RESURRECTION PARISH
Children's Ministry
651 Millbrook Avenue ~ Randolph, NJ ~ 07869 ~ (973) 895-4226
email: LScandariato@resurrectionparishnj.org
website: www.resurrectionparishnj.org
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HOME ~ CHURCH CONNECTION – Children’s Ministry
“Partnership in Faith”
Phone: (973) 895-4226 ~ Email: Lscandariato@resurrectionparishnj.org
January, 2012
Dear parents of 2nd graders:
We begin our preparation for the wonderful celebration of First Eucharist in the month of January with our new gold book. We ask that these books be covered to keep them clean.
Each month, we will cover two chapters and then celebrate the theme of these chapters at a special 9:00 a.m. Liturgy during this time of sacramental preparation. (See the note at the end of this letter.)
Chapter 1 in the gold book focuses on the reality of "belonging". Your child belongs to your family through conception, birth and continuing dedication of parents. The chapter begins with this reality and then proceeds to the sense of belonging to God's family, the Church, through Holy Baptism. We ask that you spend some time with your child about what "belonging to a family" truly means. Share how you feel about their belonging to your family. In this family time together, share with your child pictures of their Baptism day. If you have the little Baptismal robe, candle, etc., share those things with your child too. In this way, he or she will come into contact with their personal Baptism. Finish your session at home with your child completing the picture of a child's Baptism found on Page 9.
Chapter 2 focuses on "Celebrating". In the life of the family, there are special times of celebration, including birthdays, anniversaries and the yearly celebrations of Christmas, etc. Like family celebrations, the church family celebrates every Sunday around the table of the Lord. Your child will be taught that God does want each family to come to the Lord's Table each week. Please be aware of this and make every effort to respond to this desire of our God. Please go over the prayer on page 14, “The Gloria”. We do not expect the children to memorize it, but they should know the meaning of this prayer. It is a great prayer of praise to the Trinity:
Father, Son and Holy Sprit. Teach your child a shortened version of this prayer that goes:
”Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.”
Work with your child on Page 17 of the gold book. Please note that this book will be presented to God at the altar on the day of First Eucharist so we ask that the work be done in a special manner because of this.
During our session today, Father John Andrew claimed your child for Jesus Christ with a blessing of holy water from our baptismal font.
Please bring a recent photograph of your child (a 2” x 2” school picture works best) and fill out the reverse side with your child’s name (so we can easily identify him/her). This picture should be brought to the 9:00 am Liturgy on Sunday January 15th. We will have the children place their picture on the altar and a special banner will be made which will hang in our church during this time of sacramental preparation. The banner will proclaim that your child belongs to God's family through Holy Baptism.
FIRST of FOUR CELEBRATIONS: 9 AM LITURGY, January 15
Please bring your child's picture with his/her name printed clearly on the back. (This will help us easily identify your child.) We will ask the children to bring his/her picture up to the altar for a blessing.
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February Samaritan Item: Please bring Pancake Syrup next month. Thank you!
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