4th Week of Lent, Friday

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

"Man does not live on bread alone, 
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

(Gospel Acclamation)

"every word that comes from the mouth of God" - what could this mean?

What sort of things does God tell us?

(All think about this together - no right answers, just thinking about the sorts of things God wants us to know.)

How does God talk to us? (Prophets, parables/stories/through other people/at Mass/in prayer etc.)

Let's be quiet for a few moments and let God talk to us, and talk to Him. We could tell Him we love Him, or about something interesting that happened today, or about something we're looking forward to. Or about many other things. Anything we talk to other people about we can talk to God about.

(Pause for a few moments.)

There are also things we can only talk to God about, like saying thank you that He loves us so much, or other things that you want to talk to only God about. Let's talk to Him about some of these things for a few moments.

(Pause for a few moments.)

Thank you, God, for this special time with You. Help me learn to talk to You and hear Your words.

(Allow any spontaneous prayers, perhaps leading by example. Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi (who started Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) observed that 3-6 year olds relate most naturally to God through prayers of praise and thanksgiving; 6+ will have started thinking about their needs and the needs of those around them in prayers of intercession. Some children may also just want quiet time to speak with God in their hearts.)

(Sing a simple hymn or chant if your children like singing. Or even if they don't ;) This can also be done at the beginning. )

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."