![]() John 20:15-19 (Christ calls Peter to "feed my sheep")Ģ. Jesus' response to Thomas becomes our Assurance of Pardon. If you used the Easter tokens, pray a one-sentence prayer about our failures, as highlighted by each use of the tokens. Prayers of Confession and Assurance of Pardon: Pray about ways we fail to live the Easter faith. John 20:24-29 (Thomas's encounter with the Risen Christ) Reread several of the Easter lessons, matching them with different movements within your worship. Conclude your celebration of Easter by retracing the forty days of Easter. "Open My Eyes That I May See" is a good hymn with which to accept Christ's call to become his witnesses. The children will be more readily celebrate Jesus' Ascension by singing "Come, Christians, Join to Sing," or even "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today." Sing the latter hymn one more time to conclude the entire Easter season. Most of the hymns designated for Ascension Day are filled with triumphal language and theological jargon which are beyond children's understanding. Take time to give the legal definition of witness so that children know what Jesus is asking his disciples to do. Otherwise familiar words like triumphant, victorious, conquering, and glorious become meaningless when combined in long lists of adjectives or when used repetitively in varying combinations. Words such as dominion, exalted, and subdued people are foreign to children. Use them today to describe only this event.īeware of using vocabulary about the triumphant king. Watch WordsĪscension and ascend are not children's words. Children will hear Paul's basic message about Christ in the more concrete story of the Ascension. The sentence structure is too complex and the words too abstract for children. On its own, however, either psalm is a great reminder that God/Jesus is King of the universe, the greatest power that ever was or ever will be.Įpistle: Ephesians 1:15-23. Adults can see the significance of this pairing of servant King and triumphant King, but few children can. The psalms are all pomp-and-circumstance for the triumphant "king of the world." The Ascension accounts focus on the "servant king" who calls on his followers to take up his ministry. Psalm: Psalm 47 or 93.The inclusion of these psalms with the Ascension texts is hard to explain to children. The disciples (and we) are to take up Jesus' work after receiving the Holy Spirit. Reading it just before or after the Acts account will help children clarify what happened. This is the easier of today's Ascension accounts for children. Even so, you may need to reread verses 8-11 in order that children focus attention on the Ascension. The Good News Bible is by far the easiest translation with which to keep up with all this action. These eleven verses are packed with a summary of the forty days after Easter, the promise of the Holy Spirit, a discussion between Jesus and the disciples about the messianic kingdom, and the Ascension story. Their parallel of the phrase "in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" is "at home, at school, in, and to all the world." Older children are especially receptive to the challenge to be witnesses. So on Ascension Day, we complete our celebration of what Jesus did and get ready to go to work as his witnesses today. The "two men in white" emphasize this change when they ask why the disciples are staring into the sky. They were to be Jesus' witneses, and they were to expect God to send the Holy Spirit to help them with the task. As he returned to God, Jesus instructed the disciples to pick up and continue his work. ![]() Second, the Ascension is the story of Jesus passing the baton of responsibility to his disciples. First, it answers the literal-minded questions, "What did Jesus do after Easter?" and "Where is Jesus now?" The answer is that for forty days Jesus helped his disciples understand what had happened on Good Friday and Easter. The Ascension story is of interest to children for two reasons. Confessions also available on request.ASCENSION OF THE LORD From a Child's Point of ViewĪcts 1:1-11. ConfessionsĬonfessions take place every Saturday at 10am-10.40am at St Teresa’s Church & 5pm-5.40pm at SS John Fisher & Thomas More. ![]() * According to a decision of the Bishops’ Conference (1984) Holy Days which fall on Saturday or Monday are transferred to the Sunday. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August*).Ascension of the Lord (Thursday after 6th Sunday of Easter: i.e., | | ).Please note that for Holy Days of Obligation, we normally have three Masses during the day: 7:00 am (St Teresa’s), 9:15 am (St Teresa’s) and 7:30 pm (SS John Fisher and Thomas More). Weekday Masses – 9.15am Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays – all at St Teresa’s Holy Days of Obligation Sunday 8.30am at SS John Fisher & Thomas More Saturday Vigil 6pm at SS John Fisher & Thomas More (With Music)
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