The Second Sunday of Advent
We Prepare for The Anniversary of the Coming of Christ
We have only two classes in December. I will invite the children to take an “Advent-ure” with me. I’ll tell them the stories of Isaiah the Prophet, The Annunciation, The Visitation, and the events leading up to the Nativity. I’ll tell the story as I show beautiful illustrations from The Story of Christmas
In our classroom, we’ll read an abbreviated reading for the day and begin to learn the Christmas Carol, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.
MT 3:1-12
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King;
peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise;
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic hosts proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Refrain:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
We’ll stop the hymn on the phrase, “God and sinners reconciled.”
Our Discussion
1. What does “God and sinners reconciled” mean?
2. Who are sinners?
3. What have you felt when you had an argument with a brother or sister?
4. Have you ever apologized to someone?
5. Did you feel better when you apologized and promised not to repeat the behavior?
6. Our Baptism gives us the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
7. We’ll begin to learn more about Reconciliation after the Christmas vacation, as we prepare for your children’s First Reconciliation.
Our A, B, Cs
A Advent—— The four weeks leading to Christmas
B Baptism—– Washes away “Original Sin” from Adam and Eve
C Conscience– Our inner knowledge of right and wrong
C Confession– Stating how we could have “loved more” or what we did that was wrong to do
D Decalogue— “Ten Words” “The Ten Commandments” help us to examine our conscience
We will be using the USCCB material, “Let the Children Come: The Sacrament of Reconciliation and Children” to prepare the children for their First Reconciliation.
Note to Parents* There is an excellent children’s book, The Child’s Guide to Reconciliation, that would be wonderful to have at home. Reading it with your children will give them a good background and a positive and joyful look at the Sacrament.
We Pray the Rosary
We’ll start to learn the Apostles’ Creed and other prayers for the Rosary. We will state names of the “Joyful Mysteries.” An excellent source for Praying the Rosary comes from Kindercraze.com.
Our Advent Art Projects
The children will do watercolor paintings of their favorite Advent symbol. We will listen to and sing Christmas Carols while we paint.
Here are my samples:
