June 28: Mass Mysteries for Little Ears

Little Version (For the Littlest of the Littles)
I jump around quite a bit in today's explanations. But, I think the one theme that can carry through all my 'blah blah blah' is that God has POWER. His power is unending and unrivaled! We see his power in creation, grace, faith, love, and charity.

Wisdom 1:13-15
The book of Wisdom is part of the Deuterocanon or Apocrypha. The Deuterocanon is the portion of the Old Testament that is not included in the Protestant Bible because...reasons and whatnot. The book of Wisdom makes references to Purgatory, so that would be one reason that Catholics and Protestants have different beliefs in regards to Purgatory, in case your older kids are wondering.

Anyhow...at first glance, this reading seems to focus on death. However, you can quickly turn your kiddos to notice the lines about God creating us in HIS OWN IMAGE. This is a great chance to remind them of the Creation story which may be old-hat to them by now, and demonstrate how God truly carries HIS message through all the different writers of the Bible.

Speaking of the Creation Story. Everyone should own this book.  And God Created Squash. It's a BEAUTIFUL retelling of the Creation Story and it's hilarious :). I have read it to high school students and kindergartners and both ages loved it.

Psalm 30 "I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me."

My kids may not be able to make a good connection to the phrase, "You have rescued me." On TV, they will see people rescued from the 'bad guys' or rescued from a monster. I'll help them make the connection, that God rescuing us, can mean that God can change us! I don't need to be rescued from a big scary monster, but I do need some rescuing from a bad attitude or a pouty morning. 

I love the phrase, "You changed my mourning into dancing." A quick prayer can change that pout into a smile! Jake, my 4-year old, often gets told to stop the pouting. If he's in the mood to avoid time out, he turns away, wipes at his face a bit (he says that he's "recycling his face") and comes back with his impish little grin. Perhaps I could convince him to turn his mourning into dancing. That would surely add another laugh to the day!

Mady needs to "recycle" her face...

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Again, we can help our kids understand that God isn't always speaking of worldly things. Paul, in this letter to the people of Corinth, reminds us that God was rich and became poor for us. He's not speaking of money, but of goodness and grace!

Mark 5:21-43

This is a long reading with two great stories. The first is about a woman who touches Jesus' Jesus cloak. Jesus speaks to her of faith and she is such a great example to us all! If your older kids ask, most likely, the 'hemorrhages' were womanly issues, which means that she was 'unclean' according to so she couldn't really be an active participant in society or religion or anything! So, discomfort and sickness aside, she was also a pariah.  Yuck.

This year, I focused on the raising of Jairus' daughter in the bulletin, which again has the same message of faith in God's power. I love the line in which Jesus says, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." Whether it's monsters under the bed, spiders in the corner, or the scary scary future, we don't have to be afraid, because God has ultimate power.

Saint of the Week: Saint John the Baptist
Saint John the Baptist is such a fun saint to talk about! The hair, the clothes, the honey, the BUGS! These are all things that can catch a kids attention and help them to connect to our saints in Heaven. Plus--he baptized Jesus! This is a great week to dig out the Baptism candles and pictures from family baptisms and remember that we are all a part of God's family.

To print of Bulletin for this week...visit June 2015 Catholic Kids Bulletins.

What I Wore Sunday!
I'm linking up to What I Wore Sunday over at Fine Linen and Purple. I only own one maxi skirt and I rarely wear it because I never like it once I have it on. I love them on other people, and I actually love it in this picture! So, perhaps I'll start wearing it more often...but refusing to look in the mirror before I leave the house!

I'm accessorized by the best accessory of all...a clingy baby! Nick wanted to join in with the pictures, and fell over as soon as we got outside, so he needed some cuddles...