Tag: simple language

Monthly Devotion: Sacred Heart of Jesus

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June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a pretty easy one to talk about to kids, because it pertains to the tender love of our Lord for us. Below is a simple language explanation of the reason for this monthly devotion.

These days, when priests give homilies, we often hear of God’s love and mercy, but this wasn’t always the case. Preachers used to emphasize God’s anger when they spoke to the faithful. But Jesus sent a message of love into the world to change this and that is why we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Sometimes you’ll hear people, both Christian and non-Christian, talk about how God in the Old Testament is violent and angry and how the God in the New Testament is much nicer, but this simply cannot be true. The thing about God is that He is unchanging. He is the same today as He was at the very beginning, and He will be the same every day until the end of time.

If you read the Old Testament carefully, you’ll see how His chosen people turn away from Him, over and over again (and if we are honest about our own hearts, we know there are times when we choose to turn away from God, too). But even though the people keep turning away from God, He keeps giving them more chances and keeps calling them back to Himself. Time and again, God shows them His love and mercy, just like He does for us.

Was God jealous and vengeful? Yes. And He still is. He is jealous because He does not want us to worship any false gods, to lose ourselves to money, power, popularity, or people. Imagine if your best friend one day said to you “you’re not my best friend anymore, I’m going to play with someone else and forget about you”. Wanting them to play with you again is jealousy, and you feel this because you love your friend. We see His vengeance play out when He does not stop the consequences of choosing to make other things gods in our lives. He respects our choice, even though it might hurt him, and allows us to be separated from Him, which leads to spiritual death.

But God was, and is, and will always be loving and merciful too! He offers every single person a loving relationship with Himself, where He will care for us and give us eternal life. He is also willing to forgive all our sins, over and over again.

His mercy is a way to avoid His vengeance, thanks to the perfect sacrifice Jesus made. All we have to do, all we ever had to do, throughout all of history, was to trust in Him.

This month, as we remember the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us remember that God’s love and mercy are generously being poured out for us forever. All we have to do is turn to Him to receive it.

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

To Such As These: The Ascension

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I write these “To Such As These” posts every now and then to explain some aspect of the Catholic faith to children. I try to use simple language so you can just read it directly to them instead of having to put it into your own words! The category name is inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”

Today, we will be looking at Christ’s last words at the Ascension and how we can be His witnesses.

If you have any topics you’d like me to cover in this category, pop them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

Today, we remember the Ascension, though many of us will celebrate it on Sunday. This is when Jesus, already risen from the dead, went up into heaven. Ascension is just a fancy word to say “going up”!

In the Bible, Jesus spoke last words to His followers at this event. He said, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

If you’re a follower of Jesus, these words were passed down from the earliest Christians through all the generations because they are for you, too. Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit and tells you to be a witness. But what is a witness?

You might be familiar with scenes from a courthouse. One person makes a claim, and to back up their story, they call someone to be a witness. This is a person who has seen with their own eyes what happened. They can show the rest of the courthouse more about the same story, perhaps in a slightly different way, but ultimately, the witness can strengthen the original message in the minds of everyone there in a powerful way.

Just like a courthouse witness, we are called to strengthen the message of Jesus. And His message is to follow Him, to love God and love other people. Pope Francis said that we are called to do this wherever we are,” right where we live, in our families, at work, everywhere, even just by giving the light of a smile, a light that is not our own – it comes from Jesus.” 

The truth is, our world is not an easy place to live for a lot of people. They experience things that make their lives lonely, heavy, and dark. By witnessing to Christ, the pope says that we bring light into the darkness of the world. The pope reminds us to be good when we are given evil, to not give in to violence and lies, to stop hatred in its tracks through obedience to God and love. He says that “in the world’s nights, these witnesses bring God’s dawn.”

What all of that means, is that we are called to share Jesus’ light that is in us, with the rest of the world. We do this through acts of love, just as He taught the first followers, and as they have taught us throughout the years.

It doesn’t have to be big. Maybe you could donate some toys that you don’t play with anymore, maybe you could comfort someone who is sad, or hold a door open for someone who has their hands full, or help other people in the family with their chores if they are tired or even for no reason at all other than to shine the light of Jesus! Like Pope Francis said, it could be as simple as a smile.

Talking points

  • Can you think of some ways that you can be a witness?
  • Have you been a witness to Christ without knowing you were a witness? What did you do?
  • What will you do to be a witness today? What about tomorrow?

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!