Children's Liturgy Sunday February 8th 2009

February 8th 2009

In today's Gospel (Mark1: 29-39), Jesus continues to heal the sick. Last week, we chose things to put in our medicine bottles to help make people better. This week, we thought how we could help others be well by letting them tell us how they feel. We don't feel well if we don't feel safe. Sometimes, we make other people hide their true feelings by ganging up on them, making fun of them, making them feel silly or frightened. We make them put on a "brave front".We might make them feel they have to look like this-



when they feel like this-



We thought how we can let others be truly themselves, not what we want them to be. We made "brave fronts" and "real" people using two sides of the same paper bag.





Dear God, You made me and let me be; please help me let other people be. Amen We also heard how Jesus often slipped away to spend some quiet time talking to God.



This week, we received a lovely thank you card from Linda Edwards, who is secretary in London to the Mother of Peace Community: Dear Children and Parishioners of St. Joseph's Church, Leicester, Thank you so very much for your kind donation of £586 to Mother of Peace. Father David sent me details of how you raised the money; I thought this was very imaginative and creative. The stories of how memories were evoked using recycled scraps of material were very moving and it sounds like it was a very successful project for your parish as a whole. As Father David will have told you, this amount of money goes a very long way in Zimbabwe. Despite the difficulties in Zimbabwe, Mother of Peace is able to carry on with its work through the support it receives from its friends overseas. It is particularly wonderful when children are able to understand the needs of others and especially help other children. We are hoping and praying for a brighter future for Zimbabwe in 2009. Warm regards, Linda Edwards. (Secretary)



These smiles look genuinely happy, don't they. On Wednesday, we have a world day of prayer for the sick. It is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. As you may know, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, appeared to a young girl named Bernadette in Lourdes in 1858 and asked that the sick be taken there in processions. Here is a picture of a procession of the sick in Lourdes during Frankie's visit last Autumn, just before Pope Benedict 16th visited Lourdes. Sick people are honoured and treated as important in Lourdes, something we often forget in our busy everyday lives.