Children's Liturgy, Sunday May 3rd 2009

The FOURTH SUNDAY of EASTER
May is traditionally known as the month of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We have a number of wonderful feastdays to celebrate the things she did and knew during her life.

It is the perfect time to think about praying the Rosary as much as we can and to recall the wonderful mysteries and power of prayer.

In our liturgy during May, we are going to make our own rosary beads to have on display in our room.
Today we made the beads out of newspaper balls covered with plain paper and glue - they may not look much like a rosary yet, but watch this space!

The Rosary is a form of prayer we say and think about the Mysteries of the way Jesus came on Earth to show God's love and to save us all - we can call this our 'Redemption'.
The Mysteries are made up of four groups: The Joyful Mysteries; The Mysteries of Light; The Sorrowful Mysteries; The Glorious Mysteries.

The Glorious mysteries are:
1) The Annunciation: the Angel Gabriel tells Mary she is to be the Mother of God;
2)The Visitation: Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth;
3) The Nativity: Jesus is born in Bethlehem;
4) The Presentation:Mary presents Jesus to Simeon in the temple;
5) The Finding in the Temple: Jesus is lost for three days and Mary finds him in the temple.

We begin praying the Rosary by making the sign of the Cross. Using beads to help us remember and keep count, we can think about each Mystery in turn, saying 'Our Father', ten 'Hail Marys' and 'Glory Be' for each Mystery.

We can also have in mind a particular reason for praying in this way, such as asking for help for someone who is ill.
Today we heard that Father David Everitt, who came to tell us about the children at Mother of Peace in Zimbabwe, is ill with cancer. We made a card for him using a picture from our Christmas crib. Do you remember our crib made out of recycled materials? People from the parish asked to be made as models and brought to our crib and they gave us money to send to Mother of Peace. Father David wanted to come as a lion, so for his card, we used his lion picture.
We have asked Father John to say Mass for Father David and the people of Zimbabwe next Sunday. We took our card to be placed on the altar by Father John. We will send the card to Father David.
On the left of your screen, you will soon be able to see a new section on our website, telling everyone about Mother of Peace and Zimbabwe- and we will keep praying for Father David.
May God send healing.
Amen.
Dear God,
Help us to learn how to pray the Rosary, so that we can enjoy the Mysteries of Jesus' life and all that Mary knew.