“We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold… The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.” ~St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Season of Advent
The word Advent comes from Latin and means “to come.” After many long years of waiting for the Messiah, Jesus came at a specific time and place. We celebrate the Incarnation and remember His birth each year at Christmas. We know that during Advent we look forward with hope to when Jesus will come again at the end of time to create a new heaven and a new earth. But we also see that Jesus comes to us right now in the present moment. He is near to us in prayer, in the people around us, in the world He created, and especially in the Holy Eucharist. Read more in my full article for the Eucharistic Revival blog here.
Help your kids learn more about the threefold coming of Jesus this Advent with the resources below. These were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!
- With older kids, read and talk about this St. Bernard of Clairvaux quote using the coloring page. Ask them how they understand Jesus coming in the past, present, and future. Discuss ways to look for Jesus each day and welcome Him as He comes to us in prayer, through the people around us, and especially in the Eucharist at Mass.
- With younger kids, create this Advent accordion storybook. Read it together with them, talking about the meaning of the Season of Advent. Show them that Jesus came at the first Christmas, comes to us each day, and will come again at the end of time.
Click here for the accordion book for younger kids:
(and the matching printable is in Spanish here)
(and the matching printable is in Spanish here)
Read more about the coming of the Lord in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children soon so that you are ready for Advent!
You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style!
O Come, O Come Emmanuel!
And you can find all of the free resources linked in this post:
I love this resource and am looking forward to using it for my K-1 religious ed class! Beautiful illustrations and a great succinct explanation of the 4 weeks of Advent and their meanings. But.....I noticed on page 5 there is a typo: "in the forth week" instead of fourth. Is there a way to correct this? I tried to make a copy of the Google file to edit but the full text and illustrations don't come through for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Bekah! I'm sorry, I didn't get a notification of your comment! Whoops, I am actually not sure how that file snuck through- I don't have it saved anywhere else ;) I just corrected the links and here is the file with the correct spelling: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15bVRPEabPCHn2usbktVi45dtHPG8K2VX/view?usp=drive_link Thanks!
DeleteYou are amazing! I love your resources and have found several that I am using to supplement my materials this year. Thank you for sharing your talents with all of us. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!
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