Lent
Our main season coming up is Lent. to prepare us for Easter. It is a season for us to take ourselves out of our daily comfort, and to open ourselves and make ourselves aware of God, so we can understand and believe in Christ’s death and resurrection.
In the children’s liturgy, we look to bring the meaning of the Gospel to our children. During this season, we can use the themes of the At Your Word, Lord programme to help us. We can look for ways in which our children can do something special each week, something that requires a little effort on their part, helps them give meaning to their Lenten season. We can encourage the parents to help them too in this.
Season II of At Your Word Lord starts from the 22nd February. This is the Sunday preceding Ash Wednesday (7th Sunday of the Year), the beginning of Lent. Below are the themes for each of the weeks in the programme, and the Gospel readings for the two children’s liturgy groups.
Week 1: Willingness (22nd Feb, 7th Sunday of the Year)
God creates in each of us the potential of a great desire and longing for him. We are invited to seek God’s presence and the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We do not initiate our search for God; it begins with God loving us first and inviting us to respond. During this Lenten season, we will concentrate on how we might learn to give ourselves more completely to God. We are called to conversion, to begin to identify and to change whatever blocks our relationship with god and with one another. Are we willing to take a chance on God’s unconditional love? Are we willing to say, “yes” to a deeper spirituality?
The Gospel is Luke 6:27-38. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, treat others as we would like them to treat us, be compassionate as our Father is compassionate. In the Lion’s First Bible, p 338 – 339, Jesus asks us the same.
How would our children understand compassion? When might they feel it? Or may be compassionate themselves? What can they do to be open? To welcome others as they would like to be welcomed?
Week 2: Decision (29th Feb, 1st Sunday of Lent)
Jesus faced many moments of temptation. He had the power by which he could have made things much easier for himself. But he chose not to compromise what he knew to be good and true, which meant making his life very difficult at times. We have many opportunities to take the easy way out – to do something because everybody else does it, to tell a little lie to get ourselves out of trouble, to compromise what we know to be right for the sake of convenience. The way chosen by Jesus may well be more difficult but it is the way in which we will find true happiness and real goodness. And we will find a sense of peace and fulfilment.
The Gospel is Luke 4:1-13, the temptation Christ underwent during his period of preparation, the decisions he made to choose God’s path for him. The fasting made the decisions all the more difficult, yet it brought out the strength God gives us when we turn to him. “The Two Houses” is a story about having to decide on following Jesus, which is often difficult, rather than the easy way out.
What would our children understand by temptation? How can we help them to be aware of the decisions they make? Are there specific things they can do to choose Jesus in their lives?
Week 3: A glorious and grace-filled life (7th Mar, 2nd Sunday of Lent)
Incredibly, we are all invited to a life of intimacy with God. God does not want to be thought of as distant and remote. If we make a daily decision to give ourselves totally to God, we grow in this sense of the closeness of God and this intimacy through mediation and other forms of prayer. In fact, prayer helps to shape and strengthen a contemplative spirit within us. The more we choose to be prayerful and reflective people, the more we know the glorious and grace-filled life to which God calls us. Our prayer may be in private, when we are alone, or with others, in community.
The Gospel is Luke 9:28-36, Jesus showed himself in glory to Peter, John and James. The Lion’s First Bible has this on page 407-409 (Who Am I?). Jesus took them to the mountain to pray. What might they have been praying for? Through the prayer, Peter, John and James are able to share in the glory of God, to know how their life is richer with this knowledge of Jesus.
What can our children do to pray? How can they share their prayers with their friends? What may they offer their prayers for? How will they know they have become closer to God?
Week 4: Choosing New Life (14th Mar, 3rd Sunday of Lent)
In the New Testament, we are challenged to let go of our old selves and put on Christ. We experience that transformation from the old self to becoming a new creation when we are immersed in the waters of baptism. Water is a marvellous symbol of new life. But the moment of our baptism is only a beginning. We are invited to put on Christ each day, in each decision and choice that we make. Will we live in a “culture of life and hope” or a “culture of death and despair”? As Christians, we are called to choose life.
The Gospel is Luke 13:1-9. Jesus tells the people that they cannot presume they do not need to repent. He tells them also of the parable of a fig tree, which does not bear fruit, and is to be cut down. It is given a last chance, one more year, one more season, to see if it bears fruit. The people listening are told to repent, and choose a new life, or their chance will be gone. The first Reading is Moses and the burning bush. Moses is shown the burning bush. He also is given the chance to choose a new life, and radical change, but one that will save his people.
With a bit of luck, the weather may be changing by the middle of March, and we can see all the new life around us. What can the children do to appreciate the new life that comes after the winter? What can they do to renew their lives with their friends and their family?
Week 5: “Lord, That I Might See” (21st Mar, 4th Sunday of Lent)
We all have blind spots in our lives. There are the things we cannot see about ourselves; our prejudices, fears, parts of ourselves that we prefer to deny. We also have blind spots as members of the society in which we live; needs that we prefer to ignore, problems and challenges that we fail to acknowledge. If we come to a loving god with these blind spots we will learn to see ourselves and the world around us more clearly. We can begin to change them for the better. We ask God for the gift of sight and we are invited into deeper conversion and the challenging responsibilities of discipleships.
The Gospel is Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. It is the parable of the prodigal son. The story is in the Lion’s First Bible, Lost and Found. What I learnt recently on this was that the sin of the prodigal son was in not believing that his father could forgive him. His was blind what his father’s love meant. Even when he returned, he did not understand that his father could never turn away from him, but asked to be a servant instead. The same for the son who stayed behind. He could not understand that his father loved him as much, and was jealous of his brother. They were both blind, blind to the most obvious love their father has for them.
Do our children have blind spots to the love their parents given them? How may they see their parents’ love? How may they see God’s love for them? What can they do to show they are no longer blind?
Week 6: “Do You Believe?” (28th Mar, 5th Sunday of Lent)
At different times of our lives we may find ourselves asking whether or not we believe. Others may ask us: “Do you really believe in God, in Jesus, in the Resurrection, in Eternal Life”? Although we may be able to give some reason to our Faith, and begin to explain to others why we believe, belief – by its very nature – is something that goes beyond what we can explain and define. Building and strengthening our faith takes time and effort. The Seasons of the Church’s Year help us to make new commitment to the mystery of god’s love. As we approach the final days of the Season of Lent we will see again many things in Christ’s life and death which can help us to say, with new hope and stronger faith, “Yes, I believe”?
The Gospel is John 8:1-11. A woman committed adultery is brought to Jesus, accused by the people, demanding her death. Jesus asks those without sins to cast the first stone, and, disheartened, the people leave, one by one. The woman is rescued from death. Do we believe that Jesus will save us too? The Lion’s First Bible has the story of “The Kind Soldier”, who on hearing about Jesus goes to him to ask him to cure his servant. He does not even need Jesus to visit, he is so sure that Jesus will save his servant. “Just say the word”, that’s all he needed.
What does it mean for Jesus to save us? What is it that we believe in? What would our children believe by it? How might our children look to Jesus as their help? They have been through the activities of Lent, what can we do to bring it for them to a single “I believe”?