Images from the Readings:

• clear a path
• a straight road
• mountains and hills
• rough and rugged ground
• the desert
• baptism with water
• the Holy Spirit

SOURCE: Catholic Diocese of Auckland

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a process and it takes effort and much prayer to move beyond hurt and to begin healing

FIRST READING: Isaiah wishes the nation of Israel to be aware that God is the one who brings comfort and forgiveness.

SECOND READING: We are called to be at peace and a crucial part of being at peace is to be forgiving.

GOSPEL: Saint John the Baptist calls all to repentance and goes before Jesus, the One who will bring about forgiveness and the remission of sins.

DOWNLOAD LESSON (PDF)

SOURCE: Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University; “Build. Plant. Grow.” = a free faith formation resource which aligns with the Liturgical Year of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Gospel for today begins by talking about good news, what is the good news it refers to? Jesus is the Good News, God’s Son come into the world, God has visited the people. What do you know about John the Baptist? What does today’s Gospeltell us about him? Ask the children about preparing for a birth in their family (those who have experienced this). Talk about the time of waiting and excited expectation. What does their mother do in preparation? What things need to be considered? We, as do mothers, need peace andquiet for preparation. We need help as new mothers need help. We need to ask for that help. Who do we ask. What do we ask for?

Discuss the idea of Advent as a journey towards a goal. To journey alone or with others is a question that can be considered.

You might talk with the children about John the Baptist, how his whole life was dedicated to one thing, “preparing the way of the Lord”, now we are asked to prepare also. To make a space in our lives for God and the things of God by prayer and thinking about God and the great work of Jesus.

Discuss the idea that they might draw up a plan—make a list of the things in their lives that they plan to change in order to prepare a bigger place for God in their lives.

SOURCE: Catholic Diocese of Auckland; Accompanying cartoon thumbnail is from The Cartoon Gospel, Used with permission.

Confession of Sins

Confessing sin brings us closer to God. Just as John the Baptist points to Jesus Christ, the confession of our sins points to the healing mercy of a forgiving God. The Catholic Church teaches that an essential part of the sacrament of Reconciliation is the confession of sin by the penitent to the priest.

Click on links below to download entire lesson(PDF).

Catechist Background
Primary Session
Intermediate Session
Junior High School

Sacrament Connection

The Sacrament of Reconciliation celebrates God’s forgiveness and mercy. This sacrament includes the confession of our sins to the priest. In this way, we are opened to the healing of God’s grace (CCC 1456).

SOURCE: RCL Bensiger Lectionary Resources

CATHOLIC MOM is a ministry of Holy Cross Family Ministries offering children’s handouts of Gospel Reading, a coloring page, lesson plans, Mass Worksheets for ages 7-10 and 11-14, Word Search, and Crossword puzzle.

Words in this week’s word search

Teacher and mom, THERESA, creates Kids’ Bulletins, a resource for Catholic kids about the readings for Sunday’s Mass every week. More resources from Theresa can be found at Teachers Pay Teachers website.

Download page for Bulletins

Click below to access Sermons4Kids‘  sermon, coloring page, dot to dot, word search, multiple choice, etc. handouts related to Sunday’s Gospel.

Jesus is Coming!

MINISTRY-TO-CHILDREN:  Download printable craft directions to help children focus on John the Baptist and his role as the one who made way for the Messiah. John had an important message to share with God’s people, and he boldly proclaimed the coming of Christ. As we discuss this with children and remind them that they, too, can tell others about Jesus, these crafts celebrate John and his job. A noisemaker honors the joy of getting attention and making announcements. A map reminds us that we can point the way to Christ, just as John did. And just for fun, “bugs on a plate” are a reminder of John the Baptist’s unique dietary habits!

GO TO LESSON

RELATED VIDEO: Children’s Sermon (Mark 13:24-37)

READ ALOUD WITH MAURANDA BROWN (13:49: In a story of forgiveness, a young boy struggles to do the right thing after he is called a mean word.

Desmond and the very mean word

When a group of white boys hurl racial taunts at young Desmond Tutu, he turns to his mentor, Father Trevor. The advice that Desmond receives is not exactly what he wants to hear. Father Trevor encourages Desmond to be forgiving, when in reality he would like to retaliate. Father Trevor’s advice to Desmond is sound advice for all of us. Father Trevor put it this way; “When you forgive someone, you free yourself from what they said or done. It’s like magic. “ The story concludes with forgiveness and quiet reconciliation between Desmond and one of his tormentors.

DOWNLOAD LESSON (PDF)

SOURCE: Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University; “Build. Plant. Grow.” = a free faith formation resource which aligns with the Liturgical Year of the Roman Catholic Church. The accompanying video is NOT associated with Markkula Center.

“Preparing the way”

THEME/MAIN IDEA: A piece of red fabric that could be “rolled out” like a red carpet.

PRESENTATION: ““I have a question for you this morning…have you got your thanking caps on? Are you ready? Here it is…Raise your hand if you can tell me something special that you might do if an important person was coming to visit us? [children respond] Great answers! Fantastic ideas. I have something in my [bag, box…whatever you are “hiding” the object lesson in!] that I thought of as a special way to greet someone important that might come to visit us. Want to see? — click link below to read more —>

DOWNLOAD PDF LESSONS

SOURCE: Intermountain Ministry, Restoring Hope for Children

Preparing people for the coming of Jesus

Children’s Liturgy (CAFOD) – Today we hear about John the Baptist and how he was a messenger for God, preparing people for the coming of Jesus.

• What do you remember about John in this reading?
• What does he wear? What does he eat? What does he do in the river?
• How do we prepare during Advent?

We put up a Christmas tree and decorate it. We buy presents for other people and we wrap them up. When John the Baptist began to prepare the way for Jesus, it wasn’t just for his friends and family. His message was for everyone who would listen.

When we prepare for Jesus we can also remember people who are part of our worldwide family.

Do you know how people prepare during Advent in any other countries around the world? Have you ever been to another country during Advent or for Christmas?

CAFOD’s Family Advent Calendar 2020

CAFOD’s 2020 online Advent calendar for families has a daily reflection and free activity for you and your children in preparation for Christmas. Join us as we journey throughout the season of Advent with our global family.

GO TO CALENDAR

Source: CAFOD

SOURCE: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) – Reformatted and adapted for browser

John the Baptist appears in Judea preaching repentance

Reflection Questions for Grades 1-3, 4-6, and 7-8 which help connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.

What Did You Hear?

Diocese of Auckland provides the following starter questions for children to stimulate discussion about Sunday’s Gospel.

⚪  What was the name of the prophet who had foretold the coming of John the Baptist? What is a prophet? A prophet is someone who speaks in the name of God and has been allowed by God to know and share a part of his plan for mankind.

⚪  John was God’s messenger; he was sent to tell the people to change their ways and to turn back to God. He told them to make a fresh start by asking forgiveness for their sins and trying to lead lives filled with goodness and love.

⚪  John was sent to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. Do we still need to prepare for Jesus’ coming today? Jesus could return at any time (recall last week’s discussion). We can prepare ourselves just as people did in the time of Johnthe Baptist, by putting right what is wrong in our lives and living as Jesus taught us.

⚪  Advent is a good time to look carefully at ourselves and to make a fresh start if we need to. When can we meet Jesus and ask for his forgiveness? Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation we can tell Jesus that we are sorry and receive his forgiveness. Through the priest, God allows us to hear that our sins are forgiven so we can start anew knowing that God loves us very much.

⚪  Can you think of anything that needs to be put right in your life?

SOURCE: Catholic Diocese of Auckland

Click on image/text to download entire bulletin for your children.

The following children’s sermons are linked to Sermon Writer, which was operated by Niell Donavan, a United Christ clergyman from 1997 until his death in 2020. His wife Dale is graciously keeping his website online FREE, subscription no longer required. As Catholic Catechists, be sure to adapt if necessary before presenting to children.

First Reading

Bring comfort

Today I’d like to tell you a story about a little girl named Morgan. She is four years old and was riding in the family car with her parents when she saw some people living in a tent under a bridge. It was wintertime and the day was very cold and icy. She told her parents that she wanted to go home, get the blankets from her bed and bring them back to these people because they looked so uncomfortable. Then she thought of all the other homeless people who live in the city and decided that she would like to collect blankets for them too.

Second Reading

It’s about time

Time is a funny thing. When we look forward to an event like a birthday party, Christmas, or a summer trip, it feels as if we are waiting forever. At other times, when you are having lots of fun, time seems to zip by; we look up and find we have been so occupied that hours have sped by without our noticing.

Gospel Reading

John, the Baptizer

(Raise the megaphone. Use a loud voice) I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT. I AM SENDING A MESSENGER. This is a megaphone. In the past, a megaphone was used when someone needed to make a special announcement. Today, we have microphones, so we don’t need the megaphone any more. They didn’t have microphones or megaphones at the time of the Old Testament, but they did write special messages. Here are the words of one message: “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord!’” (Paraphrase of Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3) That Old Testament message was talking about a man by the name of John.

Sermon excerpts from Sermon Writer: Children’s Sermons – All Rights Reserved | © 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan