1st Reconciliation Workshop 1 - At Home Make up
Please see Maura and pick up the necessary materials before starting the workshop at home.
Part 1 – Opening Prayer service - Parent and Child
See Service of Light Leader script HERE. Please adjust as necessary to fit your home environment. You will need two candles.
See Service of Light Leader script HERE. Please adjust as necessary to fit your home environment. You will need two candles.
Parent Education Piece –
This section is for the parents to complete before they work with their child.
All families have rituals – for birthdays, for mealtimes, maybe for bedtime. Even if that’s not what we call them, established ways of doing things are rituals.
Reflect on a family ritual, using the following questions:
Do you see the connection between rituals and sacraments? Some actions communicate more than they seem. The actions themselves are filled with meaning because of the people with whom we share them and because of what they communicate. Just as the rituals on birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries often communicate more than they seem, so too the sacraments express realities that are deeper than appearances.
Just as our family rituals are an expression of our love for one another, so too are the sacraments an expression of God’s love for us and a way to receive God’s grace.
In our family rituals and customs: we love, serve, forgive, heal, accept and build family.
In our sacraments: Jesus shows us God’s presence by loving, serving, forgiving, healing and building community.
Can you name the seven sacraments? Sacraments of Initiation are Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Sacraments of Healing are Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. Sacraments of Service are Holy Orders and Matrimony.
The sacraments are expressions of God’s love for us and the means through which we receive God’s grace, a share in the divine life. Through the sacraments, we celebrate and live the gift of god’s saving presence with us and among us in three important ways:
We remember God’s saving work in Jesus.
We celebrate God’s action within the life of the community.
We express our belief and confidence in God’s loving presence into the future.
When we gather to celebrate the sacraments, we recognize that same saving work of forgiveness and healing taking place in our Church community. These experiences point to and celebrate the reality of God’s continual love.
The sacraments also help us to recognize God’s presence in everyday experiences.
In addition, the sacraments give us the grace we need t be signs of God’s love in the world. Consider these examples.
We are welcomed into the Church at Baptism. At the same time, we are called to be people who are welcoming to others.
We receive forgiveness and are reconciled with God and with one another in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At the same time, we receive God’s grace, which empowers us t be people who forgive.
We celebrate union (communion) with God through Christ in the Eucharist. At the same time, we are given the grace to be the presence of Jesus to others.
We celebrate the Anointing of the Sick. At the same time, we are called to care for those who are sick or suffering.
In celebrating the sacraments, then we celebrate what God has done and what God continues to do in our lives. We are affirming that we, as individuals and as a community, want to reflect the values and the way of the life to which the sacraments point.
Please watch the videos below on Reconciliation.
- Your Catholic IQ – take the Catholic IQ test on Mercy and Forgiveness to see what you remember from your Reconciliation preparation (don’t cheat – wait until you are done before looking at the answers) - included in materials from Maura
- Rituals – Family rituals and Catholic Sacraments
All families have rituals – for birthdays, for mealtimes, maybe for bedtime. Even if that’s not what we call them, established ways of doing things are rituals.
Reflect on a family ritual, using the following questions:
- What is a ritual important to your family
- Who shares in this ritual?
- Why do you treasure it?
Do you see the connection between rituals and sacraments? Some actions communicate more than they seem. The actions themselves are filled with meaning because of the people with whom we share them and because of what they communicate. Just as the rituals on birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries often communicate more than they seem, so too the sacraments express realities that are deeper than appearances.
Just as our family rituals are an expression of our love for one another, so too are the sacraments an expression of God’s love for us and a way to receive God’s grace.
In our family rituals and customs: we love, serve, forgive, heal, accept and build family.
In our sacraments: Jesus shows us God’s presence by loving, serving, forgiving, healing and building community.
Can you name the seven sacraments? Sacraments of Initiation are Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Sacraments of Healing are Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. Sacraments of Service are Holy Orders and Matrimony.
The sacraments are expressions of God’s love for us and the means through which we receive God’s grace, a share in the divine life. Through the sacraments, we celebrate and live the gift of god’s saving presence with us and among us in three important ways:
We remember God’s saving work in Jesus.
We celebrate God’s action within the life of the community.
We express our belief and confidence in God’s loving presence into the future.
When we gather to celebrate the sacraments, we recognize that same saving work of forgiveness and healing taking place in our Church community. These experiences point to and celebrate the reality of God’s continual love.
The sacraments also help us to recognize God’s presence in everyday experiences.
In addition, the sacraments give us the grace we need t be signs of God’s love in the world. Consider these examples.
We are welcomed into the Church at Baptism. At the same time, we are called to be people who are welcoming to others.
We receive forgiveness and are reconciled with God and with one another in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At the same time, we receive God’s grace, which empowers us t be people who forgive.
We celebrate union (communion) with God through Christ in the Eucharist. At the same time, we are given the grace to be the presence of Jesus to others.
We celebrate the Anointing of the Sick. At the same time, we are called to care for those who are sick or suffering.
In celebrating the sacraments, then we celebrate what God has done and what God continues to do in our lives. We are affirming that we, as individuals and as a community, want to reflect the values and the way of the life to which the sacraments point.
Please watch the videos below on Reconciliation.
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Child Education Piece
Child Education Piece – in this part you’re mainly saying to your child what is scripted below and going through the activities.
What is in black is what you say, what is in purple is directions.
Materials: (get from Maura before you start the workshop)
- Blank “Jesus” cut outs to design and color (in folder)
- Second chance blank card stock and stickers, markers (in folder)
- Act of Contrition book marks and stickers (in folder)
- Children’s Guide to Reconciliation story book (you can borrow this when you return to read)
- Two bags, one with a small goody your child would like and one with something worthless (crumbled paper ) that sounds the same as the other bag when you shake it (please create these yourself)
Ask your child these questions:
Does anyone have a friend?
What makes a good friend?
What do you like to do with your friends?
- : Jesus is our very special friend. He loves us more than anything and he wants to help us always make good choices and treat everyone kindly. He said we should love God above all things and love one another as we want to be loved. How do we do that?
How would Jesus look to you? Show some pictures of Jesus? If you were going to draw a picture of Jesus how would he look? Let’s do that. Let’s make our own very special Jesus’ that we can hang up in our house for this year to remind us what a special friend Jesus is and what he looks like to us.
Have your child create their own Jesus using the blank Jesus cut out (See picture 1 below)
- : Friends are very important to us. But sometimes we get angry with our friends. Sometimes we may even be jealous of them. We might take something of theirs that we really want. Or we might choose to not help when one of them needs help. When we do these things we are giving into temptation.
We may know that the things we do – or don’t do – are wrong. We may know that they hurt our friendship with God and with one another. WE would like to stop, but we don’t know how.
What happens when you disagree with a friend or family member or do something mean or they do something to you?
How does this feel?
What can you do to make it better? (try to lead your child to come around to saying your sorry, trying to do something to make it better and trying to do better next time)
Explain the idea of “Fix – a – Friendship”
- Saying you’re sorry
- Repairing What went wrong
- Trying to do better next time
Friendship isn’t always easy; sometimes we just don’t get along. But forgiveness helps. WE can say we’re sorry, and we can forgive our friends. God always forgives us. And he is always ready to be our friend! God forgiving us is called the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Ok – so we all know how to be a good friend? We all know that God loves us very much and Jesus is our special friend. We know that friendships can sometimes be hard. How do we fix a friendship? What is the name of the Sacrament that helps us fix our friendship with God? Reconciliation
Let’s talk about making good choices. Some choices are easy, like whether I want a banana or apple with my lunch. Other choices are hard – when I have to choose between right and wrong. That kind of choice is called a moral choice. When I have to make a choice between right and wrong, a moral choice I can follow four steps:
Stop Think Ask Pray
- Stop - before I act
- Think - about the Ten Commandments; think about what this action will do to someone
- Ask - for help from my parents, or a trusted adult
- Pray - to the Holy Spirit to make the right choice, even if it isn’t the easy choice.
Here are some choices give me the thumbs up if the choice is good and a thumbs down if the choice is bad:
- Matt askes Jeff if he can copy his homework. Jeff says no.
- Jeff was watching a TV show and the people started using bad language so Jeff changed to a different channel
- Liz had candy on her desk and Jeff took a piece when no one was looking
- Jeff finished cleaning his room and went to help his sister
- They was a party for 4th graders, Jeff is in 3rd grade and he wanted to go even though he knew it was for 4th graders, he went anyway
Have you ever made a choice you wish you didn’t? A choice you wish you could do over or have a second chance at?
Show your child two bags, shake the bags and have the kids pick which bag they would want, have them move to the side with the bag they chose. Open each bag and show them. Ask if anyone would like a second chance to pick which bag. Give everyone that chance and give them the goody.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic life remote control so we could rewind any wrong or bad choice we make? And always be able to have a second chance?
That is what Reconciliation does with God, he will always forgive us and give us a second chance.
Sometimes it is very hard to say I’m sorry or I forgive you. Right now we are going to make I’m Sorry and Second Chance cards. You have blank cards on the table pick up two for your family. On one write I’m sorry and the other write second chance. Decorate each card with the stickers. When you get home explain to your family how you can use the cards to help remind each other to apologize and forgive. Keep them in a place where the whole family hangs out. (See picture two example)
Say: Ok so we talked about making good choices – how do we do that?
So what is it called when we choose to make a bad choice? To do something that hurts someone else or ourselves? When we mean to do it? Sin
We need to understand the difference between accidents mistakes and sins. Sometimes we make mistakes. At other times, accidents happen and we feel responsible. Mistakes and accidents are somewhat alike; because they are things that happen that we didn’t mean to happen. Because we didn’t choose for them to happen, they are not sins.
Choosing to do something that we know is wrong is a sin because it is done on purpose. We all know the difference between bumping into someone accidentally and deliberately knocking them down.
Accidents…mistakes…sins…let’s see if we can tell the difference.
If you break a cup when you are washing the dishes is it an accident, mistake or a sin? (accident)
If you break a cup when you knock it over as you run by it is it an accident, mistake or sin? (mistake)
If you break a cup when you throw it on the ground because you are angry is it an accident, mistake or sin? (sin)
Give me an example of an accident
Of a mistake
Of a sin
Good work – you understand the differences!
A sin is an unloving choice we make or something we do that we know is wrong.
A sin is something we do on purpose.
A sin hurts our friendship with God.
But God has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can receive forgiveness for our sins. Through reconciliation we can repair our relationship with God and by saying we are sorry we repair our relationship with the person we hurt.
So to go to Reconciliation and to receive forgiveness for our sins we need to think about what our sins are. This is called an Examination of Conscious. It is when we think about the things we do and the way we act and see if we are making good choices or bad choices. And it is ok, everyone makes bad choices sometimes. One way to examine our conscious is to Pray about your day. You could do this at dinner time or at bedtime. First think about the happy things that happened that day. Make sure you thank Jesus for the good things. Then ask the Holy Spirit to help you think more about your day. Ask yourself two questions: When did I feel close to God today and When did I feel far away from God today? Tell God you are sorry for the times you did not stay close to him ask him to forgive you for the times you did not act lovingly toward others. Finally ask God to help you do better tomorrow and thank him for being part of your life.
So what is it called when we think about our words and actions? ( Examination of Conscious) When can we pray about our day? How do we do that?
Let’s read a story about Clare who is getting ready to receive Reconciliation.
Read A Children’s Guide to Reconciliation - borrow from Maura
Answer questions your child has during the book
Please watch the video below on a little girl receiving Reconciliation.
End by praying the Act of Contrition together. Use the Act of Contrition book mark – decorate it too.(PIC 3)
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – I am sorry…
Picture 1
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Picture 2
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Picture 3
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