Object: Some books and a Bible.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought along some books with me this morning to help me tell you a story about Mary, the mother of Jesus. I think you will learn something special about her today, and maybe you will also learn something about books. I have this whole box of books I want to show you. I want to see what you think of them. (Begin to take out the books one at a time.) I would like to find a really special book to read, and I wonder if you might help help me choose it. There should be a really special book in all of these books. Of course they are all alike in some ways. They all have a cover and a lot of pages. They have words printed on the pages and most of the pages have numbers. Some of the books are longer and the size of the words are different, but they almost all look somewhat alike. Have you noticed any special book among all of the books? (Let them answer.) If you have not come to the Bible yet, then ask the question again when they have seen the Bible.) You think the Bible is special. Is it different from the other books? It looks the same. What do you think makes it different? (Let them answer.) You're right. God makes that book special.

I think I can show you that God did the same thing with Mary. She was a woman like almost all of the other women. She looked like them. She walked like them, and she ate like them. Mary probably talked like most of the women. But one day God chose her among all of the women, and had her give birth to the baby Jesus. That made her special. Even before then, one of her relatives named Elizabeth knew that there was something special about Mary, and she told her so. The thing that made Mary special was the baby that God gave her as a special gift to the whole world.

The Bible is different from all other books because of God, and so is Mary special among all mothers because of what God did with her. You may see pictures of Mary or hear stories about her, but I can tell you that she was special among all of the mothers because God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

Maybe the next time you take a look at a book, you will remember that there is a special book called the Bible. You may also remember then that God chose a special woman by the name of Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Amen.