ADVENT – Pilgrims of Peace

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Items you will need
Strips of coloured paper – Ambassadors should have delivered them

Day 1 – Start with scripture

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Read this Gospel passage. Think about the images.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke
R. Glory to You O Lord

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee…during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
Luke 3:1-6

R/. Praise to you, o Lord Jesus Christ.

Spend some time in pairs or threes and talk about the question below. When you’re finished share them with the whole form and see where the dialogue takes you.

We usually have high expectations about Christ. What does it mean, “prepare a way for the Lord.”?

Click below to “Add Comment” and capture some of what has been said in your form for others to see.

Lord,

As we approach the day of your birth, help us to always to remember why you came, and that each of us is a beloved child of God.

We make our prayer in the name Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sts Peter and Paul: Pray for us.

Day 2 – The Angelus

We invite you to make the sign of the cross.

This prayer devotion is a specific reminder of the Incarnation, when God became man to save us. Feel free to either follow along with the clip or use the text below it. We will pray the Angelus every week during Advent.

V/. is for the teacher/leader. R/. is everyone else.

V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
Blessed are you amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

V/. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
R/. Be it done unto me according to your Word.
Hail Mary…

V/. And the Word was made flesh, (Pause. Bow or genuflect)
R/. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…

V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Day 3 – Making a place for Jesus

We invite you to make the sign of the cross. On Sunday, the Church lit the second candle – The Bethlehem candle – which symbolises Peace and preparing for Jesus’ birthday.

Class task: Take one strip of paper. On it write either “Hope” or “Peace”. Now write a prayer, hoping for Jesus to come and fill us with His Peace so we can “prepare a way for the Lord”. Collect them all in.

Please return them to the chaplain.

Christmas is a time for families to reconnect, repairing damaged relationships and being generous with our hearts and time. This can be a challenge for many and difficult situations or strained relationships can often boil over and cause friction.

If, however, we focus on the real meaning of Christmas, the real person of Christmas, things can be wonderfully different. Instead of anger, frustration and boredom, we can experience love and friendship with God Himself. If we keep Christ in Christmas, it will be a happy one.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sts Peter and Paul: Pray for us.

19 comments

Mrs Potter 2024-12-09 08:55

Prepare a way for the Lord means to prepare for God coming to Earth. We should make our surrounding environment pleasant and clean so that it looks perfect for when God arrives. Just like how we might tidy our bedrooms if a friend was to visit, we want to make everything look nice for God’s arrival.

9ACA 2024-12-09 08:56

To make a way for him suggests that we need to make the road clear so that God can speak to us.

7Eta 2024-12-09 08:58

Ideas from our form:
– To get ready for the Lord to come in to your life as your lord and saviour.
– The Lord can challenge you in any way at any time.
– Prepare your thoughts for the coming of the Lord.
– Welcome Christ into your life.
– We can get baptised to prepare ourselves.
– Go to confession and help others choose the right path.
– We believe Christ can do everything and so we owe him our best selves so he judges us a righteous on judgement day.
– He can help us in bad situations by opening our hearts to him.
– We can pray to God to ask him to come to us when we need him.

7MFI 2024-12-09 09:06

– if we have sinned against God, we have to ask for forgiveness.
– we must create a path. Allow God to reach you, don’t block him out.
– being good so your heart is clean, therefore allowing a path into yourself for him.
– we should be morally clean, God only enters a clean environment.
– time for prayer and reflection to illuminate a path towards us.

8ETo 2024-12-09 09:07

We usually have high expectations about Christ. What does it mean, “prepare a way for the Lord.”?
Preparing a different way of life if you don’t believe in him, your preparations won’t be in prayer;
Prepare room in our hearts to allow salvation and grace to pass through;
Seek reconciliation for your sins so you will be accepted into eternal paradise with God;
Allow our road to God to be straighter to help him save us from sin.

7HLE 2024-12-10 07:11

We think it means finding quiet time and being quiet. It is not about the busy times of the day. We can pray and think about what God does and what he means to us. Sometimes we can wait for a reply because He may speak to us.

8JHO 2024-12-10 08:58

Preparing a safe space to take in the beauty of the Earth. Humans preparing for God to enter our daily lives. To get ready for Gods arrival. Helping people in the world, preparing the world in a way so that we can identify those who need the most support.

11MF 2024-12-10 08:59

put christmas tree up and prepare for out hearts for second coming for jesus

10API 2024-12-10 08:59

We usually have high expectations about Christ. What does it mean, “prepare a way for the Lord.”?
– Get closer to the Lord
– Celebrating the Lord
– To open our heart
– Praying
– Reflecting on our actions

12FSM 2024-12-10 09:02

Live a good life.
Allowing the Lord to enter our lives and guide you on the right path so that we can enter the Kingdom of God.
Take a leap of faith and welcome God with open arms.
Open your heart to Him and allow him into your life.
To prepare for Advent, to reflect on the birth of Jesus.

10GH 2024-12-10 09:03

Peace at Christmas can allow us to reconnect with our loved ones. The love of family and the love of God can make this time of celebration an even more special time.

10-LF 2024-12-10 09:09

It could be talking about spreading the good news or the Gospel; preaching the word of God to more people, so that when he comes down to save us, everyone knows who he is and is aware of what is going to happen. It could be trying to help people let God into their life.

11KG 2024-12-11 09:04

It means that you should make way for him, open your hearts and mind to him and accept him. We need to prepare a perfect path towards humanity for all to see God’s salvation. We need to align our ways to the one of the lord in order to see his salvation. It means to make sure everything is prepared before someone important arrives – meaning everyone must make an effort. Live your life according to God’s teachings so you are ready to be taken to heaven. Everything shall become perfect for the Lord. Prepare a way for the Lord means – we need to believe in God and spread the word. It means that we need to be able to greet God and make a way for him to help us.

10OP Mr. Papaioannou 2024-12-11 09:05

By preparing the way we are helping ourselves and others to spend forever with God. We can be prepared by reading our Bible and prayer. Be ready for when Jesus comes.

9NH 2024-12-11 09:05

Preparing a way for the Lord means…

– making time to remember ‘the reason for the season’
– making time for family and friends
– not allowing Christmas to be dominated by presents
– focusing on forgiveness and reconciliation with anybody that we have fallen out with

13LT 2024-12-12 09:00

Prepare the way for the Lord. We should all make an effort to be good and moral people so that the will of God can be realised.

7MFI 2024-12-12 09:03

Day 2 completed very well as a form.

7MFI 2024-12-13 09:07

Day 3 completed, will return prayers slips to chaplaincy.

10CAN 2024-12-13 13:59

‘Prepare a way for the Lord’ means that the arrival of the Lord is close. We need to do some duties before he comes by praying every day. We are letting him into our lives and accepting him. We are anticipating a change in the world. The valley and crooked road represents our sins in life.