The feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on 1st and 2nd along with Remembrance Day on 11th November highlight that this is traditionally the month when we remember and pray for the dead and ask God to bring them to their eternal rest in heaven. At the end of the month, we mark the end of the Liturgical Year with the great Solemnity of Christ the King. It’s a busy month in the Church calendar and no doubt in the school calendar too!
This newsletter shares a glimpse of some of the prayer and liturgy resources that children will experience at school during this month. We hope you find this resource to be a useful addition to your family prayer time.
A video explaining and celebrating the feasts of All Saints and Holy Souls can be found on the Collective Worship Parent Portal - www.tentenresources.co.uk/parent-portal
November Assemblies in brief
Here’s a look ahead to the Assemblies for the month of November including links to where you can read the Gospels, prayers, and some prompt questions that you might like to explore further with your child/ren.
Place of Honour
w/c 6th November
“The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the importance of humility explaining that to be great is to be a servant. Through a choosing game, children discover that being humble means putting others before ourselves. True greatness involves putting God first by serving and loving Him and our neighbours through our words and deeds.
- Being humble takes the focus away from ourselves and challenges us instead to think about others. You might want to explore with your child ways to be humble by being patient, listening, admitting mistakes and putting others first.
- You could even make a family star chart with rewards for putting others first!
Be Ready
w/c 13th November
“So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:13
In this week’s Gospel Jesus reminds us to be ready for His return. Through a modern-day retelling of the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, this assembly helps children learn that Jesus teaches us that we need to be ready for the unknown time of His return by loving God and loving others.
- Read the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids and discuss the idea of preparing and being ready in different contexts e.g. getting ready for school, being prepared for a spelling test. It’s easy to put off getting ready until the last minute but the parable tells us that the time to get ready is now!
- You might want to talk to your child about being ready by exploring ways of showing kindness and care for others.
Gifts from God
w/c 20th November
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things; I will trust you with greater.” Matthew 25:2
Through an interactive version of the Parable of the Talents, children will learn that God wants them to experience being loved and choose to love Him in return. This assembly helps children to celebrate the precious gifts God has given them.
- Read the parable and discuss the three different ways the servants tried to please their master. We all have the chance to be like the first servant – to accept God’s love and do something good with it.
- Ask your child/ren to talk about activities they are good at and/or enjoy and explain that these are gifts from God. Challenge your child/ren to consider ways they can use their gifts to praise God or show love and kindness to others.
Throne of Glory
w/c 27th November
Jesus said to His disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, escorted by all the angels, then He will take His seat on His throne of glory." Matthew 25:31
This week’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus is the great King of the universe. This assembly reflects on how through His Kingship, He unifies nations, heals His people, defeats the enemy and leads His people to join Him in glory.
- Search for images of Jesus as a king and discuss all the kingly elements such as a crown and splendid robes. You might also like to discuss the role of a king and explain how Jesus leads us, looks after us and unites us all in His love.
- In prayer time, ask your child to think of praise words that they can use to describe Jesus the King. You might want to get them to colour in or illustrate words to pin up in their room.
Prayer
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power… Pray in the Spirit at all times.’ Ephesians 6:10,18
There’s a time to be still and a time to move! The prayers for the week beginning 20th November encourage children to move and exercise their bodies as they pray. Just as it’s important to stay fit and healthy by exercising our bodies, children learn that the more that we practise praying and being a loving person, the better we get at it.
Perhaps you’d like to do some of these movement prayers each day. You could even make it into a family prayer workout routine!