Children&#039;s Liturgy of the Word 1.16.22

January 16, 2022 - January 24, 2022

A reading from the book of John 2:1-11.

There was a wedding in the town of Cana that Jesus' mother Mary, Jesus and a few of his followers attended. The wine ran out and Mary told Jesus, " They don’t have any wine left.” Mary turned to the wedding helpers and said, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.” “Fill up those large stone pots with water,” Jesus told the helpers. The helpers poured in 20-30 gallons of water into each tall, large pot.   Jesus told them to take some water out and give it to the man in charge of the wedding. The man was so surprised to taste the best wine he had ever tasted instead of water! The water was was turned into wine to be given to all the guests at the wedding.   This was Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana. There, he showed everyone who he really was, and his followers place their trust in him.

This is the gospel of the Lord
All: Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ

During his time on earth, Jesus performed many miracles. What is a miracle?
When we do not know how something happens, and we know that it can only have been done by God, we call it a miracle. Jesus performed a lot of miracles.   Do you remember any of the miracles we have talked about? (response) We know that Jesus healed the sick, he walked on water, and remember he fed 5,000 people with how many loaves and fishes??? (five loaves and two fish). Amazing!!!
These miracles could not be explained or understood because they were things only God could do. Our gospel lesson today is about Jesus’s first miracle- turning water into wine.

Have you ever gone to a birthday party where you got to eat fun foods like pizza, cake, ice cream and drink soda or juice? Was that fun? (response) Yes, of course it was. Now imagine if there was not enough of that great pizza, cake, ice cream and soda for everyone to have some. Imagine if they ran out and you couldn’t have any of those things!   How would you feel? (response) Yes, it would be very disappointing, and you might be sad. Now what if, the helper at the party was able to bring out more of all those wonderful foods and drinks-that would be awesome, wouldn’t it? You would be so happy that someone fixed this problem and now you could enjoy the great party foods, too.
In today’s gospel reading we heard an amazing story about Jesus’ first miracle and how he fixed a problem at a wedding.   Jesus, his mother, Mary, and the disciples were all at this wedding, and they ran out of wine.. Mary asks Jesus to help, and he does- he tells the helpers at the wedding to fill the jugs with water and then he turns the water into wine so that the celebration can continue.
How do you think those helpers must have felt when they saw that the water had turned into wine? (response).   It must have been very surprising for them to pour regular water into these jugs and then suddenly it is wine!

Why do you think he performed this miracle? What does it tell us about him? (response) Yes, this miracle shows us how special and important Jesus is. It shows us that he is the Son of God and that nothing is impossible for him.
While we cannot work miracles, we can make real changes that make things better in our lives and for others.

Challenge for this week: Continue to JAM for Jesus and let’s make a difference helping others like Jesus did.

Questions for the Week:
1) Do you think Mary, Jesus’ mother believed that he would help when she asked him to? (Yes, Mary had faith that Jesus would help)
2) How do you think the people at the wedding felt when they saw that Jesus had turned the water into wine? (surprised and happy)
3)What do you think the people learned from this miracle? (they learned that Jesus could always help them and that nothing is impossible with God)

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by Catholic Mom