In today's Gospel, we learn about how Jesus wants us to "make disciples of all nations", and encourage others to get baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirt.
Father in Heaven we praise and glorify you. We thank you for bringing us together today for this children's liturgy lesson. Please send us the Holy Spirit, and help us to know and love you and hear and understand the message you have for us today. Help us to have the courage to bring this message to our friends and family around us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Source: Kids Ablaze Inc. (2020, MAY). The Great Commission [VIDEO]. YOUTUBE. Kids Ablaze Inc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I-e6yls4O0
Ask: How do people become members of the Church? (through Baptism) What do you think makes people want to become members of their Church? (Accept all reasonable answers.)
Say: In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. The words in this reading are the last words that Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel. Let’s listen carefully to this Gospel.
Ask: What does Jesus tell his disciples to do? (to make disciples, to teach, to baptize) What do you think made people want to be baptized? (the disciples’ teaching, the witness of the disciples’ lives, the power of the disciples’ actions)
Say: Today we are not that different from those who heard the teachings of the first disciples. We too become members of the Church through Baptism. The teachings of others and the example of their lives and their actions make us want to be members of the Church. Of course the saints and other holy people are witnesses to Christian discipleship but so are members of our family and our local Church. Everyone who helps us to understand what it means to be a Christian is doing what Jesus told his first disciples to do: go forth and make disciples.
Say: All of us who are baptized are sent by Jesus to make disciples of all nations. What did Jesus promise at the end of today’s Gospel? (that Jesus would be with us always, until the end of the age) Say: Jesus is still with the Church.
Conclude in prayer together that we will always be faithful to the commission that Jesus gave us to go and make disciples. Pray together the Lord’s Prayer.
Father in Heaven we thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit to encourage others to get baptized and become part of your family. We ask you to bless us and remember that you are always with us and will hear us when we call on your name. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
