Children's Liturgy Series: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us to encourage others on their journey to knowing and living out God's word. Practice patience and lift people up in their learning journey, teaching them through your own actions.

Father in heaven we praise and glorify You. We thank you for brining us together for this Children's Liturgy lesson.  Please send us the Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with peace, love, and wisdom. Help us to hear and understand the message you have for us.  Give us the strength to show patience with other, and not be a barrier to their journey to knowing and loving God. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

At that time, John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my namewho can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

In this passage, Jesus teaches His disciples about accepting others, even if they are different or do things in ways the disciples don’t expect.

Questions:

Who is Jesus talking about? 

Explain that the disciples were upset because someone outside their group was helping others in Jesus' name. But Jesus said everyone who helps in His name is doing good.

What does it mean to be patient? 

Talk about how Jesus wants us to encourage people who are learning by being patient, and by teaching them through example.

Teach children about the value of patience and encouragement by having them work together to complete a series of tasks that require supporting each other. 

Example: 

Pair an older child with a younger one. The older child places a beanbag on the younger child's head and encourages them to walk toward the pilon without dropping the bean bag.  If the beanbag falls, the pair must return to the start line and start over.  Give them their finish time. Get them to do the activity again to see if they can beat their first time.

Heavenly Father, thank you for teaching us about patience. Help us to remember to encourage others, especially those that are younger than us, or those that are elderly or sick, in their learning journey. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.