Wednesday within the Octave of Easter

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

"Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him;"

(From the Gospel)

(Read the quote, then each line slowly, with pauses to allow the children (and us!) to reflect on the questions.)

After Jesus rose from the dead, a strange thing kept happening. Usually when His friends met Him, they did not recognise Him. I wonder what was so different about Him that they did not recognise Him? Did He look different? Or was there something else different about Him? Let's think about this for a moment.

Now let's think about when His friends finally recognised Jesus. For some it was when He greeted them; for others, when He called them by name. For the disciples in the reading today it was in the blessed bread, in the Eucharist.

How do we recognise Jesus? Is it when He calls us by name? Or in the Mass? Or in some other way?

Do we sometimes find it hard to know where He is?

Even when we don't see Jesus with us, He is there, waiting for us to hear Him call us by name, or see Him in the Mass, or however else we recognise Him.

Thank you, Jesus, for showing Yourself to Your disciples and to us. Help us see and hear You in the ways you show Yourself to us and speak to us.

(Allow any spontaneous prayers, perhaps leading by example. 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."