Junior High Session
Isaiah 49:14-15
Matthew 6:24-34
Opening Prayer
Let us pray.
Loving God,
You love and accept us just the way we are.
Help us to love you and one another.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Opening Life Reflection
The theme for today is God’s love for us. Provide a small piece of modeling clay for each young person. Begin by asking the young people to reflect on their images of God. Discuss:
• What is God like?
• Where do you learn about God?
• What do you believe about God?
Allow time for discussion. Invite the young people to take the piece of clay and form it into an image that reflects who God is for them. Allow time for sharing the images of God. Explain that God is like all these images, yet so much more.
Listening to the Word of God
In today’s Old Testament reading, listen to how God’s love is like that of a pregnant woman.
Read Isaiah 49:14-15.
Allow for silence.
Scripture Discussion Starters
• What does the image of mother reveal about God?
• How is God’s love for us more tender than that of a mother’s love for her child?
• How does God express his love for us?
In today’s Gospel listen to Jesus explain how we are dependent upon God.
Read Matthew 6:24-34.
Allow for silence.
• What does Jesus tell us about God’s creation?
• Why does Jesus say that we should not worry?
• What will happen if we depend on God’s love for us?
Scripture Background
Provide 2-3 minutes of background information on the readings using the Catechist Background section.
In the first reading the prophet Isaiah reminds us that we can rely on God’s tender care with trust. Isaiah proclaims that the love of God for his children, us, is even more than that of a mother for the baby in her womb.
In today’s Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus preaches calm assurance in God’s care, his Divine Providence. He assures us that our anxiousness and worrying about tomorrow will not provide for our future. God will provide for the future that is of greatest importance for those who trust in his care.
Questions for Deeper Reflection
• Why are we to be dependent upon God?
• How do you show that you trust someone who loves you?
• What does it mean to trust in God’s love for us?
Doctrinal Discussion Starter
God’s Love for Us
God is so much greater than we can ever imagine. However we can know God. We have been blessed with an experience of God in creation, throughout salvation history, and finally in Jesus Christ, sent to save us because of God’s great love for us.
Scripture describes God as loving and faithful. These images that describe this loving God are often drawn from marriage and family life. The images found in the Old and New Testament help us to imagine God by showing us what God is like. Some of these images include “spouse,” “father,” and “mother.”
A famous image of “mother” to describe the relationship between God and the people is found in Isaiah. The prophet asks the question, “Can a woman forget her own child? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). In Deuteronomy 32:11-12, God is described as a mother eagle that takes her young on her wings to teach them to fly. The mother eagle stays close by to care for her young. These images of mother show that God is compassionate, as a mother is compassionate toward her children.
In the New Testament Jesus refers to God as his “Father.” Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God as to their loving Father (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:3). God is a loving and personal God who cares for each of us. We are greatly blessed. We can love one another because God has first loved us.
• What does the image of mother tell you about God?
• What does the image of father tell you about God?
Call Us Today!