November 4-5

Week 1:
Called to Be Holy:
What Do I Need to Do to Be Holy?

Parents

  •  Watch the weekly news videos from our office. We send links to the YouTube videos to you through our Faith Formation gmail at faithformationoffice@gmail.com. Please make sure that our emails are not going to your junk or spam folders! 
  • Pray the Angel of God prayer with your children at night, say grace before meals together (beginning with the Sign of the Cross), and get your family to Mass.  This is the biggest prayer yet.  If you are not able to physically attend due to health concerns, please join the Mass virtually via our Facebook page! 

Main Ideas

  • You were created to be a saint! Consider that your most important mission in life!
  • There are paths we must follow and things we must do in order to walk towards holiness. (We won’t completely get there in this lifetime though!)
  • Jesus and the saints will guide us to holiness. All we have to do is to stay close and learn from them.
  • Your name is precious! Imagine yourself as St. _____________!

Watch

  • God wants us all to be holy. What do you need to do to be holy? Watch this video to find out.

Rosary

  • Pray the Rosary this month! Try to pray it by yourself, but it’s great if you can get other to pray it with you! Choose which set of Mysteries you will meditate on, and really think about them as you pray the Hail Marys! We prayed the Luminous Mysteries in October. In week 3 this month, we will be looking at Jesus’ First Miracle – turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. That is the 2nd Luminous Mystery!
  • Pray the Rosary with me! I have recorded me praying the Luminous Mysteries this time, and I’d love it if you prated along with me. When we get to week 3, we will be exploring the 2nd Luminous Mystery!

Prayer Missions

  • Pray the Holy Rosary, and go to Mass (Mass is BIG prayer!)

Saints

  • Do this word find and be introduced to many names of saints – our friends in heaven!
  • What Saints do you know? Complete this reflection and create your own litany of saints. Pray it by yourself and with your parents! When you finish, you will be able to pray your very own litany (list) of saints!

Week 2:
Missionary Childhood - Russia

Main Ideas

  • Missionary Childhood will meet St. Francis Xavier and learn about being Catholic in Russia.
  • What is a missionary? How can you be a missionary? How can you be a missionary now as a child? As an adult?
  • Come up to the church some time and find the statue of St. Frances Xavier inside! Come all the way in and look to the left of the altar area. Light a candle if you’d like!

Watch

  • Check out the monthly newsletter from October! (We appreciate your patience as we continue to coordinate everything that we need to to make these new programs run smoothly!!)
  • Missionary Childhood Song
  • Check out this video from Father Naveen, a missionary priest from India.
  • Watch this video on St. Francis Xavier and the Samurai’s Lost Treasure (33 min). 

Craft

  • Follow these links for some great coloring pages for the children. You can print them out, or your child can color them online (no special computer or apps necessary!)

 

 

Cook and Create!

Try a new recipe from Russia!

  • Learn how to make Blini – Russian pancakes! You can make them with all sorts of fillings. Pancakes are not just for breakfast anymore!
  • Try this Russian favorite – Borscht!

Share and Discuss

As a family, talk about what you learned through Missionary Childhood about St. Francis Xavier and being a missionary. What does this inspire you to ?do as a family

Pray

Practice prayers, including Angel of God, Sign of the Cross, Our Father, and participating in the Holy Mass, and say a prayer for children and families all over the world.

Week 3:
Wedding Feast at Cana;
Thanksgiving - Giving Thanks!

Main Ideas

  • This is Jesus’ first public miracle – the first miracle recorded (so the first one, as far as we know!)
  • Notice the role of Mary in this miracle. She remains near Jesus. Her words to them and to us, “Do whatever He tells you!” Talk with your child about what Jesus tells us to do. How do we know what He wants us to do? He can learn this from reading the Bible and Bible stories, and by listening carefully to the readings at Mass. Fr. Michael’s homilies often add more understanding to the Scriptures. 
  • The teachins oft eh Chruch are aligned with Jesus’ teachings. 
  • We might also look at Mary’s intervention here as the first intercessory prayer! Do we take our concerns to our Jesus’ mother (and ours as well!)? Mary is the prime example of what it means to be a good disciple and to follow Jesus. She is in heaven with him, even now, but intercedes for us in prayer. 

Do

  • Complete review sheet on the story of the wedding feast at Cana and Jesus’ first miracle. 
  • Do this word find online to help you retell the story of Jesus’ First Miracle!

Family Activity Ideas

  • Do something special to prepare for Thanksgiving as a family. Perhaps you’d like to make “Gratitude Jars” for each family member, or for each of your guests for Thanksgiving. Be sure to lavel each jar’s owner and add a slip that says, “I am grateful for ________________.” 
  • Make a centerpiece or bake something you’d like to share with others! Decide what you can do as a family! Need ideas? The second activity on this link is a thankfulness tree – very easy to do with a small branch, a pot, and some construction paper. If you prefer, you can do a thankfulness turkey, turning the leaves into feathers, and constructing a turkey from some other items. 
  • Or how about making this adorable turkey cheeseball? Kids can help stick pretzel sticks in for feathers, and arrange the crackers around him. They may even be able to help you mix the ingredients for the cheeseball. While you’re making it, talk about how thankful you are to God for the people in your family, and the many blessings God has given us!

Watch

Scripture

Look up this Bible story of Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John 2:1-11 and read it aloud. 

Pray

Practice your prayers, following the flip book and the guide that goes with it. If you haven’t picked it up yet, they are in the parish office!

Place your Bible on your family’s special prayer center, where everyone will be able to see it and use it often. 

Week 4:
Preparing for Advent

Main Ideas

  • Let us prepare our hearts and our homes to celebrate the coming Jesus, our Lord!
  • Jesus entered our world as a tiny, helpless infant – Emmanuel – God with us.
  • Jesus suffered and died so that we might be able to live with him forever in peace and joy. 
  • Jesus promised that he would return to this world. That day may be soon. Let’s get ourselves and our families ready to meet him!

Family Activity

Here is a great Advent activity that will get your family moving towards Christmas with a new energy! Families may create a big Advent calendar together, but children may also want to add their own activities. Advent calendar link can be found here. (Remember that you can also pick these up in the parish office! It is 11×17 so that there is room for writing activities into the squares!)

And here are the instructions and some ideas for your Advent calendar.

Watch

Watch this video by Fr. Mike Schmitz on Advent.

Check In!

Email me your success stories! Photos are most welcome; we like to get excited about your success, too!!