week we call Holy Week and the final days
we call the "TRIDUUM"- a word which means "three days". On the 1st day (Thursday) we can come to church for a Mass at 7.30pm, to remember the Last Supper, where Jesus gave Holy Communion to his disciples for the first time- so we call the Last Supper the First Mass. On 2nd day (Friday) we come to church for a service to remember that Jesus died on the Cross on Mount Calvary. On 3rd day (Saturday) we remember that Jesus' body lay in the tomb. On EASTER DAY ( and at the easter vigil mass) we come to church to celebrate the excitement that Jesus rose from the dead- the RESURRECTION. |