Little Liturgies

As we begin the season of Lent we go into the wilderness with Jesus. There, in that lonely and wild place he is tempted by the devil. Jesus shows us how we can use this time of Lent to grow closer to God and keep him in our hearts. Greg explains how we can pray, fast, give and make space for God during Lent. We then pray together and sing 'Sign Your Cross' with Sr Chiara.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us a parable about specks and logs getting into people's eyes! What could he possibly be talking about? Greg opens up the parable and helps us ponder what Jesus could be saying to us and the way we should live. He encourages us to be a good example so that others can see the right things to do. We then join Jesus as we pray and sing 'Trading My Sorrows.'

In the Gospel, we hear Jesus share a difficult teaching with the people. He tells them that they will be blessed if they are poor, hungry, if they weep and when people hate them. Greg helps us understand how there is good news even in this hard message: That Jesus is always with us especially in difficult times. We pray and invite Jesus to be close to us and then sing 'One and All' with Angel.

In the Gospel, we meet Jesus by the Lake. He sees a fisherman called Simon. Simon has fished all night and caught nothing, but Jesus asks him to throw his nets back into the water. What happens next amazes everyone! Greg helps us understand that Jesus is calling each one of us to follow him. We join Jesus as we pray and then sing ‘Follow Me, Follow Me’ with Sr Chiara.

It's forty days after Christmas and Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple to be presented. There, the Holy Family meet Simeon who has something wonderful to say about Jesus. Greg helps us to enter into the Presentation Gospel and invites us to share the light of Jesus with others. We then pray together and sing the hymn Be Still with Sr Chiara.

It is time to begin the Jubilee! We meet Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth and he has an important announcement to make: 'The year of the Lord's favour' has begun. Jesus is announcing a new time of hope for everyone. We are also starting a year of new hope, the Jubilee. Greg, with the help of a new friend, helps us understand more about the Jubilee and how we can walk with Jesus. We then pray together and sing 'God's Spirit is in My Heart' with Angel.

Do you know what Jesus's first miracle was? It happened at Cana in Galilee when Jesus and his friends were at a wedding. In this Little Liturgy, we listen to the Gospel together and Greg then shows us six jars and fills them with water. He uses these to help us picture the moment Jesus turned water into wine. We then enter into prayer together and sing Way Maker with Fr Columba.

In the Gospel, we meet Jesus on the bank of the River Jordan. He has been baptised by John the Baptist when suddenly the heavens open and God the Father speaks some amazing words. This is a moment of awe and wonder! Greg helps us know that God the Father loves each of us just as much as he loves Jesus. We hold this truth in our hearts as we pray and then join the Sisters as they sing the action song 'Shine Jesus, Shine."

It’s time for the Wise Men to visit Jesus in Bethlehem. We hear in the Holy Gospel how they travelled a huge distance to lay their eyes on the newborn king. Greg shows us the Nativity figures of the Wise Men holding their beautiful gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We too can give our gifts to Jesus! What could be the most precious gift you could give to him? You can do this as we pray. We close our celebration with our favourite hymn about the Wise Men: ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are.’

In our Fourth Advent Little Liturgy, we hear the Gospel story of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heras that Mary has arrived she is filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Greg helps us to reflect upon this amazing moment, we pray together and then sing 'Joy to the World' with Theo and Angel.

In our Third Advent Little Liturgy, we hear St John the Baptist telling us that someone is coming. He wants us to get ready for the joy of meeting Jesus. In the Mark 10 Bag, we find Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. This is the time when they were getting ready for Jesus to come. Greg helps us to learn from Mary and Joseph as we prepare for Christmas. We pray and sing the beautiful Advent hymn 'Prepare Him Room.'

In our second Advent Little Liturgy, we meet one of the important people of this season, St John the Baptist. We hear how he went into the desert and told the people 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' Greg helps us understand that St John is also shouting this to us and inviting us to make a straight path for Jesus. Today's hymn is the Advent favourite: O Come O Come Emmanuel.

It is the beginning of the Season of Advent. We light the first candle on the Advent Wreath and listen to Jesus speaking to us in the Gospel. Advent is about getting ready for Christmas but also to prepare for when Jesus comes again. When will this be? Jesus doesn't say but he tells us about what will happen when he comes again and that we must be ready to meet him. Greg helps us to pray and Angel sings the hymn 'How Great is Our God' with us.

Jesus is a king and this week we are celebrating this and crowning him as the king of our hearts. Greg helps us to reflect upon the two crowns of Jesus and leads us to prayerfully ask "Will I invite Jesus to be the king of my heart?" We then sing our praises to Jesus the king with the hymn "Sing Hosanna!"

Jesus tells us a parable about a man who is beaten up by robbers and left by the side of the road. He meets a Samaritan who cares for him. Greg helps us to pray with this beautiful parable, showing us beautiful symbols and actions. We pray for Jesus to heal any of our hurts and sing with Sr Chiara.

Jesus watches as a poor woman puts two copper coins in the Temple money box. It doesn't seem like much but Jesus knows that this is everything she has. We listen to the Gospel and Greg helps us to think about what we can give to Jesus. We pray together and then sing a new song called "Praise"

In this Little Liturgy, we gather to celebrate the saints. The saints are to holy men and women who have lived wonderful lives for God and have gone to heaven. Greg introduces us to some of his favourite saints. We then pray together and sing Be Still with Sr Chiara.

To serve means to give something to another person. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that he came not to be served but to serve and he wants us to serve too. Greg helps us understand more and pray about this. He tells a story about Blessed Chiara and how she served in a simple way. We then spend time with Jesus and sing 'Servant King' with Angel.

In the Gospel, Jesus meets a young man who has a question for Jesus. Jesus answers his question and then invites the man to give up what he owns and follow him. What happens next is very sad. Greg helps us to reflect and pray with this Gospel passage we then join Sr Chiara to sing the beautiful action song 'Sign Your Cross.'

In the Gospel, people are bringing children to Jesus but the disciples are stopping them coming near. What Jesus does next shows exactly how he feels about children. Greg helps us to reflect upon the Gospel, pray together and then we all sing the beautiful hymn 'Channel of Your Peace' with Angel.

Join Greg by the riverside as he shares with us a story about a girl called St Bernadette and a beautiful lady she saw. The lady was Our Lady of Lourdes. In this special Little Liturgy, Greg shows us how to pray the Rosary and invites us to pray it each day in October. We then join Sr Therese as she sings ‘As I Kneel Before You.’

Jesus's friends are arguing about who is the greatest. They don't understand that to be great, Jesus asks us to put other people first. Greg tells us about Saint Padre Pio, who wanted to live a quiet life but thousands of people came to see him. Not only is this a great story, it helps us understand how we can put God first and serve others. We pray together and sing 'The Lord's Prayer' with Angel.

Jesus has many names. In this week's Little Liturgy we hear some of the beautiful names for Jesus. Greg then helps us to understand that Jesus is the only one who can show us who he truly is. We go to Jesus when we pray and then sing to him with the action song 'He is the Vine.'

It’s time to start a new year together and open our hearts to Jesus. In the Gospel, we hear how Jesus meets a man who can’t hear or speak. Jesus heals him and says ‘Be opened.’ We can be open to Jesus speaking to us. Greg helps us understand two ways we can listen to Jesus speaking to us. We open ourselves to Jesus as we pray and sing to him with Angel. She sings ‘I Could Sing of Your Love Forever’ for us.