Sunday Connection

Making the Connection (Grades 1, 2, and 3)

Gospel Reading
Matthew 5:1-12a
Jesus teaches what it means to be happy.

As younger children begin to learn about sharing and compromise, they may still be focused on getting their own way and see having what they want as a prerequisite for happiness. In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us what it means to be truly happy.

Materials Needed

• a print or video advertisement aimed at younger children, perhaps for a toy or game

Preparation for Sunday Scripture Readings

1. Show the advertisement. Say: Advertisers try to convince us to buy things. They show happy children playing with a toy or a game. Ask: What does this advertiser want us to buy? Do the people in the ad look happy or sad? Say: The advertiser wants us to think that buying the product will make us happy.

2. Say: Getting a new toy or something else we really want might make us happy for a while, but eventually we lose interest in it. The happiness we feel from getting what we want doesn’t last. Jesus teaches us that true happiness comes from something different. Let’s learn what it means to be truly happy, or blessed.

3. Read today’s Gospel, Matthew 5:1–12a.

4. Say: Jesus tells us that we are happy, or blessed, when we are kind to others, forgive them, and live peacefully with them. He says that we are happy when we put our faith in God and do the right thing, even when it’s hard. Ask: What are some examples of times when you have done the right thing or made a good choice? (Accept reasonable responses.) Ask: What can you do to be a peacemaker? (Accept reasonable responses.)

5. Pray a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus for teaching us how to be truly happy.

Making the Connection (Grades 4, 5, and 6)

Gospel Reading
Matthew 5:1-12a
Jesus teaches what it means to be happy.

Young people today hear many messages about what makes a person happy. Many of the messages about happiness from our contemporary culture try to sell us quick and superficial happiness. In the Beatitudes, Jesus offers us an alternative prescription for happiness, one that promises lasting happiness to those who live by his teaching.

Materials Needed

• Several advertisements that link the product advertised with happiness
• Art supplies for making advertisements

Preparation for Sunday Scripture Readings

1. Show several examples of advertisements that claim that the product advertised will bring happiness. Ask: What does this advertisement want you to believe about this product? (that it will make you happy; that it will make you successful) Can this product actually do that? (It might bring short-term happiness but not anything that lasts.)

2. Invite several volunteers to read today’s Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12a. Perhaps a different person can read each one of the Beatitudes.

3. Ask: What are some of the things that Jesus says will bring blessings and happiness? (poverty of spirit, mourning, seeking righteousness, a clean heart) Invite the children to consider what one or more of the Beatitudes means by asking them to name a specific example of what the Beatitude teaches. “Blessed are the merciful,” for example, means that we will find happiness when we forgive someone who has hurt us.

4. Invite each person in the group to create an advertisement about how to live one of the Beatitudes. Display these ads as part of your closing prayer.

5. To conclude, decorate your prayer space with the children’s advertisements. Gather in the prayer space and pray together prayers of petition based on the Beatitudes, such as “We pray that we will be peacemakers who seek to get along with other people even when this is difficult. We pray to the Lord.” All respond: “Lord hear our prayer.”

Making the Connection (Grades 7 and 8)

Gospel Reading
Matthew 5:1-12a
Jesus teaches what it means to be happy.

Young people at this age are bombarded with messages that promise them happiness. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus reverses expectations and points out what true happiness is.

Materials Needed

• None

Preparation for Sunday Scripture Readings

1. Do the following opposites exercise.

2. Go around the room and give each young person a chance to name the opposite of the word you say aloud.

3. Use the following words: deep (shallow), maximum (minimum), wide (narrow), ask (answer), active (passive), fail (succeed), love (hate), defend (attack), true (false), together (separate), cheap (expensive), future (past), all (none), help (hurt), return (depart), boring (exciting), friend (enemy), increase (decrease), noisy (quiet), accidentally (deliberately), capture (release), lose (gain or win), child (adult), brave (cowardly), punishment (reward), remember (forget), few (many), guilty (innocent).

4. When finished, tell the young people that in this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the Beatitudes, which reveal that happiness can be found in the opposite of what society teaches us.

5. Invite volunteers to read aloud Matthew 5:1-12a.

6. Ask: What are some of the things that society says will make us happy? (money, possessions, power, pleasure) What are some of the things that Jesus says will bring blessings and happiness? (poverty of spirit, mourning, seeking righteousness, a clean heart)

7. Invite the young people to consider what one or more of the Beatitudes means by asking them to name a specific example of what the Beatitude teaches. (Example: “Blessed are the merciful” means that we will find happiness when we forgive someone who has hurt us.)

8. Say: Jesus teaches us that true happiness is often found in the opposite of what society teaches will make us happy.

9. To conclude, gather in the prayer space and pray together prayers of petition based on the Beatitudes, such as “We pray that we will be peacemakers who seek to get along with other people, even when it is difficult. We pray to the Lord.” All respond, “Lord, hear our prayer.”

Family Connection

Today’s Gospel offers a contrast to many of the messages we hear in our society today. If we were to accept uncritically the “get ahead” messages of our culture, we would think that happiness means having money, being successful, having many possessions, and so on. When we think this way, we are not unlike the people who heard Jesus teach on the day that he taught the Beatitudes. The crowd that day also associated happiness with material possessions and status.

Talk as a family about what it means to be happy or to be blessed. Make a list of traits that you would associate with a happy person. Then read together today’s Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12a. Reflect on Jesus’ description of happiness. Think about what each of the Beatitudes might have in common and write a family summary of the Beatitudes. Post the summary in a special place as a reminder of what your family will consider “true happiness.”

Conclude by praying together prayers of petition based on the Beatitudes, e.g., “We pray that we will be peacemakers who seek to get along with other people even when this is difficult. We pray to the Lord.” All respond: “Lord, hear our prayer.”