We need (enough for 2 small bread loaves, if you want more, increase the amounts accordingly)

§ 500g plain flour

§ 4g yeast

§ A pinch of salt

§ 325ml lukewarm water

We will learn that

§ Different people are involved in the process of providing bread

§ When we share, we love

§ Since Jesus loves us, He wants to share his life with us through the Eucharist

Activity

Step one: we mix all the ingredients in a bowl

Ask the children to name all the people they can think of, who are involved in providing us with a loaf of bread. Amongst others there is the farmer, the baker, and the shopkeeper. When they have thought of everyone, say a prayer for these people.

Step two: we knead the dough

If we would like to be like Jesus, we must act like him. The dough is allowing us to knead it into the shape we want to give it. Similarly, we need to allow Jesus to tell us how he would like us to live. It is not always easy, and often we need courage to obey Jesus. Mention situations when courage was needed to act like Jesus; it could be a situation we are living now.

Step three: we wait! Divide the dough into two and put in separate bowls. Cover with cling film and allow to rest for two hours.

The yeast needs time to prove. Presently we are living in a time when we need to wait, we need to wait before we can meet and play with our friends, we wait before we can go to our grandparents and hug them and kiss them, we have to wait to go to a birthday party, we wait to celebrate our birthdays with friends. This is not easy. But Jesus can give us patience and courage to wait, because he loves us, and we too need to love others.

While waiting for the dough to rise, listen to:

Step four: bake the bread. Heat the oven at 200⁰C. Grease a baking tray with butter or line with baking paper, put the dough in the shape of bread loaves on the tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until you see that it is ready.

We need to wait again! It could be that after some time we start to smell the sweet smell of bread, but that does not mean that it is ready. If we take the bread out of the oven before it is ready, it would not be good to eat. At times we want things to happen immediately and we are not ready to wait. Discuss some instances when we had to wait and we failed to do so, with the consequence that the result was not what we wanted. Let us also remember that when we pray, God always hears our prayers. We would like Him to grant us want we pray for, immediately. But just as we must wait for the bread to bake properly, we need to wait for God to answer our prayers, because He is the only one that knows when the time is right.

Step five: we enjoy eating the bread together and let us not forget to give the other loaf to someone else, so that we can share what we have and our love with others.