Children's Liturgy, Sunday January 3rd 2010.
EPIPHANY of the LORD.
CHILDREN'S MASS.
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.
The word, epiphany, means a showing forth. We think about the way the
baby, Jesus, is shown to the world as God's Son, our King and Saviour.
Saint Matthew (2; 1-12) explains this by telling us that three Wise Men
came to visit Jesus after he was born in Bethlehem. Matthew writes about
the visit in a way which reminds us of the words of the prophet, Isaiah,
in the Old Testament (Isaiah 60: 1-6).
Isaiah had a vision of all human beings at last being able to see God's
perfect light. Everyone would be filled with joy. He talks about people
coming from far away to bring gold and incense to Jerusalem. At that time,
Jerusalem was only recently being rebuilt from ruins. Gold is a gift for
a king and incense a gift for God, as it shows the way prayers rise to
God in Heaven.
Matthew tells us the gifts are brought to Bethlehem, where Jesus had just
been born. He adds a third gift, brought by the Wise Men- myrrh, a strange
gift for a baby, as it is anointment used on the bodies of those who have
died. It reminds us that one day, Jesus will die on the Cross to show
us how much God loves us.
The music in church today was provided by our children's band. Somebody
had a violin for Christmas! |
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| As Father John processed into church, he
was led by three children dressed as Wise Men- Louie, Raine and Courtenay-
who brought gifts to place in the manger, next to baby Jesus. We played
and sang 'Come, come, come to the manger'.
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The three
Wise Men read the 'Sorry' prayers.
Lord, we are sorry for the times when we didn't show love. Please help
us to always show love through acts of kindness and caring for others.
Amen
Lord, help us to think before we say things. Sometimes we may have hurt
someone by unkind words. Amen.
Lord, may we be like the Wise Men, who were guided to you by a star.
Give us the wisdom to seek you, light to guide us to you, courage to
search until we find you, graciousness to worship you and generosity
to lay our gifts before you, our King and God forever.
Amen |
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Father John brought the children on to the
altar to talk to them. He told us about a boy and girl he once knew, a
long while ago, who one day asked their parents if they could give gifts
at Christmas. They had been thinking about just how kind everyone was
to them at Christmas, wondering how they could return this kindness, as
they didn't have money to buy presents. They were told not to worry about
having a lot of money, as the most important thing about any present is
the love with which it was given. They could have just enough to buy tiny
things to give, which could be lovingly wrapped and everyone would understand.
The tiny presents were bought and wrapped and given. The people who received
the presents knew that the gifts had come from a real love. The children
had thought up the idea of giving . They had wanted to be part of the
love and giving of Christmas. This was something their parents never forgot.
The girl and boy are grown up now, but we are all in the position of children
as we come before the baby, Jesus-God- at Christmas. We are given the
gift of his coming. We know we will be given the gift of his dying- what
can we give in return. Anything we do will be tiny....but that is all
that matters- that we want to give, to join in the spirit of love which
is Christmas. We give our hearts. |
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Our bidding prayers were:
We pray for peace in our world, that there may be no more fighting. We
think of our troops and their families through their worries and fear.
Lor hear us....
We pray for our parish of St. Joseph's. May it continue to be a happy
and friendly place to be. We thank all the people who work hard in our
parish to keep the community spirit alive. Lord hear us.....
Finally, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe, in Mother of
Peace Community.
May the money we have raised again this Christmas help to improve their
lives. We pray for their strength and courage. Lord hear us.....
At the end of mass, Grace read her 'Thank you' prayer. |
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