EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME

NINETEENTH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME

TWENTIETH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME

TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME

TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME

SCHEDULE

PRAYERS

SHARING

  LWC   VBS   PP   RESOURCE  

During Liturgy of the Word with Children it is the catechist's goal to reflect on the readings at a level of a child's understanding. Three ways to do this are

• Involve the children in a DIALOUGE
• Use OBJECT LESSONS
• Or just tell A SIMPLE STORY

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

• First Reading: 1st Reading Ecclesiastes 1:2;2-20-23
• Gospel Luke 12:13-21

Focus on helping the children understand that our possessions, like toys and clothesetc, may make us happy right now they break or we grow tired of them. True happiness come by loving, following and having fath comes from God.

DIALOGUE

• Do you have a favorite possession, like a game or toy?
• WWhat did Jesus tell the two brothers? (Being being selfish and having a lot of money, does not make you improtant.
• Jesus tells us the story of the farmer who was very rich. What did the farmer have and what did he do? (He had a farm that produced so much food that he had to build bigger barns to store all of the produce.
• What did he say about all of this food? (I have so much food that it will last me for years. Now I can sit back, eat and drink all I want and just take it easy.)
• What did God tell the man? (You are very foolish because tonight you will die and then what will happen to all that food?)
• What else did Jesus tell us? (This is what happens with selfish people who keep things for themselves but do not care about God

OBJECT LESSON

A SIMPLE STORY

What if you came to dinner one night and your mom and dad said, " Guess what’s for dinner tonight? Your favorite. " After you guessed and guessed what was for dinner, your mom took out a donut and put it on your plate.

What do you think would be best to drink with a donut? (Let the children answer) How about some soda pop? After you ate this meal how do you think you would feel? (Again, let the children answer)

What if the next night mom served potato chips as the main course for dinner?

Then, the third night she serves candy?

Maybe by the fourth night you might ask your mom to serve chicken and veggies. But, your mom serves brownies.

Do you think your mom and dad would ever serve this kind of food for dinner? Maybe as a snack, but for dinner, I don’t think so.

What would happen if we only ate junk food? (Let the children answer.)

God wants us to be healthy so he provided good food, like fruits, vegetables, breads, meat and milk, so we could be strong and healthy. Our parents know that and try to see that we eat right.

In our readings, all month, Jesus calls himself the bread of life. That doesn’t mean Jesus is a slice of bread. Jesus says he is the bread of life because people who believe in Him will live forever.

We don’t need junk food, we need Jesus who is the bread of life. When we stick with Jesus, we will be healthy Christians.

NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

• First Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12
• Gospel Luke 12:22-24,27-31

The focus of today's readings is faith

DIALOGUE

Ask the children:

• Do you ever worry?
When you are worried about something do you pray about it?(Whe we pray we have faith that God will take care of that worry)
• Do you think birds worry? About what? Does God take care of all their needs? (yes he gives them seeds an food to eat. He gives them beautiful feathers so they don't need clothes and he gives them shelter in the trees and bushes and other places so they are safe from the weather and other creatures that may harm them.
• How about flowers? ( God gives them beautiful petals so they don't have to make their own clothes)
• What about food? (He nourishes them with the sun, the dirt of the earth, and rain so they will grow)
• Does he love all of his creatures? (Yes)
• Is any of God's creatures more special than the others? (Yes, people are so special that he made us in his image)
• Jesus tells to keep our treasures in heaven because whereever your treasure is that is where your treasure will be.

A Dog Story page 107 How Long Is God's Nose by John Timmer

The city of Tokyo is one of the biggest cities in the world. It has many train stations. One of Tokyo' busiest stations is in Shibuya. And right outside of Shibuya Station is a statue of a dog - a dog called Hachiko.

Hachiko belonged to a man named Mr. Ueno. Each morning, no matter what the weather, Hachiko walked Mr. Ueno to the train station, where Mr. Ueno caught the train.

Hachiko always waited for Mr. Ueno to disappear into the station, then he turned around and went home. At the end of the day, Hachiko returned to the station to pick up his master for the walk home.

One spring morning Hachiko walked his master to the station as usual. Mr. Ueno said, " See you this afternoon, my friend. " and left to catch his train. As usual, Hachiko watched as his master disappeared before going home.

That afternoon Hachiko returned to the station at the usual hour. He waited and waited and waited. But his master did not show up. That afternoon Mr Ueno had suddenly died, but of course Hachiko didn't know that. Hachiko waited several hours. Then he walked home alone.

But the next day Hachiko went to the station again to wait for his master to come. He went again and again, day after day, year in year out.

One morning, almost ten years after his master had died Hachiko went to the station as usual. By this time he was an old dog. Making the trip to the station was harder and harder for him. He waited at the usual place. All of a sudden he fell over and died.

The people of Tokyo were so touched by Hachiko's faithfulness that they made a statue in his memory. When I lived in Japan, I passed by the same statue many times. Each time I saw the statue I thought, If this dog, whom God created, was so utterly faithful, can you imagine how faithful God must be - God who created this dog?

"Taken from How Long Is God's Nose by John Timmer. Copyright © 1997 by John Timmer Used by permission of Zondervan. Publishing House"

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

• 1st Reading Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-12
• Gospel Luke 9:23-26

The focus of today's reading is the acceptance of Jesus and his teachings.

DIALOGUE:

• What did he mean when he said, " You must be willing to give up your own life for me, if you want to go to heaven. "
• Jesus died for our sin on the cross as he did? (No, he is telling us to follow us the example he set for us. serve others love one another don't be selfish.

OBJECT LESSON

A SIMPLE STORY

Do you know what a sloth is? A sloth is an animal. A strange looking animal. When I look at a sloth I say to myself, Am I glad I'm no a sloth!

Of course, a sloth may think the same thing about me. A sloth may think, Am I glad I'm not a human being. I guess what you think of others depends on who or what you are. But since I am a human being and not a sloth, I think sloths are strange looking.

A sloth has almost no tail and no ears and a blunt nose. A sloth doesn't have five toes like you and I do. Some sloths only have two toes, while others have three. Sloths are slow-moving animals that live in trees.

But by far the strangest thing about a sloth is that it is an upside - down animal. If you want to look a sloth straight in the eye, you have to turn your head upside down , Sloths live upside down. They eat upside down. They walk upside down. They even sleep upside down, hanging from tree branches. Sloths spend their whole lives living upside down in trees.

That doesn't sound very exciting, does it? Who would like to live that way? Who would like to walk upside down, eat upside down, and sleep upside down?

Yet strangely enough, this is what many people do. They live upside down. Not really, of course. They don't walk on their hands or eat hanging upside down from the kitchen ceiling. But they live upside down in another way. They don't live the way Jesus wants them to live

Let me explain, Jesus says that we must seek God first. He says we must make God number one in life and ourselves number two. He says that when we do that, we're living right side up. But many of us do just the opposite. We make ourselves number one and God number two. And that's living upside down. That's turning Jesus' words on their heads. That's living like a sloth.

The next time you go to the zoo and see the upside- down sloths, think about this story and say to yourself, " Sloths definitely are not my kind of animal. "

"Taken from How Long Is God's Nose by John Timmer. Copyright © 1997 by John Timmer Used by permission of Zondervan. Publishing House"

TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

• 1st Reading Sirach 3:17-19
• Gospel Luke 14:1, 7-14

Focus is humility

DIALOGUE

• Jesus is a wonderful teacher he is reminding us once again who will get into heaven. As usual he tells us a story. Who is the owner of the house? (God and the house is heaven)
• Why didn't he let them in? (He said they were strangers)
• But they said they knew the owner, they even listened to him teach, why did he call them strangers. What did he say to them. (" I really do not know you. You only do evil things. Do not bother me. ")
• These people thought they were better than others, they were selfish and self centered. (Jesus said that people will come from everywhere and will sit at the banquet table in heaven. People who are most important now will be least important in heaven and those who are least important now will be most important.)

OBJECT LESSON

A SIMPLE STORY

I once heard a beautiful story of two angels - an older and a younger angel. The older angel was showing the younger angel around the universe. When they came to our galaxy, the older angel pointed to a tiny planet and said, " You see that tiny planet over there in the far corner of the galaxy? I want you to watch it because it is the planet Jesus visited. "

" You mean it is the planet Jesus visited on Christmas Day? "

" Exactly, " the older angel said.

" But how? " the younger angel asked, " How did Jesus visit that tiny planet? Did he turn into one of those tiny creatures I see crawling all over that planet? "

" Yes, he did. " the older angel said. " Now close your eyes for just a second, young angel and we wil go back in time. "

The younger angel closed its eyes and immediately traveled back two thousand years to the time right before Jesus visited our planet.

" Now open your eyes and tell me what you see. " the older angel said.

" What I see, " the younger angel said, " are a few lights. "

" Those " the older angel explained, " are the people who are looking forward to the coming of Jesus. There are only a few of them. All the others are not looking forward to the coming of Jesus. They make the planet look terribly dark. "

Right after that the older angel had said that, a very bright light appeared on the planet. The light was so bright that the two angels had to cover their eyes.

" I know what that light is, " the younger angel said. " That's Jesus' visit, isn't it? "

" Exactly, " the older angel said. " But now watch. Watch how quickly that bright light will go out again. People will seek to put it out as fast as they can, for they love the darkness rather than the light. "

And, sure enough it didn't take long, and the bright light went out.

" Is that the end of the bright light? " the younger angel asked. "No, it isn't, " the older angel. answered. " Now let's go forward to the year 2000, and you will see what happened to that bright light. "

After the two angels arrived in the year 2000, the older angel said, " What do you see? "

" What I see, " the younger angel said, " is millions and millions of tiny bright lights all over the planet. "

" Those tiny lights, " the older angel said, " are Christians who are bringing Jesus' bright light to all the dark places, until someday this planet will be as bright as Jesus himself. "

"Taken from How Long Is God's Nose by John Timmer. Copyright © 1997 by John Timmer Used by permission of Zondervan. Publishing House"

Now I know this might sound like a Christmas story, that I'm telling you in the middle of August, but those tiny bright lights the angels were talking about are Christians, here on earth serving God as members of the Church built on the Rock called Peter.

TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

• First Reading: Sirach 3:17-19
• Gospel Luke 14: 1, 7-14

The Focus of today's readings is humility

• What did Jesus see when he arrived? (People tried to sit in special places of honor at the table)
• What did Jesus tell them ( when you are invited to a dinner do not sit in the place of honor right away, it may be reserved for someone else.)
• What can happen? (You might be asked to move and you will be embarrassed)
• What may the host will tell you if your sit ( " Friend come sit by me & quot;)
• If you are truly humble God will honor you and make you great.

OBJECT LESSON

A SIMPLE STORY

Reverend Billy Grahm tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter he askeda little boy where the post office was. When the boy told him, the Reverend Graham said, " If you’ll come to the Baptist Church this evening, I’ll tell you how to get to heaven. "

The young boy said, " I don’t think I’ll be there. You don’t even know where the post office is. "

How often are we humbled by a child?

Liturgy ofthe Word with Children

PRAYERS

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and detest my sins because of your just punishments. But most of all because they offend You, my God. Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen

O my God, I firmly believe that You are one God in three Devine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man, and died for our sins and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all truths, which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive not be deceived. Amen

O my God, I love You above all things with my whole heart and soul because You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon for all whom I have injured. Amen

O my God, relying on Your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon for my sins, the help of your grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen

Sharing

What I know about the Bible I began learning as a very little child. There was the memorization of Bible verses in Sunday School at the Mission. On Clark Street. I went there from age three to about age seven. That was before we moved to Wieland Street where I lived from the age of eight until I got married at eighteen. How I use and understand the Bible today, I learned as a Catholic.

Last Summer I took you with me on a journey back to my childhood, on a one-way street, on the near north side of Chicago, called Weiland. I showed you the empty lot with a Victory garden on one side and a fence with Morning Glories climbing on the other -between the two yards was an empty lot - " a field of dreams " for the neighborhood boys, including my brother, and one little girl with long braids - ME.

Everyday during the summer we played baseball, except on Sunday - on that day our baseball field became a short cut from Wieland Street to Wells Street where we turned east on North Avenue and walked (but mostly ran) to our church. My braids became banana curls and I wore dresses my Mama made for me.

We went to Moody Bible Church on La Salle and North Avenue ( It was part of the Moody Bible Institute that was downtown.).This church sat at the entrance to Lincoln Park. After church we played at the edge of Lincoln Park, before heading back home.

Sometimes Mama went to church with us, but my dad never did, he was a Jehovah's Witness and Mama was a Baptist. The five children in our family were not baptized until we were adults, then we all became Catholic - all at different times - my brothers and sisters when they were getting married.- me - I became Catholic when my son was marrying a Catholic girl..

I learned a lot about the Bible when I was a child even though the only Bibles I remember, in our home, was the big one Mama kept high on a shelf. She would write all of our family history in it - births, deaths, etc. We weren't to touch it - it was (and is) a sacred book to be treated with respect and awe. My father had a regular Bible that he kept in my parent's bedroom along with his Watch Tower magazines and books from the Jehovah Witnesses who came to our house.

While I learned a lot about the Bible in church, Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, it was not until much later in life that that it became a source of comfort and guidance to me.

Some of the following I learned as a child, some as an adult, some as a Catechist. This is the trivia (yet not trivial) I learned about the Bible. The word BIBLE comes form the Greek word biblia that means books. The Bible, was written by hand on various form of " paper " (but none were like the paper we have today) Many authors wrote the Bible over more than 1,000 years in different places and for many different reasons.

The Old Testament has thirty-nine books in the Protestant Bibles, (but the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and the Anglican Bibles have additional books - I learned this when I became Catholic).

The first five books in the Old Testament cover the Laws - the Torah.

There are 21 Books of the Prophets. Six are historical. Three are called the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And twelve are known as the Minor Prophets.

Thirteen books cover the writings, which include Psalms Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, First and Second Chronicles, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastics and Esther.

(The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Angelican Bibles also include the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, First and Second Maccabees and additions to Esther and Daniel. These books are the "Deuter o canonical " Books or the Second Canon. I learned this when I received my own Bible during classes I took as an adult to learn about the Catholic Faith)

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew over a period of 900 years.

The New Testament has twenty-seven books. The first four, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we know as the Gospels. Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. There are thirteen letters from Paul to various people and churches. The New Testament has additional eight letters, Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter, First, Second and Third John and Jude. Finally, John shares his vision in the Book of Revelation.

The New Testament writings dated 51 - 100 AD. Paul wrote his letters before the Gospels, and many believe are the earliest Christian writings. Paul converted to Christianity, five years after they crucified Jesus (35 AD). He was executed between 66- 70 AD

Mark wrote his Gospel for Gentiles, before Matthew or Luke wrote their Gospel. Luke wrote for the Greeks about the year 70 AD - he wrote the Acts of the Apostles in 75 AD. He was not one of the original disciples and did not witness the events of Jesus life. He has taken about one third of his Gospel from the Gospel of Mark.

Matthew used about half of Mark's writings when he wrote his Gospel for the Jews about 85 AD.

With all these writings, stories, poetry, Psalms, gathered over 1,100 years were not put into any understandable order until the thirteenth century when Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury began the process by organizing the writings in chapters.

In 1448, (200 hundred years later) Rabbi Nathan broke the writings of the Old Testament into verses. Remember, there were no printing presses so the hands of scribes did all of this. In 1551 a printer in France Robert Estienne, numbered the verses in the New Testament.

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