For Parents To Teach To Their Children
This month– November 28, 2021 to Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021–Advent leads us to the “Coming” of Christ, the Messiah. It is a time of preparation, excitement, and joyful anticipation. Children love the build up to Christmas morning. This Advent season, art, music, and literature help children learn more about Jesus, and His humble beginning in Bethlehem. The second week of Advent, the wreaths with their four candles, have two burning or are already spent. I am showing the children through art, about the Liturgical seasons and colors, of our religion. Prepare your children for Gaudete Sunday and the rose candle, which invites us to “rejoice.” The following week leads us to the Fourth Sunday in Advent, and to Christmas Eve, and a beautiful gift–the Holy Infant, Jesus.
Excerpt from Holy Heroes, Third Sunday in Advent “Gaudete Sunday”
“Now the people were filled with expectation, all all were asking whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all by saying, ‘I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Source: HolyHeroes.com (Luke 3:15-16)
Advent Begins, Sunday, November 28, 2021, and Ends on Friday, December 24, 2021
Preparation, Anticipation, Reconciliation, Joy
Source: USCCB.Org
Our Art Gallery
Paper Plate Wreaths, Cards, and Painting for this Season
Our Materials
All of the first five paintings were made on paper plates, cardboard packing materials or were cut from a brown shopping bag. I like to use household items that can be re-used or re-purposed. The last painting is painted on watercolor paper which is my first choice for watercolors or any special project. Here are some off the materials that are my favorites:
Excerpts from MagnifiKid! December 19th, 2021 Fourth Sunday of Advent
“Praying with the Spirit”
“Learn the first verse of the -prayer to the Holy Spirit, called Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which is Latin for “Come, Holy Spirit.”
You can say it every morning; “Come, Holy Spiritus, come. And from your celestial home/ Shed a ray of light divine!”
Welcome the Holy Spirit into your heart just as Mary did!” Page 2
“Amen”
“Amen” is a Hebrew word that means ‘It is true.’
So when you say, ‘Amen’ at the end of a prayer, it’s as if you are saying, ‘All that I have said, Lord, is true and I deeply believe it with all my heart.’
When you say ‘Amen’ during Mass, you are also saying that what the priest has just said is true and you believe in it.
So be sure to listen carefully to what he says.” Page 4
Our Reading
Source: USCCB.org “Luke, Chapter 1:39-45”
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
‘Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.’”
“O’Come, All Ye Faithful” The Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
Week Seventeen–Suggested Homework Activities
Please read the “Joyful Mysteries” of the Rosary
“The Joyful Mysteries” Recited Monday and Saturday
- The Annunciation
Mary learns that she has been chosen to be the mother of Jesus. - The Visitation
Mary visits Elizabeth, who tells her that she will always be remembered. - The Nativity
Jesus is born in a stable in Bethlehem. - The Presentation
Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the Temple to present him to God. - The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
Jesus is found in the Temple discussing his faith with the teachers.
Source: “Mysteries of the Rosary” from LoyolaPress.com