Presentation, Prayer Service, and Take-Home Kit

Presentation

Open your intergenerational event with a short presentation on the four Sundays of Advent. This presentation explores the Gospel readings for each Sunday and is appropriate for use in liturgical years A, B, or C.

Download Presentation Leader Guide
To print: 1 copy for leader
Document: 2 pages

Prayer Service

Celebrate the spirit of Advent by gathering all participants in prayer and song.

Download Leader/Reader Script
To print: 7 copies
Document: 3 pages

Download Prayer Service Family Handout
To print: 1 per participant
Document: 1 page

Make this prayer service a reflection of the spirit of your parish by asking volunteers to give the gift of their talents. Ask those who love to make beautiful art to create colorful banners to carry in the procession, and invite parishioners with musical talent to lead the processional hymn.

For the Prayer Service, you will need the following:

• Leader/Reader Guides
• Sufficient Family Handouts for all participants
• 6 candles
• 6 volunteer readers
• Prayer table with enthroned Bible and Advent symbols
• Optional: banners for procession
• Optional: volunteer musician(s) to play “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Take-Home Kit

Each participating family will be given a bag containing Advent resources. Refer to the current liturgical cycle to determine which set of Gospels to print. (Example: 2007 = Year A) The Take-Home Kit can be distributed whenever you prefer—at the beginning or end of the event.

Download Take-Home Kit Labels (Avery labels 5263)
To print: 1 label per kit
Document: 1 page = 10 labels

Download Ideas for the Home
To print: 1 per family
Document: 2 pages

Download Gospels of Advent—Year A
To print: 1 per family
Document: 4 pages

Download Gospels of Advent—Year B
To print: 1 per family
Document: 4 pages

Download Gospels of Advent—Year C
To print: 1 per family
Document: 4 pages

Download Advent Scripture Prayers
To print: 1 per family
Document: 2 pages

Download Advent Calendar (en español)
To print: 1 per family
Document: 1 page

You may include only the materials we have listed here, or you may wish to include the family handouts for the various Activity Centers as well. Do what works best for you and your parish.

Assembling the Kits: Gather enough plain paper bags or plastic bags so that there is one for each participating family. The bags should be large enough to hold an Advent wreath without damaging it. Most stationery and office supply stores carry bags that will work well. You can also find them on the Internet by typing the words “paper bags” or “plastic bags” into a search engine. Label the envelopes by downloading the label page above and printing it on sheets of Avery labels 5263 until you have sufficient labels for all kits.