Advent — week 1 Family Activities

Advent Wreath & Table Prayer 1

Prepare an Advent wreath with 4 candles: 3 purple and 1 pink. Place it on your family dinner table. This week, light one purple candle (the same one each night) and pray together this simple Advent blessing before meals: Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let this food to us be blessed.. Amen

Family Dinner Conversation— “Be Alert!” Read: Mark 13:33-37. This first week of Advent, Jesus tells us to be alert for and pay attention to signs of

what God is doing around us so that we may say and do things according to God’s ways of love.

Talk about it— Advent Action How will our family “stay alert” to prepare during Advent for the coming of the Lord ? What things can we do to make Advent really special this year?

Celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas

on December 6 3

St. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop who was known as a miracle worker and giver of secret gifts. Traditionally, after reciting their prayers, children put their shoes by the door the night before St. Nicholas Day, and they awake the next morning to find candy and small trinkets left by the saint.

Reach out to help others 4

Clean out closets and toy bins this week. Donate gently used items to local outreach centers.

Advent Blessings Book5

Use a new notebook or journal to keep a Family Advent Blessings Book. Each evening at sup-

per or when the family is gathered, write down three ways your family has been blessed during the preceding 24 hours. Then ask each person to write

or name one or more ways they personally were blessed. Be sure all blessings are recorded in your

book. Together, thank God. On Christmas Eve, review the list of blessings bestowed on your family

during Advent — a perfect way to prepare for Christmas Mass. When complete, place your Advent Blessings book near your Nativity set.

Make a Jesse Tree2

The Jesse tree tells the story of our salvation from Creation to the Birth of Christ and helps count down the days until Christmas. A tree poster, a large evergreen branch, a banner, or your Christmas tree can be used to display your home-made symbols /ornaments.

Each day of Advent, read together the scripture verse given. Each child can then make an ornament by drawing and coloring a simple symbol relating to the story and placing it on the Jesse Tree (Make a supply of 4” stiff paper circles for the ornaments) First week of Advent - Bible readings & Symbols

Sun: Isaiah 9:6. (Jesse Tree): branch or tree. Mon: Genesis 1:1—2:3 (Creation): dove, earth, sun, moon, stars. Tues: Gen 3:8-24 (Adam & Eve): fruit tree, apple, man, woman. Weds: Gen 6:14-22 (Noah): ark, animals, dove, rainbow. Thurs: Gen 15:1-6 (Abraham): torch, sword, mountain. Fri: Gen 17:15-19; 21:1-6 (Isaac): bundle of wood, altar, ram, smiling face. Sat: Gen 28:10-22 (Jacob): ladder, kettle

1. TAKE OUT Magazine, Advent 2012, p 4. 2. Advent in the Home: Activities for Families, by Ellen C. Becker and Mary T. Barnes, pp 56-57. 3. TAKE OUT Maga-zine, Advent 2012, p 4. 4. TAKE OUT Advent 2008, p 5. 5. Advent in the Home: Activities for Families, p 33.

Advent-at-Home Family Activities 2017 CORPUS CHRISTI PARISH Family Ministry