- Theme
- Advent
- Type
- Activities
- Number of Participants
- 4+
- Timescale
- 30-60 minutes
Quick overview
Something to hang on the tree as a reminder of what you are thankful for this Christmas! We did this on Gaudete Sunday, looking at how we rejoice and what is Joy. We look at Pope Francis’ words on Joy in Evangelii Gaudium.
Supplies you’ll need
- We used some clear plastic baubles that come as two halves that you can put together
- Some strips of paper and some pens
- Some ribbon to tie up your bauble
Leading the Activity
What to say:
“Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved” (Evangelii Gaudium 6). What makes you happy? Is it possible to always be happy? It is possible to be happy even when things don’t go your way? Superficial versus real happiness; what is the difference?
“Pope Francis quotes Pope Benedict, saying how being Christian is about an encounter with a person. Real happiness is born of that relationship; that beneath it all, we are unconditionally and infinitely loved. A way of remembering how loved we are is being grateful. Being thankful is the first step to being happy; it is also the first step to being hopeful in the Lord. When we remember all the Good things he has done, we realise how loved we are, how much God is already doing in our lives and a reminder of how we can trust that God will continue to work for our good in the future.”
What to do:
Write on a strip of paper something you are thankful for. Take a few and write people, or things, that you are thankful for; family names, friends names, situations that have happened where you have felt loved, your health, things you have; food, house, comfy bed… it’s not a bad thing to have them… but important to be thankful for them.