St.Bride's Continued...

We had a great week with all the P7s from St. Bride's. They were a great bunch of young people and we enjoyed hearing their opinions and their questions about their faith, as many of them prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation in February. They prepared such lovely Prayer Services for us on each of the four days and you'll see from the photos some of the lovely prayers and art work they produced.

One of the symbols of the Holy Spirit is the wind, so we made paper kites to symbolise how we can allow Holy Spirit to work in us!

Some Prayers...

Dear God,

Thank you for giving me the chance to be a Christian and please help me to do my best always. Amen.

Dear God,
Help me to be a good friend to others and to include everyone in games and to make others laugh and smile. Help us all to be kind to others, to always be welcoming and to try our best in school.
Lord hear us.

Dear Lord,
I speak to you, truly grateful for what you've done to me and my family and friends. You are truly a part of me and so is the Lord Jesus. You have been so helpful in life and i appreciate it.
Lord hear us!

Dear God,
Thank you for helping us in everything we do. Please help us in the future to be kind and sharing. Help us to love and respect you.
Lord hear us.

Prayers and Art from St. Bride's

We had our first group of Primary 7s this year, from St. Bride's Primary School. They had a lovely day thinking of ways of letting their light shine! They certainly brightened up Monday for us on the team. Have a look at some of the ways they did that, below...

Dear God,


Please take care of all the people who have been caught up in the floods all over the world.
Help them to stay strong. Please make all the flooding go away so they can be happy.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.


Amen.

Dear God,

Please bring peace to the world and to stop people from suffering and help us to be more kind to others.

Amen.

Dear God,

Thank you God for helping me when I am going through hard times especially now when we have to do hard exams.
Thank you Lord for my family and friends also for the world around me.

Amen.

Dear God,

We pray for all the children at our school; help them to keep healthy and in good condition.
Help them to make friends, and guide newcomers to friendships.
We also pray for all the teachers and staff.

Amen.

Who is God?

In the year 11 retreat, we spend some time thinking about two questions...

Who is God?

and

What are the needs of the world?

Two vital questions!

Below are some of the thoughts of the lads from St. Mary's... everything from questions about how to believe, thoughts about the church, Christological statements and the word that sums it all up... Love!

Journeys with Jesus

In some of our groups, the students spend some time imagining going for a walk with Jesus, where they may meet some people along the way. The images, imaginations and impressions of the students of what Jesus looks like what he says and what t never fails to intrigue us... here's a few pictures and words that describe the fertile imaginations where people met Jesus, the everlasting companion who never ceases to surprise us.

Prayers from St. Mary's

Last Friday was our final day with the lads from St. Mary's - we had 8 classes, and it was a great stint with them... We were particularly impressed with their prayers - their awareness of the world around them, and the importance of friends to help us live well... great stuff lads! We'll look forward to seeing you again hopefully.

May the Lord help those who are laughed at or put under pressure because of their appearance.
Give them the strength and courage to put their appearance behind them and forget about what others think of them.
Amen.

Dear God,
We pray for the less fortunate in the world as they might have no rights or they could even be lonely.
Amen.

Dear God,
I pray for all the poor people in the world and that somebody would have the decency to help them. God give me the strength and courage to do my best to help their charities.
Amen.

St. Mary's Year 11

The boys from St. Mary's have been in with us again this week. We were talking about the world we live in and how we're all connected, which means we have a responsibility to each other. The boys wrote some great prayers for their Prayer Service.

Dear God
We pray for those who are discriminated against and for the people who feel they don’t belong in our society. We pray that they may be treated equally and be included in our society. We pray for those who don’t have friends and that we may extend our circle of friends to include these people.
Amen

Dear God
We ask that everyone in our society is accepted for who they are, and that race, religion, appearance, educational ability and background are not a factor in being accepted.
Amen


We also explored our thoughts about God.



Dear God,
Thank you for giving me hope and faith in others.
Keep me from judging others.
Let me be understanding toward them.
Amen

There were lots of questions about what God might look like, or be like.
Mystery was one of the words that came up when we were talking about God.
Lot's of people said they think of Light when they think of God!




Some of the other words the lads associated with God were...




Oh God,
I ask you to help us obtain the target we hunger for.
Let us have love.
Let us have friends.
Thank you, God.
Amen


Dear Lord
We pray for the sick people in the world.
May they get better.
We pray for the less well-off people.
Help them to get through the hard times in life.
Amen


Dear God,
Please help those who feel imprisoned by guilt, fear and sadness in their lives.
Help those who have lost control over their lives and give them hope for the future.
Give confidence to those who are fearful of others and let them feel free.
Amen


Dear God,
Thank you for our families and the place we live in.
Give us the faith and strength to deal with life.
Amen

And what better way to end our day together than this short but magnificent prayer of thanks.
Sometimes less is more!!

Dear God,
I am glad with the day you have given me.
Amen