Children's Liturgy Sunday July 15th 2007
15th July 2007
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Today
our liturgy was again led by Sister Maura, who teaches in Australia. We
made the sign of the Cross in several different languages- English, Polish,
Jaru (the language of native Australians) and Irish.
Jesus was a great story teller. Today we heard the story about the Good
Samaritan.( You can find it in the Gospel of Saint Luke: Chapter10, verses
25-37).
People had been asking Jesus who was their neighbour, because he had told
them to love their neighbour as they loved themselves.
How surprised the people must have been when they heard the answer to
the question, "Who is my neighbour?"
My neighbour is not just the person next door, or a member of my parish,
or people from the same country. My neighbour is anyone in need.
Jesus, we know you are with us. We can call on your name always.
Jesus, you know all our needs. You are always ready to help us. Give us
courage to be your faithful followers each and every day. Amen.
Today we also heard the story of Blessed Mary Mackillop. |
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Mary
Mackillop was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were Scottish
immigrants. Mary was the eldest of seven children and at the age of
sixteen, she had to find work to support her family.
She began her working life as a governess and clerk in Melbourne and
then as a teacher in Portland. In 1861, she went to Penola in Southern
Australia to care for her uncle's children. It was here she met a young
English missionary priest called Father John Tenison Woods. He had a
large parish in the area and his vision was to give Catholic education
to the children of the outback. This inspired Mary and she committed
herself to the work of educating the isolated and poor.
At the age of 24, Mary opened the first St. Joseph's school in Penola.
Mary and her friends were prepared to follow farmers, railway workers
and miners out into isolated areas, where they helped to educate their
children,
It is hoped that in 2008, Mary Mackillop will be declared Australia's
first Saint.
Sister Maura then told us about some of the teaching work of the Sisters
of Joseph in Australia today, and showed us pictures of the school where
she worked before coming to visit her family in Leicester.
Here is Sister Maura with some of the children she was teaching. |
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| Here
is Maggie Long who visits the school to tell the children about their
own customs, to make sure the are not forgotten. They are watching face
decoration, which they find attractive, as we would have a make-over.
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children are very poor in material terms. They sleep under a tarpaulin.
They have few clothes, which they leave in a heap. When they get up in
the morning, they don't worry about which clothes fit perfectly; the first
child takes what is on top of the pile and puts that on. The don't worry
about who owns what- and they are exceedingly happy. They do look happy,
don't they! |
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| Here
is a man the children call Mister Tony, who acts as a teaching assistant
in the school. |
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Sister
Maura told us that some members of her family had bought a goat through
CAFOD as a wedding present for a brother, as the couple getting married
had enough material things for themselves, so it seemed a good idea to
give to people who had less instead. We thought about different ways of
giving- being a good neighbour.
We ended our liturgy by singing action songs, including:
Do You Love Jesus;
God Loves You and I Love You. |
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| Congratulations
to Anna and Leonie who made their First Holy Communion today. |
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