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Preparing Children for the Sundays of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany

Karen Berry, OSF


In my last article, Leading Children to Sunday with Angels, Saints and Kings, I suggested symbols for the autumn feast days that could be used to help children understand and celebrate their faith traditions. Once again I invite teachers, liturgists and preachers to bring symbols to life. The Advent/Christmas season has a wealth of interesting and inspiring resources in the content of its stories. Teaching, preaching and celebrating with children at this time of year offers delightful possibilities.

Ideas for Advent
Teach children why an Advent wreath is round, why it uses evergreens and has four candles with specific colors. Show them how to pray with it. Use the wreath-lighting ritual as an introduction to prayer time throughout the season. A theme for each week could be chosen, encouraging children to extend their prayers and God’s light to the broader world community where many wait in darkness for better times.

Touching our roots helps us to better understand who we are. Children can learn about Jesus’ roots by “growing” a Jesse tree. As they make symbols of various Old Testament figures to adorn Jesus’ family tree, they learn the stories that laid the foundation for Jesus’ religion. His Jewish ancestors teach us about being in a covenant relationship with God.

Ideas for Christmas
The story of Jesus’ birth is high drama for young and old alike. For children, it rivals fairy tales in its ability to weave magic, casts characters in heroic or villainous roles and parallels the dilemmas of real life. Christmas pageants are popular because children can take on the roles and bring the story to life in a meaningful way and in a festive setting.

Try re-telling the story in a modern context. Invite children to explore the characters in the Gospel nativity story and discuss where their roles are seen in people’s actions today. Who, like Mary and Joseph, are displaced persons seeking shelter? Who turns them away, unable or unwilling to accommodate their needs? Who does shelter them? Where is the message of their arrival announced? Who receives the news with joy? Children could re-enact the nativity story using a current setting and characters from the daily news. Bethlehem could, for example, symbolize an overcrowded town near a destroyed city after a tragic natural disaster. Or the innkeeper with a stable could be a compassionate risk-taker in a war zone. Children’s imaginations are creative. Help them find ways to mesh God’s Word with the challenges of life in our times.

Ideas for Epiphany
Plan a celebration of Epiphany that focuses on the quest. What were the Magi looking for, how did they go about seeking it and what did they experience along the way and at the journey’s end? The star and the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh are good symbols for guidance on life’s journey and the celebration of life’s discoveries.

Let children create a path to the infant Jesus in the manger, making signs to mark obstacles and guideposts along the way. What helps them on their journey to Jesus? What gets in the way and makes the journey more difficult? Prepare gifts to present to Jesus at the end of the path. What are the children able and willing to give? What gifts would be appropriate?

Conclusion
This magical season bridges two calendar years and takes all of us on a journey from darkness to light, from waiting to revelation. As the journey presses onward, there are always more surprises. Children are good at celebrating life. Those who teach and guide them learn much along the way.

Joliet Franciscan Sister Karen Berry is the director of a family program of religious education at St. Francis Parish in Tucson, AZ. She is a freelance writer for Catholic magazines and the Diocese of Tucson newspaper. Her new book Prayer Services for Parishes is published by St. Anthony Messenger Press (americancatholic.org).