Director: P.Celerino Anciano o.p. Text and design : Sister Teresa Castaño m.a.r. Translated by: Ana María Díaz y Eleazar González
| Christmas celebration |
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| Holy Family | |
| ARCHIVO ciclo A |
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Christmas celebration
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HAPPY CHRISTMAS, JESUS IS BORN IN OUR HEARTS!
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Objective: |
That children experiment and understand that the coming of Jesus is the greatest event of mankind.
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Environment: |
Prepare the Christmas setting. Show the day and the time of the celebration. Distribute the characters of the story and rehearse before hand. Prepare christmas carols. The children should bring something to share. Mothers and fathers can be invited according to the size of the room.
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Celebration: |
There should be a light near the creche.
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1) All standing. |
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We are gathered today to celebrate in our group this great mystery and gift of God for mankind: the coming of Jesus, our saviour and Lord. Let us offer up our pray to the Father saying: “help us Lord to know and love Jesus more each day so that our lives would be a gift to others giving hope and joy to those near us” Amen.
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2) Sing a carol. |
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3) Reading of the Word of God. Gospel of Saint Luke:2, 1-14. |
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4) Sing a salm or a carol. Reflect on the reading of the gospel. |
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5) Read the following story and prepare a play to be presented after. |
Story: “THE DREAM OF THE TRAVELLER”
Once upon a time there was a man called Josue whose job was to sell lace, needles and thread for sewing. He went from door to door and had a good business going but he was not happy. In his heart, there was a wish that grew day after day: in his long journey he wanted to meet the Messiah. After walking very much and feeling very tired, one day he came to his house. In a dream an angel came to him and said “Josue your wish will be granted. Tomorrow you are going to meet the Messiah”. Josue woke up very happy he had a bath, got dressed and went out, he was so happy that he saw no one. He stubbled over a blind man, gave him his walking stick and continued on. Later on he saw a man who had fallen on the street, he helped the man and continued walking. Then he met a woman who had a baby in her arms begging, he gave her money but without looking at her he continued on.
At the corner, a child with crutches asked him to help him cross the street and Josue helped him. He bought a candle from an old man who was selling candles and matches, and he continued his way. He was so tied that night that he went to bed without even thinking that he didn’t meet the Messiah, that he had been a victim of an illusion. He fell asleep quickly and in a dream, he saw the angel again who told him: Why are you sad and complaining? Didn’t you meet the Messiah? You are absent minded, you did many things, you helped in your way, the Messiah was in your heart but you didn’t let him come out, you went near your brother like a robut, they needed your smile, your attention, your warmth..... they needed the Messiah hidden in your heart and you were looking for Him outside of your heart.
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6) In the play, |
the child who acts as Josue, gives out to those present hearts with the words: “peace, help, love, give, attention, kindness, greeting, happiness, smile”. Each person should make a petition or a pray with each word.
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7) Read the prays out loud and sing a carol. |
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8) To end, holding hand and standing around the creche, say or sing the Our Father. |
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9) Each one shares what he or she has brought and everyone says goodbye with: |
HAPPY CHRISTMAS, JESUS IS BORN IN OUR HEARTS!
We are already in the christmas season....and?
Did Jesus come to your heart or was it just a party with gifts and afterwards, complaints about debts, instead of filling your heart with God? Friend, it is never late. God can come to your heart right now. Christmas is a special gift, a wonderful manifestation of how much God our father loves us. He sent his son to save us from all the stupid things that we do,all our faults, all our sins. There is always time to open up to God’s frindship. Less noise and more pray. It would be great for us to celebrate Christmas in a big way!
In each tabernacle there is an everlasting Christmas and in your family’s creche with the sherperds, the donkey and the cow you are united to a happy mother and the humble Joseph and you put your heart and the heart of everyone of your family in the hands of baby Jesus who will always bless you and teach you. How good it is to feel a happy christmas without anyone having to say it!
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THE HOLY FAMILY
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Objective:
That children discover that the best family is Jesus’ family because there was so much love between Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
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1) Setting: |
Place statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on a table.
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2) Greeting: |
Merry Christmas to all. How was the Christmas holiday? In what way was Jesus present in our homes and within us?
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3) PRAYER: |
As we are still in the season of Christmas, we are going to start our meeting today with a carol: Silent Night, Holy Night
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4) Committment |
Let us remember in silence, with our eyes closed, the promise that we made during our last meeting. Have we fulfilled this promise? If not, let us ask Jesus to make us generous and responsible. Now that we are in silence, let us observe the statues that are on the table. What does the three together represent? Well, as it is the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we are going to call it the Holy Family. Do you think this family had problems? Were they rich? Where was Jesus born? What was Joseph’s job? How was the relationship between them? Did they love each other? Did they help each other? The Holy Family was very poor, they didn’t have many things, but they had love and forgiveness because God was present in their lives. Let us reflect on what is missing in our home for us to be happy and in peace.
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5) ACTIVITY |
Each child draws a house and inside the house draws hearts according to the number of persons in the family. Under the drawing, each child should write a prayer for the family. If there is enough time, the children can read their prayers
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6) THE GOSPEL |
The word of God: Today we are going to listen to a story that Saint Mathew tells us in chapter 2, 13-15 and 19
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
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7) MEDITATION |
Now, let us remember what we have read. The drawing will help us to remember.
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8) Catequist explanation: |
DIALOGUE:
-Why do you think Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus?
-Was this a problem for Mary and Joseph?
-Do you all know what Herod did to kill the baby when the wise men left?
Reflection for the catechist (read and prepare chapter 2 of Saint Mathew before hand)
The gospel tells us that after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem. Around that time the wise men came to adore Jesus. King Herod was afraid that the Messiah would take away his throne so he tried to kill Jesus. As he did not know the exact date of the birth of Jesus he sent to kill all the baby boys under four years. Think how terrible that was for the children and for the parents. Jesus came to this world to die for us but this was not the time for him to die. Despite the sufferings of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, they were united and had faith in God.
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9) ACTIVITY |
Each child is given a blank card where he or she can write the name of a family from another country or another state and place it near to the statues of the Holy Family.
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10) Celebration: |
Let us stand around the table, think about what we learned today and pray for all the people whose names are written on the cards.
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11) Commitment: |
- Say the prayer that we made today for our families every night.
- Home work: Cut out from the newspaper or a magazine, people from other countries, write the name of the country they come from and the reason why they are in the newspaper or the magazine.
