The Advent season is upon us. We begin our new liturgical calendar (Cycle B) on December 3 this year. Praise God! You may be searching for activities families can work on together during this Advent Season that begins on December 3 and ends on December 24. Recently, I attended a workshop sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the presenters gave us a couple of ideas and resources which I will share here. It is truly a time to prepare our hearts and our homes for the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Below are links to the resources for various Advent art projects. The two we learned to create are the Jesse Tree and the other is a beautiful three dimensional Nativity Scene.
I improvised the Jesse Tree since I am currently teaching middle school students. Instead of making it one dimensional on paper, I found these affordable artificial branch trees. During class, the students listened to music, while they created the ornaments they will be placing on their trees. Here is an image of the model of how the Jesse Tree will look on December 24. The idea of the Jesse Tree, is for students to read scripture each day. Each ornament refers to a scripture reading and a symbol of that particular story of the Bible. Each day of Advent, the students are to place one ornament on the tree and reflect on the Bible reading. They are to begin with Genesis readings, through Exodus, through some of the major Prophet readings, until they end on December 24 with the reading from the Gospel according to Luke on the Birth of Jesus.
Peace and Blessings.
