Have courage!

First Sunday of Advent

Today we are celebrating the beginning of a new Liturgical Year. The Liturgical Year is divided into different times: Advent, Christmas, Lent, The Easter Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time. The Liturgical Cycle is a means to help the Christian in his journey of faith and a way to deepen his faith. Although the years seem to be a repetition, the Liturgical Year should never be the same as the previous one. Every year, it helps us to draw closer to Jesus.

During this year we will be reading mostly from the Gospel according to St Mark. 

Have you ever seen a photograph on Facebook, or somewhere else and thought, “Wow, what a coincidence! How come that person was there at exactly that moment?” A person who loved photography is always ready to capture that particular situation, that scene, or occasion.

Today Jesus, is telling us to be prepared, as the professional photographers are. We must be prepared for that special moment, which we do not know when it will occur, although we are sure that it will. Jesus wants us to be prepared for the day when he will call us to meet him face to face. Today’s reading clearly expresses the Advent message. During Advent, we celebrate the three comings of Jesus. Firstly, we remember when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, many years ago. We also celebrate the day when Jesus will return, we do not know when this day will be. Therefore, we are to “be watchful!”

How can we be alert? How can we be attentive, so that when the moment comes, we are well prepared? The best way to prepare ourselves is by deepening our relationship with Jesus. We need to get to know him better and do live as he asks us to do. We do this through prayer, both personal and communal prayer. Prayer was especially important to Jesus. We cannot do without it. Reading the Scriptures also helps us to strengthen our relationship with Jesus. Therefore, we should read, listen, and reflect on Bible readings. We also need to live in the way that Jesus lived. We are to love others and act the same way Jesus did. When we are doing this, we will be welcoming Jesus into our lives. This is the third coming of Jesus. Jesus becomes part of our lives through his Word and through the Sacraments. 

A wise man plans ahead. Amongst other things, he saves money and invests his money, he insures his house, his health and that of his family, he insures himself before going abroad, he gives the best education to his children. This is to be commended. However, a wise man, must also prepare himself spiritually.

The theme for the first week of Advent, is hope. We are a people of hope, because we trust God, we know that he is always present, we know that he loves us. We also hope in the eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

A reading from the Gospel of Mark (Mk 13, 33-37) 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

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. How do you describe yourself? Are you preparing yourself for the coming of Jesus or are you indifferent?
  4. Think of how you can live this Advent differently together with your family. In the https://bekids.mt/ you will find daily resources to help you and your family to deepen and strengthen your relationship with Jesus.
  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 Mark (13, 33-37);
    ii. The Advent Wreath, light the first purple candle
    iii. Cover the table with purple cloth
    iv. A computer/laptop with the reading and clips
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested)
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  8. Be creative 😊
  9. Go to the Prayer Spaces section to continue praying as a family

Did you ever play hide and seek? The one who is seeking, after counting, shouts out “One, two, three, ready or not, here I come!” Jesus is not going to tell us how to play hide and seek, however if we understand how to play this game, we will also understand what Jesus wants to tell us today.

– YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
  • Jesus wants us to always be good children

  • Printout of the worksheets
  • Colours
Printout 1Download
Printout 2Download

In hide and seek, there are children who will hide and someone who will go to seek them. The one who is seeking, faces the wall and counts to the number agreed upon. Whilst he is counting, the others go to hide. Once the counting is ready, he shouts out, “One, two, three, ready or not, here I come!” He then turns around and goes to look for his friends. The one who is found first, will be the one who will have to seek and find his hidden friends next time. The winner is the one to be found last and who hides best. Most probably, the one who was found first did not bother finding a good hiding place, or else, he did not have enough time to hide. The one who was found last, thought well about where he could hide. Those who hide, do not know when the seeker will stop counting. Those who find a good hiding place, waste no time, they go to search for the best place, at once. The others may have lingered on, they did not have enough time to hide.

Today, Jesus tells us that someday everyone will die. We do not know when. Do you remember last week’s Gospel about the sheep and the goats? The sheep were those who did things that Jesus liked; the goats did not care about doing the right things. The sheep are similar to those who immediately went to find a good hiding place. They won because they were the last to be found. The goats however are like those who were caught first in the game. Jesus wants us always to do the right things. He does not want us to say, “It does not matter, I am still very young, I can misbehave as much as I want, when I grow up, I will start behaving”. Jesus wants us to always make the right choices, no matter our age. This way, when the day comes that we meet him face to face, we will be with the winners and go to heaven.

Have you ever seen binoculars? You have one in today’s activity. When someone uses the binoculars, he can see clearly, even something which is far away. It is as if we always need to have binoculars, to be attentive to what we are doing all the time. We need to do what Jesus wants. We need to be attentive to make the right choices. Apart from the picture of the binoculars, you also have another one showing five things you can do. First colour the picture of the binoculars, then colour only the pictures of those actions which will please Jesus. 

Today we have started a very special time called Advent. Advent helps us to prepare for the feast of Christmas. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. The best gift that we can give Jesus is by being good children and making right choices.

When you finish the colouring, listen to There is a star.  This video clip is about four animal friends who help each other to go and see baby Jesus in the manger. When we help others, when we love others, we will also be helping each other to become better friends with Jesus. 

Sign of the cross.

Jesus, I want to give you a beautiful present for Christmas. I want to do what you want. Help me so that during Advent I will do my best to make the right choices. Thank you, Jesus, I love you.

Teachers at school, always repeat those things which are important, so that we can learn them well. Likewise, Jesus loves to tell us repeat his message to us about the most important things in our lives. Today, Jesus will tell us about the need to make the right choices every day, so that we may be prepared when he calls us to meet Him face to face.

– YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
  • Every day we need to live as Jesus asks to do.

  • Printout of the worksheets
  • Pencil 
  • Colours 
Printout 1Download
Printout 2Download

Do you keep your room tidy, with the things and clothes in their place? After doing some crafts, do you put the things back in their place? Has mummy every asked you to clear up your things?

Are the following situations the same, or different?

Mummy asks you to clear your room, and that after returning home from the shopping, she would check it out. What will you do?

If mummy just tells you to clear the room, what will you do?

Will your answer to the second question, be like the first?

There are situations, when we are not given an exact time when we need to have something done. In such instances, we may not give that thing so much importance such as when the teacher tells us to study and revise our work, because we might have a test. In this situation, we might not really pay attention to what we are told. However, if we are told that the coming week, instead of a lesson, we will have to have to sit for a test, we would surely study and revise. When we are not given serious deadlines, it may be difficult for us to take things seriously. 

Jesus tells us that no one knows the day he’ll meet him face to face. Nobody knows in advance the day when they will die. For this reason, Jesus tells us that we should always try to do what is right, every day. This resembles, in some manner, the situation in which we do not know when mummy will come up to check our room, or when we will be having the school test. We should not leave our things lying around, neither should we be careless with our studies. Similarly, every day we should do our best to obey Jesus. We know that if we do not revise our schoolwork regularly, when we have a test, we will have a huge amount of material to study and we may find it difficult to do so. Regular revision, helps us to be much better prepared. In the same way, if we do not care about how we behave, if for example we do not mind lying, if we ignore children who have no friends, if we miss Sunday mass, we do not help at home, we make fun of others, we do not do our homework and copy it from others, we will find it quite difficult to change, although certainly we should try to do so. It is therefore important to stop making wrong choices as soon as possible.

In today’s activity we are going to think about the choices we make. We need to stop doing those things which do not please Jesus and do that which is right. You have two printouts. On one there is a dustbin, and on the other one, a heart. We have just begun Advent, a time when we prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. Around the dustbin there are many papers. On these papers write those things that you want to stop doing (like for example taking things which are not yours). These are the things that we want to “throw away” and remove from our lives. Around the heart, there are smiley faces. On these, write down the things which you do, and which are good, or other good things which you would like to start doing. When we make the right choices, we love Jesus and the others more, and this will make us happy. You may colour the pictures if you wish.

Sign of the cross.

Jesus, I love you. I do not always manage to do what is right. I want to stop doing things which are wrong, and I only want to do the things which please you, so that I will become more like you.

Listen to: I wanna be more like you.

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.