For Parents To Teach To Their Children
This week we learn about parables and the wonderful, short parable about the mustard seed. When I was a child, I remember seeing girls wearing a tiny seed in a glass ball on a chain around their necks. They were a popular jewelry item in the 1950s and 1960s. I asked one girl what her necklace was. She told me it was a mustard seed that could grow into a very large tree. I didn’t come from a religious family, so I didn’t know the significance of the mustard seed. The children with these necklaces had a constant reminder that everything is possible with God– A tiny seed can grow into a large tree. It is also a metaphor for the Christian faith which began small then grew into a religion that spread worldwide.
“The Parable of the Mustard Seed” Source: USCCB.org Matthew, chapter 13:31-32
“He proposed another parable to them. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”
Our Art Gallery
A Mustard Tree Painted with Crumpled Aluminum
Materials and Methods
This is an easy and quick painting project that requires three things–kids’ tempera or poster paint, watercolor paper for durability, and aluminum foil from the kitchen. I use paper plates for my palettes. First, pour out several globs of paint onto a paper or ceramic plate. Next, tear off three pieces of aluminum foil and then crumple and shape the foil as you wish. Dip the foil balls into the desired paint colors and press onto the paper. At first, you may have to dip and paint several times for the desired effect. After the tree and trunk are painted, add mustard tree “petals” on the ground, then use a new ball to paint the blue sky. Let dry. Then hang it on the wall!
Our Readings
“The Use of Parables”
“All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world].'”
Source: USCCB.org Matthew, chapter 13:34-35
“The Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat” Matthew, chapter 13:24-30
“Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
‘The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.’’”
A Reading from MagnifiKid! July 19, 2020. Vol. 17. Part B. Section 4. Page 8-9
“The Kingdom of Heaven”
“In the Gospel, Jesus often speaks about the Kingdom of God. To explain what it is, he uses parables. He says, for example, that the Kingdom of God is like a feast to which we are invited, or a pearl of great value. This Sunday, Jesus’ parable is about a field. In all of these parables, we understand that the Kingdom is something that is happening, growing, being discovered now, but that is not yet finished. To put it another way, the Kingdom of God is both ‘already’ here and ‘not yet’ here.”
