For Parents To Teach To Their Children
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“Jesus Is Rejected In His Native Place”
Our Reading Mark ,Chapter 6:1-6a
Source: USCCB.org
“Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, ‘Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?’
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
‘A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.’
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.”
Our Art Project–A Prayer Shawl
As you can see in the picture of Jesus in the drawing above, he is wearing a blue and white striped prayer shawl. To this day, Jews don a prayer shawl for their prayers throughout the day. Before Christianity began, after the death and crucifixion of Jesus, Jews lived in the region which is now called Israel. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were Jewish. The disciples were Jewish, Many of the customs and traditions of Catholicism come from the Jews, such as the chalice and the silver paten, the breaking of the bread, having an altar, and the actions and symbolism of “sacrifice.” Invite your child to draw or paint their own picture of a prayer shawl.
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“The blue tzitzit (tassels) on Jewish prayer shawls remind worshipers of the sea, the sky and God’s holy throne.” BiblicalArchaeology.org
The Jewish men since antiquity have wrapped themselves in a specific shawl before praying. Historically, they are made of white wool decorated with the royal blue color that began with the ancient kings. (Today, Jewish women may wear them for prayer, too, but not in all synagogues or countries.) I remember hearing news about tiny swatches of intricately woven cloth made from wool and linen, that contained a blue dye made from a small gland of the sea snail (Murex trunculus). This species was known to produce a murex dye the color of dark purple. The artifacts were found in an area being excavated that was believed to be King Solomon’s temple under the Temple Mount area, which is where the Muslim Dome of the Rock stands today. Connecting the special dyed cloth fragments to the ruins, helped archaeologists link the possible location of the Temple of King Solomon on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The dye was only used on clothing for royalty and priests.
Methods and Materials
The important lesson here is to learn that the Jewish people for thousands of years have prayed wearing a special shawl, and one of the commandments from God was to tie tassels at all four corners of the shawl. It’s also important to know the royalty and priests had a special color just for them–“Royal Blue”–which is made from a tiny part of a sea snail!
