Friday, November 16, 2007

Week 3: Love (color: gold, December 2nd)

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For the Little Ones: It is believed that St. Boniface was the first to establish the fir tree as a Christian symbol. He referred to the triangular shape as a symbol of the trinity, the evergreens as a symbol of eternity, with the branches pointing towards heaven. Hence its being seen as a symbol of the Christ child who brought us eternal life.

Now we like to wait until the feast of our forefathers to buy a Christmas tree for indoors in honor of my husband's name day, Jesse and the Jesse tree (it also is better to wait if you want your tree to survive the 12 days of Christmas celebration!). So this week help your children to decorate a Christmas tree outside for the animals instead! Invite neighbors to help. Talk about how the tree is a symbol of eternal life and the love that God has for us (John 3:16). Buy a living Christmas tree or decorate a tree you already have outside (it doesn't necessarily have to be a fir tree). String berries or other fruit and popcorn. Place pieces of bread on the branches. Hang birdseed in small paper cups. Smear peanut butter on crackers and place on branches. Then watch the animals feast away!

5 comments:

Phyllis said...

Thank you so much for sharing these ideas! Could you explain where the colors come from?

Ma Torg said...

Yes! The colors and themes come from the book I mentioned in my Advent Prepraration List post.

Phyllis said...

Would you be able to summarize what they stand for or why they're used?

Ma Torg said...

The colors symbolize the themes of each week. Faith is green. Hope is blue. Love is gold. White is peace. Purple is repentance. Red is communion. These are different liturgical colors used throughout the year. Green is typically described as the color of life (suitably adapted to 'faith'). Blue is used mostly for the mother of GOd (who literally bore our 'hope' in her womb). White is usually for the pure light of God's energy (I'm not sure of the peace adaptation here. But dove's are a symbol for peace and they are white). Purple is for the suffering of Christ that calls us to repentance. REd is the blood of Christ; his death on the cross. Gold symbolizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit showered upon us by the love of God. For more on liturgical colors, look here:
http://aggreen.net/vestment/liturgical_colors.html

Phyllis said...

That's exactly what I was wanting to know. Thank you so much!