Activity

We ask: do you remember what the parables were about? (the first one was about the wheat and the weeds, the second about the mustard seed and the last one about yeast).

These parables show us that God loves us and that he is very patient with us! Have we ever disagreed with our friends and said: “I don’t want to continue being your friend”? Have your parents ever put a plate of food in front of you and you said: “I don’t want it, I don’t like it” without even tasting it? God is different, he loves us and he gives us a chance to change. When we do something wrong, God does not say, “that was the last chance I gave you, I do not love you anymore.” Do you remember what the owner of the fields did? He did not allow his servants to remove the weeds, he allowed both to grow. God does the same thing with us, he allows us to grow, and always gives us a chance to change for the better.

Did someone ever tell you: “You do not understand, you are too young!”? Everyone is equally important in the eyes of God. If the mustard seed or yeast fall on the ground, they are so small, it will be difficult to find them. Nonetheless, if you plant the seed and put the yeast with flour and bake it, these change and grow! God wants the adults to take care of the young ones so that they too may grow and become like Jesus.

Dear children, you are still young, but to God, you are as important as any adult. Jesus is telling you not to lose heart. He wants you to start making good choices so that you grow to become good children.

We start loving Jesus from when we are young. Our love will be small like the mustard seed. But the older we get, the more we learn about Jesus. This moves us to do good things and so our love for Jesus will also grow. Little by little, our love will grow and grow like the mustard seed which became a tree.

It is best to do this activity with the help of your parents or older brothers and sisters. Make a footprint with the brown paint, on the paper. With the green paint make hand prints, so that it will be similar to the picture below. If you do not have paint, or perhaps find the suggested activity too messy, you can make cut outs of the foot and handprints, and colour them.

When the picture is ready, read the following examples to the children:

• I pray

• I lie

• I steal something which is not mine

• I go to catechism lessons

• I listen to Bible stories

• I get angry

• I help in the house

• I pay attention in church

Assist the children so that they may choose those the good things among the list of examples given (to which others may be added). Help them write these good choices in the handprints. When we make good choices, when we love Jesus more, we will grow up into beautiful persons, just like the small mustard seed which grew into a big tree.

We can listen to this song together (afterwards, it may be explained to the children, if they found it difficult to understand), Make that change

Note: the tree is made from foot and handprints. To make good choices generally we have to use our feet and hands, if we stay put, it will be difficult to become better.