Corpus Christi Sunday

Gospel: John 6: 51-58 -The Living Bread

This Sunday is Corpus Christi Sunday, a day on which we should honour the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and acknowledge his Real Presence in the Eucharist. After watching the video, reread the Gospel story with your children. Discuss the video and Gospel with them to deepen their understanding. Use questions like:

• Why does Jesus tell people to eat his flesh and drink his blood?
• Why were the Jewish people upset about this?
• What is Jesus’ promise for those who eat his body and drink his blood?
• What does this tell us about the Eucharist that we can receive when we go to Mass?

Host and Chalice Craft or True Presence Craft

Catholicicing.com offers quite a few resources that centre around the Body and Blood of Christ and Christ’s True Presence in the Eucharist. We are featuring two of Lacy’s crafts today, the first of which is free and the second which cost’s $2 to download. I think that the second resource is even better than the first but I wanted to make sure that we always have free options.

Craft 1: The first craft is to create a host and chalice and will require black paper, yellow paper, white paper, pencils, scissors, glue stick, glitter glue, and a Jesus sticker or printed picture. Find instructions here. This craft is free.

Craft 2: The second craft is a print-out that looks like Jesus from one angle and a monstrance from the other angle to help children learn about the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Once printed, all you need for this craft is colouring pencils or crayons, glue, and scissors. Find instructions here. This craft costs $2 to download.

Colouring pages and worksheets:

Corpus Christi Sunday Children's Activity Sheets: Activities for Corpus Christi Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

Gospel: John 20: 19-23 -Jesus Appears to His Disciples

After watching the video, read the Gospel story with your children. Discuss the video and Gospel with them to deepen their understanding. Use questions like:

• Why did Jesus say “peace be with you”?
• What happened when the disciples received the Holy Spirit?
• Why do you think Jesus gave the disciples the ability to forgive sins?

Family Pentecost Celebration at Home:

Take a look at this resource from the United States Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It outlines prayers and activities for celebrating Pentecost at home. This celebration highlights the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Find the instructions here.

Pentecost Cake:

Pentecost is considered to be the birthday of the Church, so why not make a birthday cake to celebrate this occasion. On Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their mission to make disciples of all nations. Try this recipe and blog on Catholic Icing, this is something that your children can help you prepare and decorate. Lacy shares her recipe for strawberry cake because red is the liturgical colour of Pentecost and because the sliced strawberries look like flames -the tongues of fire that rested on the heads of the disciples. Find her recipe and blog post here.

Colouring pages and worksheets:

Pentecost Sunday Children's Activity Sheets: Download Here

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Gospel: John 14: 15-21 -The Promise of the Holy Spirit

After watching the video, read the Gospel story with your children. Afterwards, discuss the story with them to deepen their understanding. Use questions like:

• Who is the Advocate that the Father sends? What does the Advocate do?
• How can we show Jesus that we love him?
• How do you keep the commandments?

Holy Spirit Dove Craft:

Check out this Holy Spirit Dove Craft from Catholic Icing. Few supplies are needed and they’re really easy to make. You can simply make the dove, or you can attach the gifts of the Holy Spirit to learn a little something extra. Find the craft instructions here.

After completing the craft with your child talk to them about the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? What are some of the different forms that the Holy Spirit takes in the Bible?

Colouring pages and worksheets:

Sixth Sunday of Easter Children's Activity Sheets: Download Here

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Gospel: John 10: 1-10 -The Good Shepherd

After watching the video, read the Gospel story with your children. Afterwards, discuss the story with them to deepen their understanding. Use questions like:

• How is the Good Shepherd different than the robber?
  
• What are some things that Jesus did during his life to show us that he is the Good Shepherd?
• What are some things that we can do to recognize Jesus' voice in our lives?
• What do you think it means that Jesus is the 'gate' for the sheep?

Cardboard Tube Sheep Craft:

Help you child construct a sheep using the instructions on this page. Explain to them that this sheep symbolizes them and they are under the care of Christ, the Good Shepherd. Discuss with your child why it is important that Jesus is the one who shepherds us instead of someone else (Jesus loves us, he knows each of us by name, he protects us, he will never abandon us, he is willing to die for us). Ask your child what it might be like if we had a bad shepherd instead of Christ.

Colouring pages and worksheets:

Fourth Sunday of Easter Children's Activity Sheets: Download Here

Divine Mercy Sunday

Gospel: John 20: 19-31 -Doubting Thomas

Begin by reading the Gospel story with your children. Afterwards, discuss the story with them to help them understand it. You could ask questions like:

• Why was the door locked where the disciples were meeting together? (They were afraid of the Jewish leaders and they thought that Jesus was dead and that he wouldn’t rise from the dead, they were worried that they might be killed too)
• Who came to see them and how did they react? (Jesus appeared amongst them in the locked room and they were overjoyed to see him)Who wasn’t there when Jesus came?
• How did he react when the other disciples told him Jesus had come to them? (It was Thomas and he did not believe the other disciples when they told him that they had seen Jesus. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”)
• Do you think that Jesus was upset with Thomas? (Jesus loved Thomas and he wanted him to believe as well so he allowed Thomas to see and touch his wounds. It doesn’t seem like he was angry with Thomas but he taught Thomas that faith shouldn’t rely on sight. He said “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
• Do you think that Thomas still doubted after that? (No, Thomas became a great missionary to India. In fact, one of the greatest evidence of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was the change in the disciples from hiding in fear behind locked doors, to being fearless missionaries and martyrs for Jesus. They knew the truth, and they were no longer afraid of anything.)
  

Brainstorming Activities

Challenge your child to think of three examples of things that they believe in even though they cannot see them (examples could include: love, good, evil, emotions, gravity, atoms, air, the universe, heat, cold, thoughts, justice, etc.) Then ask them to explain how they know these things exist even though they cannot be seen. They should provide examples. For instance, a child might know that a parent’s love exists because of all of the ways a parent cares for them, the feelings they experience when with them, the parent displaying affection with hugs and kisses, etc. There are many signs that point us towards something that exists even when we can’t see it. Afterwards discuss with your child how we can know that God exists even though we can’t see him. You could draw on examples like the fact that the universe exists as well as each of us, the beauty of creation, the Bible, the testimony of others who have experienced the love of God, the teachings of the Church, our encounter with Christ in the love of others, miracles, God’s answer to prayer in our own lives, etc. Ask your child to provide an example of a time that

Colouring pages and worksheets:

Divine Mercy Sunday Children's Activity Sheets Download Here