It comes from the Greek word, “biblos,” which means “book.” And today’s Gospel reading starts with that very word. It starts “The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.” The words “the book” are the very beginning of the New Testament, when we learn about our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Why do we call this book just “the book”? Because it’s the most important book in the world! It’s the book that tells us the whole history of how God has helped us, how God has helped the whole world. That’s why we call it “the book,”or “biblos.” It’s the most important one. It’s THE book.

Today the Gospel tells us the whole family tree of our Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us where Jesus came from. When we hear all of the names like Abraham and Isaac and Ruth and David and Josiah and Joseph, we think about all the Bible stories we have heard that happened before Christ was born. We think about all the ways that God helped the world, even before Christ was born. But now we get to read why this is called THE book. We get to read about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and how He came to save the world forever!

THE 10 HOLY MARTYRS OF CRETE— A GREAT DISCOVERY!

Do you know what an archaeologist does? Sometimes archaeologists dig under the ground to find out things from long ago. They might find a piece of pottery or jewelry from long ago. A little more than a hundred years ago, some people in the great Greek island of Crete discovered something from long ago too. They found the place where ten holy saints had been buried! In the year 1898, a very sick man was healed from the water in a lake in Crete.

He drank the water, and he was healed from a bad disease. He told everyone about it, and other people were also healed from this water. The bishop from that area visited it too, and he had the lake drained (dried up). Sure enough, under all that water had been the tombs of the  saints.

We celebrate these 10 saints on Mon., December 23rd (Jan. 5th OC).

Welcome to “The Children’s Word,” a weekly ministry of the Orthodox Christian Network. Each week, Presvytera Alexandra Houck writes this little newsletter for young parishioners! You will find age-appropriate articles, stories, and activities in every edition. The newsletter is provided in PDF format so that you can easily download and print it, and share it with your parish, church school, homeschool, family, and friends.

Each issue includes a message on the Sunday Gospel lesson and on one of the saints for the week. You’ll also find a coloring page and other activities. It is designed for a 8.5 x 14 page, so it can be printed and folded.

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Presvytera Alexandra Houck

Presvytera Alexandra Houck created The Children's Word bulletin so children will know they are not only welcome in church, but even more, an essential part of the Church family. She hopes the weekly bulletin will be just one more way we can make kids feel at home in church. Presvytera Alexandra is a graduate of Duke University and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Her husband, Fr. Jason Houck, is a priest at St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, MN. Presvytera Alexandra and Fr. Jason have five small children: Lydia, Paul, Silas, Philip, and Sarah. Presvytera Alexandra grew up attending Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Asheville, North Carolina with her nine siblings.

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