Reflect Prayer
Prayer
Follow the steps to guide children through the prayer on page 24.
Asking God for Grace We can ask God for the grace we need to practice Christian virtue, which the Beatitudes express. When we wake up each
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day, we can pray the Morning Offering to greet God and to dedicate our day to him.
Prepare Pray the prayer in advance to become familiar with it.
Morning Offering My God, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the
Pray Say: Let’s prepare for our special prayer time with God. Let’s be still and quiet so that we can listen to and speak with God in our hearts. Pause for a few moments. Then direct children to look at the picture on page 24. Ask volunteers to share how the picture makes them feel. Say: The Beatitudes give us direction on how to live our lives each day. Today we are going to pray a prayer that also gives us direction for daily living. Read the introduction. Then invite children to pray the prayer silently. Have children close their eyes and reflect on their own morning routine as you pray aloud the Morning Offering. Give children a few moments of silence to speak with God. Then read aloud the final paragraph. Conclude the prayer by saying: Bring your attention back to the room and open your eyes. Lead children in praying the Glory Be to the Father. Say: With the same spirit of prayerfulness, let’s remember how we can practice Jesus’ teachings in our own lives.
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holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Son’s Sacred Heart, for the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of Christians. Amen.
After you pray the Morning Offering, spend some time with God. Tell God what you will be doing for the rest of the day. Ask for his help and blessing on yourself and on all you meet.
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UNIT 1 • God, Our Creator and Father
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Morning Journal Invite children start a morning PDF Signoff: to Production _______ journal in which they can write their hopes and petitions for the day. Have children pray the Morning Offering and then add an entry to their journal each day.
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Coaching Children to Pray Editorial _______
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Explain that the Church teaches us to know and remember all that Jesus said and did, and calls us to respond through a life of prayer. For this reason we learn the words of our traditional prayers by heart. In doing so we come to know the words, as well as appreciate their meaning and truly take the prayers to heart.
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