Children’s Liturgy(ORATORiO)
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in the Ordinary(Year A)
Sunday 17th September, 2023
Preparing the worship space
Colour: Green
Theme: Forgiveness.
What does forgiveness mean? <it means to let go of the mean feelings in your heart towards a person>
Welcome: Today Jesus talks about forgiveness – about how God is always ready to forgive us if we say sorry. And about how we should try to forgive others if they say sorry to us. Let’s think a bit more about this today.
==== 7:00 - 7:03 ===
Entrance Song
Chorus
Chorus
He said freely freely
You have received
Freely freely give
Go in My name
And because you believe
Others will know that I live
Verse 1
God forgave my sin in Jesus' name
I've been born again in Jesus' name
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to
Verse 2
All pow'r is giv'n in Jesus' name
In earth and heav'n in Jesus' name
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His pow'r as He told me to
Ask: What was last week’s theme? <“Talk in Private....”>
<“ Last week we talked about what to do when we knew
of someone who sinned, who did something wrong...”>
//V// In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
//R// Amen.
//V// May The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
And the love of God,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
//R// And with Your Spirit.
==== 7:03 - 7:08 ====
NEWS TIME :-)
==== 7:08 - 7:11 ===
Penitential Rite
Dear little children, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Confession of our sins
I confess to the Almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words
in what I have done and In what I have failed to do
-strike the breast 3 times as you say- through my fault
through my fault
through my most grievous fault THEREFORE I ask Blessed Mary Ever Virgin all the Angels and Saints
and you, my brothers and sisters
to pray for me to the Lord our God…
Oh Lord Have Mercy
Have Mercy on us oh Lord
For we have sinned against you.
Show us, Oh Lord, your mercy
And grant us your salvation.
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart.
Lord have Mercy
Lord have Mercy
You came to sinners
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
You are seated at the right hand of the father to intercede for us.
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
May the almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting? AMEN
==== 7:11 - 7:14 ====
With a loud voice lets sing the Gloria! GLORIA – Eco Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to the Father...x2 To Him be glory forever!!x2 Alleluia Amen x2
Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to the Son...x2 To Him be glory forever!!x2 Alleluia Amen x2
Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to the Spirit...x2 To Him be glory forever!!x2 Alleluia Amen x2
Opening Prayer
Merciful God, we are truly sorry for the things that we have done wrong. Forgive us and help us to try to forgive others as your son Jesus teaches us... Amen
.
=== 7:14 - 7:19 ====
Liturgy of the Word
Introduce the first reading.
Today’s first reading is from the Old Testament book of Sirach. Do you know the Golden Rule? <do to others what you would want them to do to you> Listen to today’s reading, we will hear how God will treat us. Listen and see if it is the same.
A prepared child/children come and take the reading.
Sirach 27:30-28:7 (GNT)
Resentment (treated unfairly)
30 Anger and a hot temper are horrible things, but sinners have both. 28 1 The Lord is taking note of your sins, and if you take vengeance on someone, the Lord will take vengeance on you. 2 But if you forgive someone who has wronged you, your sins will be forgiven
when you pray. 3 You cannot expect the Lord to pardon you while you are holding a grudge against someone else.
4 You yourself are a sinner, and if you
won't forgive another person, you have no right to pray that the Lord will forgive your sins. 5 If you cannot get rid of your anger, you have no hope of forgiveness—you are only a human being. 6 Think about it! Some day you will die, and your body will decay. So give up hate and live by the Lord's commands, 7 the commands in the covenant of the Most High. Instead of getting upset over your neighbor's faults, overlook them.
This is the word of the Lord;
All say “Thanks be to God”.
Ask: Did you hear how God will treat us?
<God will do to us what we do to other people> If we forgive other people, then God will forgive us.
Let us now focus on our responsorial Psalm:
< The Lord is kind and merciful.…> 3x
Introducing the Gospel
Say: Today’s Gospel reading comes from the New Testament book of Matthew. In the Gospel today, we hear Jesus talk about forgiveness. St. Peter asked Jesus how many times they had to forgive people who hurt them. He asked if 7 times was enough. Listen to the parable Jesus told Peter and see if you can hear how many times we need to forgive each other..
....with Alleluia!! –
WE SING WHILE STANDING AND WELCOME THE GOSPEL!!
CHORUS: HALLELUIAH,
HALLELUIAH X3 YELELE YELELE
HALLELUIAH.
1. EYENDE MBELE, HALLELUIAH X3
YELELE YELELE HALLELUIAH.
2. MOTO, MOTO, HALLELUIAH X3
YELELE YELELE HALLELUIAH
The leader reading the gospel, silently says: “Cleanse our hearts and our lips almighty God, that we may worthily proclaim your Holy Gospel”.
The Leader starts:
-The Lord be with You,
-And with your Spirit.
A reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.
Glory to You, O Lord
Matt 18:21-35 (GNT)
The Parable of the Unforgiving
Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, [a] 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of
them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with
his wife and his children and all that he
had, in order to pay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before the king.
‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. 29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he
refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32 So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”
35 And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
“The Gospel of the Lord”
Glory and Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
==== 7:19 - 7:24 ====
(*) Tell your prepared reflecting story to motivate the children, but according to the Gospel and at children’s level of understanding like in the suggestions below…
Gospel reflection:
Children’s reflection on Forgiveness and Mercy from Matthew 18:21-35
Ask: Did you hear how many times we are supposed to forgive each other?<70 times 7>
Say: Tell me about the story. <let the children retell the story> Jesus taught by using stories. What does this story tell us?
<that we need to treat each other the way that we want God to treat us, if we want God’s forgiveness for our sins, we must forgive others>
Main Objective: In some ways, the story of the unmerciful servant seems a bit harsh. After all, in the end, the servant did receive the punishment due him, but only because he refused to show mercy to others. God grants us mercy no matter what we do, but out of gratitude to Him we want to live lives that offer forgiveness to those around us. The parable reminds us that God is a master of justice, but His mercy outweighs that every time. He loves us and will wipe away our sins, no matter what. This message aims to help children value and understand that. As people, we mess up. But God’s forgiveness is pure and perfect.
Memory Verse:
“Matthew 18:22 “…. <Jesus said, forgive seventy times seven>....”
Let us stand up and we profess our faith.
Profession of our faith
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, creator of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten
Son, our Lord:
--bow down--
Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate;
was crucified, died and was buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty:
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Spirit:
the holy catholic church: the communion of saints: The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting.
Amen.
==== 7:24 - 7:26 ====
Prayers of the Faithful Now is the time to pray for our stuff :-) Intercessions.
You may want to ask the children to offer
their own prayers or you can use the suggestions here.
Leader: We join together now in
prayer to God who loves and forgives us:….
Prayer 1. We pray for the Church throughout the world: that it may be a living example of God’s love and forgiveness for all.
We pray to the Lord...
Prayer 2, We pray for our parish, family and friends: that we may do our best to treat each other better and to say sorry when we have done something wrong... We pray to the Lord...
Prayer 3. We pray for our parish, family and friends: that we may try to help others to see that they need to make a change, so that they no longer hurt others and the world becomes a better place for all to live.
We pray to the Lord...
Prayer 4. God of love, you forgive us when we go wrong. Encourage us to try again to be better and helps us to share your forgiveness with others. Guide us to do what is right and to make this world a fairer place. We pray to the Lord...
==== 7:26 - 7:28 ====
Silently, each one tells God your petition. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen
==== 7:28 - 7:30 ====
Song Interlude: Walk Walk in the light, walk walk in the light, Sing as we give in our offertory and we walk to the big church... NOTE-- after the song, is being sung, we pick the children that will
perform next Sunday....
