Hail, full of grace

The Immaculate Conception

Today if the second Sunday of Advent. However, today it is also the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This feast reminds that God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus, from the very beginning. From the very moment of her conception, Mary was never stained with sin. 

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854, it states that,

“The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

In today’s Gospel, we will hear how God sent his messenger Gabriel and told Mary that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. In Nazareth, Mary was regarded as a simple girl among many others. She was not famous. What was special in her, was not outwardly seen. She was ready to obey the God’s will, even when she did not understand, even when her first thoughts might not have been inviting. God asked her to be a mother in circumstances which could have led to her death by stoning. Mary was free to refuse what God asked of her. The ‘yes’ of this young maiden, unknown to all, brought about the salvation of all mankind.

Like everyone else, Mary had her dreams. When she became the mother of God, her dreams vanished. Her yes, made possible, that, that was impossible. God works the same way with us, when our answer to his requests, is ‘May it be done to me according to your word’. Sometimes, however, we hold our dreams too close to our hearts, we are not ready to let them go. Mary could say ‘yes’, because of her faith; her willingness to obey God, was greater than her own plans. 

God does not always ask of us, things which are easy. However, we believe that God is always with us, and as the angel said: “nothing will be impossible for God.” In prayer, God shows us what he would like of us. Our ‘yes’, like Mary’s should not have any strings attached. 

A reading from the Gospel of Luke (Lk 1, 26-38) 

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favour with God.

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why?
  3. Pray the Magnificat, it is a hymn Mary says to praise God. Afterwards make a list, of things you wish to praise God for.

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever

4. Think about what God is asking of you now. As a parent, what is God expecting of you? Pray to the Holy Spirit, for wisdom to recognise what God is asking you, pray for courage to do his will.

5. Together with your family find the right time to read this gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare:
i. The Bible reading from St Luke (1, 26-38)
ii. The Advent Wreath, today is the second Sunday of Advent, light the second purple candle
iii. Cover the table with a purplecloth
iv. A computer/laptop with the reading and clips

6. Feel free to adapt to your situation
7. Be creative 😊

Although today it is the second Sunday of Advent, it is also the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This is a feast which shows us that God had chosen Mary to be the mother of Jesus, before she was even born!

Today’s Gospel, is not about this story, it is instead about how God sent an angel to Mary and told her something she never expected.

  • Jesus wants us to be like his mother, Mary, to do what God wants
  • A4 papers, for the children to draw on
  • Pencil
  • Colours
  • Baby Jesus in a manger

What is an angel? (allow the children to say what they think)

An angel is a messenger from God. In pictures and in church they are generally represented as children or adults with wings. They have wings, to show that angels deliver the messages from God, as quickly as possible. 

The name of the angel, in today’s Gospel, was Gabriel. He went to a young girl, whose name was Mary and told her that she was going to have a baby and that she would name him Jesus. You do know who Jesus is, don’t you? When Jesus grew up, he helped others and he taught the people about God. Jesus is the Son of God made man. When the angel visited Mary, she did not understand exactly what he was telling her. But Mary loved God, so she told the angel, that she would obey God. It is similar to when you do not understand what mummy or daddy are asking you to do. Yet, because you love mummy and daddy, and you know that they love you, you obey, even when you cannot understand why they are telling you to do something.

With Mary’s yes, Jesus could be born. If Mary wanted, she could have said no to God. God sends people to us too, to give us messages from him. We have our parents and grandparents, who help us do what is right. At school, teachers help us make the right choices. Catechists and priests, also speak to us about Jesus and show us how to be good children. It was not easy for Mary to say ‘yes’ to God, but she loved God and she wanted to obey him. 

God was very pleased with Mary’s ‘yes’ and God wishes that we too answer with a similar ‘yes’. We say ‘yes’ to God every time we do something which is good. 

Can you name some things that God would like us to do? (allow the children to give examples from their experiences, it is important that they can do whatever they mention, if need be adults help and guide their answers)

You know that Jesus was born in a manger. He did not have a soft, comfortable mattress! Instead, he had uncomfortable straw.  Do you think Jesus is comfortable on the straw? When we do something which is good, we are showing Jesus that we love him. In the coming days, till Christmas, do something each and every day, to show Jesus that you love him. Through your actions, like Mary did, you will be saying ‘yes’.

You have some sheets of paper, cut these into fours. Every time that you do something good, take one of these pieces of paper, on draw on it, what you have done. These are some of the things that you can do, pray, help others, take care of your pet, play with your brothers or sisters, draw a card for granny. When you have finished from your drawing, ask you parents to help you put this paper underneath baby Jesus. The more good things you do, the more comfortable Jesus’ bed will be. Instead of uncomfortable straw, Jesus will have your love. What a great gift you’re going to give Jesus for his birthday!

Whilst drawing, listen to a song about angel Gabriel who visited Mary, An Angel came from heaven.

Sign of the cross.

Dear Jesus, we will soon celebrate your birthday. We want to give you a beautiful present. We want to be good children, because we know that this will make you happy. We would like to continue being good, even after Christmas, because we love you. Thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful Christmas time.

Together we say the Hail Mary.

Today is the second Sunday of Advent, however it is also the feast of the Immaculate Conception. What is today’s feast?

This feast reminds us that God has a plan for each and every one of us. God had this plan, even before we were born. For this reason, God had chosen Mary as the mother of Jesus, before she was born. Since she was going to be the Mother of God, she was born with sin, without original sin. This is what we are celebrating today: Mary was born without sin, because she was to be the mother of Jesus. God wanted Mary to be the best of all human beings. This does not mean that God loves us less. We know that he gave us the sacraments as gift. When we are baptised, we become like Mary, free from original sin. And apart from this, we also have the gift of confession. When we make bad choices, we go to confession and our sins are forgiven! God loves us a great deal indeed!

In today’s Gospel, we will hear how God’s plan comes to be. Through the Angel Gabriel, God asks Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Let us hear her reply in today’s Gospel.

  • As God chose Mary, although in a very special way, God also chooses us and wants us to help others so that they will love Jesus
  • Angels are messengers from God. We too, can deliver beautiful messages to others
  • Angel print out
  • Scissors
  • Colours
  • Glitter glue and other decorations
  • Pencil or felt pen
  • Quotations from the Bible
PrintoutDownload
QuotationsDownload

Who sent Angel Gabriel to Mary?

Why do you think that Mary was afraid at first?

How did Mary reply?

Do you think that Mary answered ‘yes’ because she knew that God would not leave her on her own? Was her answer based upon her trust in God?

Do you think God chose Mary because she had something special?

God could have chosen anyone to be the mother of Jesus. Mary was a young girl, like all the others. She lived in a small village, called Nazareth. To the villagers, Mary was a simple young girl, however to God she was very special. God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

God calls us too. God also chose you to do great and important things. God wants us to show others that we love Jesus, that we do what Jesus asks us to do; so, we love and help others. Apart from this, when we love Jesus, we pray, and we encourage others to pray too. For example, we pray with our family before meals, we go with them to Sunday Mass. If before school starts, there is mass, we encourage our friends to go together to Mass. Mary answered God that she would do what he had asked her to do. God asks us if we would like to do what he wishes. How are we going to answer God?

Angels are messengers from God. They bring good news from God. In pictures or statues, they generally have wings. This is to show that they do not lose time to deliver their message. We can be messengers from God, as well. We can bring good news to others. Everyone likes to receive good news. When we encourage others who are unhappy, we are being messengers from God. When we call our grandparents, who may not be going out and may be feeling lonely, we will be messengers from God. When we speak with others about Jesus, we will be like angels sent from God. 

In this week’s activity we will be like angel Gabriel. Cut out the picture of the angel. You also have several quotations from the Bible. You know that God speaks to us through the Bible. When we give a quotation from the Bible to someone, we would be delivering a message from God, we will be like the angels! Choose one of these quotations and write it on the angel. Colour the angel and decorate it as you like. Fold it, like there is on the template and give this angel to someone. This way you would have delivered a message from God. You can make as many angels as you wish. The more angels you give, the more messages from God you deliver! Good news would have been delivered to many people. Whilst doing the angels, listen to I wanna say yes.

Sign of the cross.

Dear Jesus, we want to be like your mother Mary. We wish to say yes to God and do as God wishes. Help us to become more like you. Help us to love others and to help them. We also want to be like angel Gabriel. We want to deliver messages from God. Dear Jesus, help us so that we have no difficulty, speaking about you with our family and friends. Thank you, Jesus.

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.