Mass Lesson 1 for 3rd – 6th Grade
How many of you like to celebrate special days?
What is a special day you celebrate? (take 2 or 3 answers…probably birthday, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. will be brought up)
Can anyone tell me something we celebrate weekly? (The Mass)
Can anyone tell me why Sunday is a celebration? (if they don’t know, then help lead them to the answer that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, Easter, and every Sunday is like a little Easter because Jesus’ Resurrection is THAT important, we need to celebrate it EVERY WEEK, not just once a year!)
Tell me, what do you do to get ready for one of those special days we talked about like a birthday? (allow several students to answer, encourage them to talk about getting clean and dressed in special clothes, maybe getting a present ready to take)
Well, I do those things to get ready for Mass on Sundays, too! What do you do to get ready for Mass? (get dressed might be the only thing they say)
We can do other things to get ready for Mass, too. We can pray that God will help us to pay attention and to get our hearts ready to receive Him in the Eucharist. We can help Mom and Dadby getting ready without complaining and maybe helping a younger sibling get ready, too. We can read the Scripture readings ahead of time, so when we hear them again at Mass, it’s easier to understand them. We can go to Confession and ask God’s forgiveness for our serious sin, so we can receive the Eucharist with a clean soul. Remember, Confession is like a shower for our soul…it gets it all clean again!
We should think about what we want to bring to Mass for Jesus. We can bring our cheerfulness, our thanks for a good week, our love for our family and Him. We can also bring the hurts we have. Maybe someone hurt your feelings at school or home this week. Tell Jesus about it at Mass. Ask Him to help heal your hurts and to make things better between you and the person who hurt you. Ask Him to help you be a better friend and not hurt other people, too. Maybe you disobeyed your parents or teachers this week. Ask Jesus to forgive you and help you to be better. Jesus wants us to talk to Him and ask Him for help. He also wants to hear about the good stuff, so don’t forget to tell Him those things, too!
Think about what you can bring to Jesus this Sunday when you go to Mass. I’m going let you write it down so you don’t forget! (Give out the envelopes to write down their offerings for Mass and let them take them home with them. Make sure the parents know what you did so they know to take it to Mass with them.)
Next week we’ll start talking about what actually happens at Mass and how we participate and what it all means.