Creating a Jesse Tree is an exciting Advent tradition! But for many of us it is brand new. When visiting my sister during Advent, I was inspired by the simple things she did to turn hanging ornaments on the Jesse Tree with her children into a special tradition.
You may have your tree, readings, and symbols all figured out, but organizing it all into these simple steps will help to bring everything together successfully.
1. Assemble with Singing
Rather than running to find everyone, start singing to signal to the family that it is time to come to the Jesse Tree. The first lines of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” work great.
2. Set the Mood with Candles
Be sure to light the candles on your advent wreath as part of your Jesse Tree tradition. This will both set the mood and signal to everyone that you are entering a time of prayer and reflection.
3. Read the Readings
After singing and lighting the candles, your family will be more ready to pay attention and absorb information. Here, my sister’s family is using the Jesse Tree readings from our book, Bible Characters for Advent. This year they’ll be using our My Jesse Tree Sticker Set.
4. Include the Bible
While our readings are written for children, it is also important to familiarize them with the Bible. Each story in our book has a reference to the verse in scripture from which it was taken. My sister’s family started with the story from Bible Characters for Advent and followed that with the corresponding Bible verse.
5. Sing While Hanging the Ornament
Finally, it’s time to hang your Jesse Tree ornament! Or stick your Jesse Tree ornament on your My Jesse Tree Sticker Set like they will be this year. My sister would alternate which child would hang the ornament each night. While hanging the ornament they would sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” which serves as a good “bookend” to the little ceremony.
Adding these simple steps your Jesse Tree tradition will help to make it a hit. Plus today is the last day for our Advent Specials!
BONUS idea: Find a Jesse Tree traditional that works for YOU! It was incredible seeing all my sister-in-laws beautiful diy ornaments on her tree… but when it came to my house our rowdy little boys thought it was more fun to pull the ornaments apart than hang them on the tree. That’s why I created our new My Jesse Tree Sticker Set. Our tree has all the same symbolism and beauty, but with stickers, the fun comes in putting them on the tree not pulling them off. 🙂
Hi! Thank you so much for theese five steps! We will try to do our “Jesse-tree” time like this! It can be a challange tho. Me and my husband converted to the Catholic Church last Easter, and three of our five children are quite negativ about it. They are 15, 14 and 11 yrs old and may also think this is childish. BUT we wont say this is Catholic and we will empase that this is a family-thing and that the ornaments, the tree and the reading are mostly for the two yonger ones. Besides, we can have them read from the Bible like you write above. But I am sure this will be a struggle to make this work. So if you would pray for us, I would be thankfull! Thank you also for showing how you did the ornaments. I am making them just as you! And thank you for the free dowload of the E-book. This means so much for me to get such great tools to make our Advent more Christ-centered!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
In Christ! /Maria, swedish mum of five and a newly convert to the Catholuc faith
Wow, Maria. You are truly amazing. Change can be especially hard for teenage children. I’m sure that your patience and understanding will help them tremendously.
Many protestants use Jesse Trees, so there is no direct conflict with children who are hesitant about the Catholic faith. There is probably only one place in our book where we mention a belief that is unique to Catholics.
We talk about my sister in this post. When she married her husband, he was a methodist. They decided to go to both Catholic mass and a methodist service every week. The important thing is that they were praying together as a family.
Over time, he learned more about the Catholic faith and decided to convert to Catholicism.
I suggest focusing on praying together and loving Jesus as a family in ways that they feel comfortable. Over time they may become more accepting the Catholic faith.
We will definitely be praying for you. Please follow up with us and let us know how things go with your Jesse Tree. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for you this Advent!
In Christ,
Charles
charles@mycatholickids.com
Thank you so much for your prayer! Means a lot! I will let you know how it goes with this!
In Christ /Maria