Background Notes for Parents About the Theme: Pentecost In this theme the children learn about the gift of the Holy Spirit and serving as a way of life. Easter Sunday is the beginning of the Easter Season which lasts for 50 days. The celebration of the Ascension and Pentecost completes the Easter story. Ascension Forty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection and told them that he was going back to his Father in heaven. Before Jesus leaves them, he gives his followers a mission. Jesus tells his disciples to be his witnesses. They are to "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15, 16) The disciples cannot carry out their mission of spreading Jesus’ message to the ends of the earth without help. Therefore, Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they receive power from God. This power is God's Holy Spirit, who Jesus says will come after he goes away. After Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Pentecost Pentecost (or 'Shavuot' as it is called in Hebrew) is a Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’. The Jewish ‘feast of weeks’ was held fifty days after the beginning of the grain harvest. It was a thanksgiving feast, celebrating the end of the harvest and commemorating the day God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus had told his disciples that it was important that they carry on his mission after he was gone. He promised he would give them the strength of his Spirit to do this. At Pentecost the Church celebrates Jesus fulfilling that promise to send the Holy Spirit to guide and help his disciples to understand all that he has taught them. It is celebrated 50 days (7 weeks) after Easter Sunday and brings the Easter season to an end.
Transcript
Background Notes for Parents
About the Theme: PentecostIn this theme the children learn about the gift of the Holy Spirit and serving as a way of life.
Easter Sunday is the beginning of the Easter Season which lasts for 50 days. The celebration of the Ascension and Pentecost completes the Easter story.
AscensionForty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection and told them that he was going back to his Father in heaven. Before Jesus leaves them, he gives his followers a mission. Jesus tells his disciples to be his witnesses. They are to "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15, 16)
The disciples cannot carry out their mission of spreading Jesus’ message to the ends of the earth without help. Therefore, Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they receive power from God. This power is God's Holy Spirit, who Jesus says will come after he goes away. After Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples wait for the promised Holy Spirit.
PentecostPentecost (or 'Shavuot' as it is called in Hebrew) is a Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’. The Jewish ‘feast of weeks’ was held fifty days after the beginning of the grain harvest. It was a thanksgiving feast, celebrating the end of the harvest and commemorating the day God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Jesus had told his disciples that it was important that they carry on his mission after he was gone. He promised he would give them the strength of his Spirit to do this. At Pentecost the Church celebrates Jesus fulfilling that promise to send the Holy Spirit to guide and help his disciples to understand all that he has taught them. It is celebrated 50 days (7 weeks) after Easter Sunday and brings the Easter season to an end. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed the frightened disciples into witnesses who could speak out with courage. The Holy Spirit strengthens the Church today in its mission to continue the work of Jesus and proclaim the gospel to the whole world. Christians are called each day to accept and live lives of joyful service through the power of the Spirit in their lives. Christians believe that the Spirit of God is active in each person and, in a special way, in the community of believers, which is the Church. It is the work of the Spirit to help people to hear God’s message and to live Jesus’ way of service. The Feast of Pentecost is the celebration both of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit and the trust God places in people to be witnesses in the world. It is sometimes called the birthday of the Church because, filled with courage given by the Holy Spirit, the disciples went out among the people and began spreading Jesus’ message, thus marking the beginning of the Church.
Key VocabularyYEAR 1
Holidays and Holy DaysPENTECOST – SERVING
Holiday
Holyday
Apostles
help
Pentecost
promise
Holy Spirit
guide
Resurrection
alleluia
Year 1
In the topic ‘Holidays and Holydays’ the children will explore how holidays are happy times, times to relax and do something different. You can tell them that the word holiday comes from holyday. In times past the only holiday anyone had was a saint’s feast day or important feast days like Easter and Christmas. Some days of the year are ‘holy days’, when we celebrate these special times in the Church’s year. They will hear what happened on Ascension Day and the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit. They will go on to explore Pentecost as a holy day, a day to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised his friends. It is also a holy day to celebrate the birthday of the Church. Holy days are special times for Christians of thinking about the life of Jesus and about God the Creator’s love and care for us. This is Good News. The Holy Spirit guides us and gives us strength and courage to share that Good News. Christians are called to share this Good News with everyone.
Week 1: Lesson 1: Exploring holidays: talk about holidays you have enjoyed together, whether at home or away. Children can draw holiday activities such as playing outside, going to the park or the beach, picnics, travelling.Lesson 2: Explain that the word holiday comes from holyday. In times past the only holiday anyone had was a saint’s feast day or important feast days like Easter and Christmas. Some days of the year are ‘holy days’, when we celebrate these special times in the Church’s year. How many holydays can you think of? (e.g. the patron saint of the school, Christmas, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and the Ascension etc.). Use the grid below to record them.
Week 2: Lesson 1: The story of the AscensionAfter his Resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to the disciples and made a promise to send them a helper, the Holy Spirit to them. The holy day, Ascension Thursday, celebrates Jesus’ return to his Father.
Jesus’ friends were delighted that God had given Jesus new life. But they remembered that he had said he was going back to his Father. The thought of that made them sad again and they worried about how they would manage without him. They remembered his promise to send a new helper.“I shall be with you only a little longer. Don’t worry. I will not leave you all alone. I will ask my Father and my Father will give you another friend to be with you forever. This friend, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will help you to remember all the things I have done and everything I have told you.”
Based on John 13:33; 14:18
What was Jesus’ promise to his friends?Fill the speech bubble on the template below.
Lesson 2: The story of PentecostExplain how the disciples were afraid when Jesus had left them and they had gathered together in one room. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed them. It is a holy day because this gift of the Holy Spirit is very special. The Holy Spirit helps and guides us in our lives just as
happened to the disciples. The Holy Spirit appeared to Mary and the disciples like tongues of fire, giving them strength and courage to serve others. Look at the picture below and key questions.Draw the faces of some of the disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit and after. How different are they? Why are they different? Add some speech bubbles. See template below.
Week 3 Lesson 1 Revisit the Story of Pentecost https://missiontogether.org.uk/pentecost/If you have internet access Google images of Pentecost – there are many paintings of this story.Look at the picture below and read the story:
After Jesus had gone back to his Father, his friends stayed together with Mary, Jesus’ Mother. Peter was there and James and John and all the others. They missed Jesus very much. They felt weary and lost. They couldn’t get up and get on with their lives. They didn’t know what to do. They talked about their time with Jesus, and wondered about his promise, ‘I will not leave you alone’. Then on Pentecost day everything changed. It was as if they had been made new, re-created. They were different people. They were filled with life, joy, peace and happiness. They knew that Jesus had kept his promise to send the Holy Spirit, who would be with them always. They wanted to share this happiness and they got up straight away to go out to tell everyone.
Fill in the speech and thought bubbles to show what the friends of Jesus and the people in the picture were thinking and saying and how they were feeling.
Lesson 2At the Ascension Jesus had returned to God, his Father, and at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was helping the friends of Jesus to pass the message on to others so that they might become his friends too. This marked the beginning of the Church, its birth. Pentecost is a holy day on which many parish families celebrate with a party. On the holy day of Pentecost, the priest wears red vestments at Mass like the colour of fire. See the picture and key questions below. Make a birthday card to celebrate the birthday of the Church at Pentecost.
Week 4: Celebrate the story of Pentecost – what can you remember about the story? Use the key vocabulary to help you. Remember that Christians today still share the Good News of Jesus, just as the first disciples did.Mission Together and CAFOD have Pentecost liturgies you can download and celebrate.https://missiontogether.org.uk/calendar/resources-for-pentecost-2020/ https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Primary-teaching-resources/Pentecost-primary-resourcesOr there is a simple Act of Worship below.
Different Holydays and how we celebrate them (write or draw your answer)
Holyday How we celebrate it
Week 2 Lesson 1 On Ascension Day Jesus went back to his Father in Heaven. He promised to send the Holy Spirit.
Week 2 Lesson 2
Q Who was in the room when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost?Q What were the signs of the Holy Spirit?Q How do you think Mary and the disciples felt? Q Why do you think they felt like that?
Use the template below to show the change in the disciples.
Before the coming of the Holy Spirit
After the coming of the Holy Spirit
Week 3 Lesson 1
Week 3 Lesson 2
Q Who is in the picture?Q What do you think the people in the picture are celebrating? Q How do you celebrate a birthday?Q Why is Pentecost a holy day?
Week 4Act of Worship
Year 1‘HOLIDAYS / HOLYDAYS’
Pentecost: a holy day, the feast of the Holy Spirit.
You might like to set up a Focal table with some of the following: candle, a Cross,a Bible if possible, any ‘holiday’ photos or pictures, Pentecost pictures, any work done on the topic
Let us begin by making the Sign of the Cross … and so we say…In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We have been thinking about holidays with the family or special outings at school and about how many of us forward to holidays, to relax and do something different.
The word holiday comes from holyday. In times past the only holiday anyone had was a saint’s feast day or important feast days like Easter and Christmas. Some days of the year are ‘holy days’, when we celebrate these special times in the Church’s year. We have just celebrated the feast of Easter when we remember Jesus rising from the dead.
Jesus’ friends were so happy to see him again at Easter… but after 40 days he told them that he had to go back to his Father in heaven.
But he did make a promise to them that he would not leave them alone… he would send a friend….someone to help them. The disciples were afraid when Jesus had left them and they had gathered together in one room. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed them. It is a holy day because this gift of the Holy Spirit is very special. The Holy Spirit helps and guides us in our lives just as happened to the disciples. The Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples like tongues of fire, giving them strength and courage.Now we are going to listen to the story of the arrival of this friend – the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday:A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
After Jesus had gone back to his Father in heaven, his friends were sad. They missed him. They felt lonely and afraid without him. On Pentecost day, they were all together in the house. Crowds of people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. The friends of Jesus did not go out to join them. They stayed all together in the house. They talked about Jesus and remembered what he had told them. They began
Gatheringtogether:
The Word of God:
to feel different. Joy and happiness filled their hearts. It was wonderful. They knew that Jesus had kept his promise to send a new friend, the Holy Spirit. “Let’s go out and join the crowds.” Peter said. “Let’s tell them the Good News that Jesus is alive.”
The Word of the Lord.Thanks be to God.
Everyone had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast… but Jesus’ friends could not feel happy… they were sad and afraid. As
they talked together, though, they began to feel differently… Have you ever begun to feel happy all of a sudden… when something like a cloud has lifted? This was the effect of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles were so full of happiness that they wanted to spread the news to everyone about what made them happy.
For special days of joyAlleluia!For holidays we share with family or friendsAlleluia!For the Easter holyday when Jesus rose againAlleluia!For Pentecost - the day when the Holy Spirit came.Alleluia!
Before we finish, let’s take time to remember that the Holy Spirit didn’t only come to be with the friends of Jesus who knew him – but came, for all time, to be with all people who want to be friends of Jesus. In fact, Jesus special friend is here with all of us now – and we need never feel alone - because he is with us always.
Let’s try to remember that and welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives every day by saying: “Come, Holy Spirit. Be with me always”.
Come Holy Spirit. Be with me always
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
