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20/10/2020

The Reconciliation Festival

This video is from a few years ago. Due to Covid-19 restrictions there will be some differences, including:
- reduced numbers of families
- hand sanitiser available and regular cleaning of stations
- you'll receive a goody bag with items rather than picking things up as you go round
- there will not be refreshments available
- all adults will be wearing face masks
- screens during the sacrament of Reconciliation

Some key practical points on the day:

There will be a one way system. You will start by coming in, through the red café doors at St Joseph's church hall and then you will travel around the stations (this will be an opportunity to prepare and reflect together), and then families will be invited up to the church to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation and then you will be asked to leave via the main door of the church.
Please only bring members of your child's household and you will need to remain with them throughout your time at the Reconciliation Festival.
Please don't bring in coats and large bags as there will be nowhere to store them.
There will be no refreshments so bring your own drinks and toilets will only be available on request
We would advise you to allow an hour for the preparation in the hall and your child's first Reconciliation in the church.
Please can all adults wear face masks.
Limited parking will be available in the church spaces which are indicated with signs, below the hall. If you park in these spaces, please leave the church car park after the festival to make room for other families. If you can't park in these spaces there is additional parking at York Road and the G-Live carpark.

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12/10/2020

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Preparation Week 4: The Eucharist

ROBERT BARRON VIDEOS FROM THE PARENT SESSION (FOR PARENTS)

Real Presence - Bishop Robert Barron says, "appearance and reality do not always coincide". The Church says, in the case of the Eucharist, what appears to be ordinary bread and wine, in fact is “changed” at the deepest level of its reality through the words of the priest. Words not only describe reality, but under right circumstances can change reality.

John 6 - Jesus' teaching that he is the bread come down from heaven divided people then and divides people now.

FAMILY LITURGY VIDEO TO SHARE WITH YOUR CHILDREN

The Family Liturgy Video below was released for the Sunday we were celebrating Corpus Christi. We hope you find it an engaging way to continue to explore the Eucharist with your child.

REVISIT THE HANDOUTS

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

You may want to discuss these questions over dinner, or during a family prayer time. The YouCat for Kids has some excellent answers which you may want to share with your children. The page numbers are in brackets after the questions.

- How does Jesus come into bread and wine? (p. 126)
- What is communion? (p. 127)
- What do I do when the Lord of the Universe comes to me in Holy Mass? (p. 128)
- Why do Christians go to Mass on Sunday (p.130)

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6/10/2020

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Preparation Week 3 - Reconciliation Step by Step

ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES

You may remember this video of the steps of Reconciliation from the parent session. You can watch it along with your family handout 5, which includes the cartoon images.

Your child may find it helpful to roleplay the steps of Reconciliation with you each taking a turn at being the priest and the other one being the person confessing their sins. You can discuss some made-up sins to confess when doing this.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What are the stages of Reconciliaiton? (p. 7-8 of Family Handout 5)
How does the Parable of the Prodigal Son help us to understand the stages of Reconciliation? (p. 1 of Family Handout 5)
What does confession do to me? (p. 137 of the YouCat for kids)
Why should I confess to a priest (p. 138 of the YouCat for kids)

REVISIT THE HANDOUTS

Handout 5 goes through all the steps of Reconciliation and connects them to the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

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28/9/2020

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Preparation Week 2 - Choices and Sin

ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES

This weekend's Family Liturgy explores what sin is and its effects. Aseel uses the Youcat for Kids throughout the video, so you may want to grab yours, so you can read along with her.

This audio examen is only 6 minutes long and a great way to develop your child's ability to examine their conscience.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What is sin? (question 81 in Youcat for Kids)
What's the difference between a sin and an accident? (page 6 of Family handout 3)
How do I know when something is good or bad? (Question 113 in Youcat for kids)
What does sin do to us? (Question 56 in Youcat for kids)

REVISIT THE HANDOUTS

Choices and sin are explored on pages 5 - 8 of Family Handout 3 (the pink one). Much of what is covered is discussed in this week's Family Liturgy, so you may find it helpful to have this with you, when you watch the video.

The first stage of Reconciliation is an examination of conscience, where we reflect on our choices. It would be helpful to go through an examination of conscience with your child this week. There is a great one available on page 2 of Family handout 5 (the purple one).

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20/9/2020

Preparation Week 1: "Since God forgives you, you should forgive others"

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What does "Since God forgives you, you should forgive others" mean?
What line in the "our father" refers to this idea?
What makes it difficult to forgive?
Is there anyone I need to forgive?
Is there anyone I need to ask forgiveness from?

REVISIT THE FAMILY HANDOUTS

Page 6 of Family Handout 5 (the purple one) looks at this theme, so you could read back over this page. All the family handouts can be found here, if you can't find yours.

ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES

There are some great resources around this theme from last weekends family liturgy. Including a video from Aseel explaining what Jesus meant when he told his disciples to forgive 70 times 7 times, this involves some great energy-burning challenges!

12/8/2020

Dates for the Autumn Term

Download here

10/8/2020

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What to wear?

It can feel like a lot of pressure to get your children the "right" clothes for their first Holy Communion. Some girls don't like wearing dresses and some boys hate the idea of wearing a tie or suit. Below are just some recommendations based on tradition and are not set rules imposed by the church.

It is traditional for the children to wear white; for girls a white dress and for boys a white shirt and smart trousers. Wearing white recalls the day of their Baptism when they first wore white to show that they were "clothed in Christ". The celebration of First Holy Communion completes what began with the first Sacrament, Baptism.

You do not need to purchase dresses or shirts from a first Holy Communion store that generally over-charge. There are many clothes shops in the area that sell white dresses.

Other items such as accessories, the colour of shoes, the colour of ties, the choice to wear a suit jacket or waist coat, the choice of socks or stockings are all at the discretion of parents.