Children’s Liturgy

Children’s Liturgy of the Word

The children of the parish are invited to celebrate the Liturgy of The Word with their own catechists at Sunday morning Mass. Offering the children a Liturgy of The Word, which is suited to their age and adapted to their stage of development, can become one of the key ways of helping them grow in faith.

The children gather in the church and begin the Mass with everyone else. After the Sign of the Cross and the Greeting, the Priest calls the children forward, presents them with a Bible and the adult leaders process with the children to the “upper room”. The children come back into church at the offertory, where they display what they have done and then some of them take part in the Offertory procession.
This is not a closed group – all primary school age children in the church are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Third Sunday of Lent

Gospel reflection: What do you remember from today’s reading?

Jesus is thirsty and so he asks a Samaritan woman for a drink from the well. The woman is surprised because normally Jews and Samaritans did not get along. It was also unusual at the time for a man to talk to a woman he didn’t know. But even though it is unusual, Jesus talks to the woman anyway. Why do you think he does this?

Jesus is showing us that God loves everyone. No matter who they are, where they come from or the colour of their skin – man or woman, boy or girl, rich or poor. Even though we are all different, we still need the same things to live. Can you think of what those things might be?

Just like Jesus in the story, we all need water to drink. We need food to eat. A safe place to live, somewhere to learn and someone to look after us when we are sick. Jesus shows the woman that he is Christ, the Son of God, by knowing all about her life even though he has never met her before. How do you think this makes the woman feel?

God also knows everything there is to know about us. And God loves us. How does this make you feel? Sometimes people forget that God loves us all and that we are all part of one global family. They only see the differences between themselves and another group of people. This can lead to many problems. What problems might we have when we only look at what’s different between ourselves and someone else?

It can lead to people being afraid, or not very nice to each other. Which can also mean that there are arguments and fighting. Do you think this is how God wants us to treat each other? What do you think God wants us to do?

God calls us to love and care for all people no matter who they are, because we are all part of one global family. We are called to help each other when things are difficult and to work together to make the world a better place for everyone to live in.

So this week let’s do what we can to help other people. Let’s treat those who are different to us with kindness and respect. Let’s share with others and try to live in peace.

What will you do this week to show that you care for others?

Parents, grandparents and guardians, please feel free to share today’s Gospel with your children and grandchildren alongside the activities.

Look below for fun colouring pages and puzzles