Children's Liturgy Series: The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

In today's Gospel Jesus tells us about how the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

Holy Spirit, fill my heart and illuminate my mind. Help me to hear and understand God's message today. Help me to recognise when God is trying to speak to me in my daily life. Amen

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the landand would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

He said,“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”With many such parable she spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

Father in heaven, for the conversion of sinners, we give you today, all that we think and do and say, and we join it with all that was done by Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen

Ask: Who is our leader in faith? Help them arrive at the answer: Jesus. Say: Jesus was sent by God the Father to establish God’s kingdom here on earth. Jesus began by teaching and preaching and preparing a small group of twelve disciples to help spread the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Ask for a volunteer to read aloud Mark 6:24–29, the first part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading.
Say: In the parable we just heard, Jesus begins by telling the people, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God.” In the last part of this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus asks to what we can compare the Kingdom of God.
Ask for a volunteer to read Mark 6:30–34.
Say: Both of these parables focus on seeds. Seeds are small; the mustard seed is especially tiny. Yet from these seeds a great crop of grain and a tree large enough to house birds in its branches can grow. Think about how long it takes for a crop to be ready for harvesting or for a tree to mature.
Ask: What do these two parables tell us about the Kingdom of God? (Someone needs to sow the seeds; it has small beginnings; it takes time to come to fruition; it welcomes all people just as the birds found a home in the tree.) Say: As members of the Church, Jesus counts on us to continue his work. We must sow the seeds by spreading his word and making him known. The Kingdom of God welcomes all people and will come to fruition at the end of time. That is why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come, . . . on earth as it is in heaven.”
Conclude by praying the Lord’s Prayer aloud together.