Church Family Moment for Sunday, February 2, 2025

By Director of Spiritual Formation Rebecca Guzman

1. Have you ever been at a family gathering or a party with adults and had them keep saying, “Oh my goodness, you’ve grown up so much!” or telling you stories from when you were little over and over? Did you feel like they weren’t seeing you for who you really are? That you were still a little kid in their minds and always would be? This is kind of like what happens with Jesus in the gospel passage today.
2. Listen to a readaloud of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. I bet it is a favorite for many of you! When pigeon is not allowed to drive the bus, he becomes extremely angry and flies into a rage. Similarly, when Jesus challenges the people in his hometown, they become filled with rage and try to throw him off a cliff! What do you think a faithful response is when we become angry?
3. Print out and color this coloring page. Or you might do a word search, crossword, or decoder as you think about this story. It can be a troubling story to read, and it’s helpful for us to process difficult scriptures.
4. Journal, considering the following:
   1. Who are the people in the synagogue/temple?
   2. What does Jesus say to them? Why does this make them angry?
   3. What do they do to Jesus in response?
   4. How do you think you would have felt if you had been there?