Our Lady of Mercy

We loved having the girls of Our Lady of Mercy with us these past two days. The girls especially enjoyed the group conversations as it gave them an opportunity to question their values and beliefs and to get to know each other better. They discussed God in their lives, and how to practice their own faith. They also focused on their journey through life and were given time to reflect on this in a creative way.  They also gave each other affirming comments writing them down in a book so that when someone feels sad or alone they can be reminded of the good things about them through the lovely comments that were written about them.

Music: The Climb by Miley Cyrus. We used this song because the words in the song pretty much tells us that over the years we have reached our dreams and achievements. Life will always be a climb.

Reach by S Club 7. The words in the song, We've got to all stick together, sums up our friendship and the years we've shared together.

Focus: We chose to make a tree because we have blossomed into young women. We have learnt a lot through the years and this is what we have turned into. The reason we put candles down is because they represent a bright future. The leaves represent each one of our personalities and qualities.


Scripture: We chose to read The Good Samaritan because we wanted to show people that the 'other side' of the community isn't bad. We have too many judgements on people we don't know.

 Prayer:

We pray for all the people going through hard times at the moment.

Help them get through it.

Amen

We pray for our families

 who have always been there for us when we have needed them. 

Let them know we are very thankful.

Amen

Dear God, 

I would like to pray for everyone who has lost someone they love,

whether it's friends or family. 

 I will think of them and try so hard in all I do. 

Help us not to miss them too much, they're in our hearts always.

Amen

We pray for the sick people and their families 

through their hard times and wish them all the best.

Amen

We pray for all the homeless people in the world.

We hope that they will get homes soon.

Amen

Reflection:

Our poster says FRIENDS because our whole year group has become friends in the past 5 years.

Music: We picked Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls because it talks about the world not being able to see us as we are, because people don't understand us or our opinions, but after today we all have an idea of each other's opinions.

Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror, we chose this as our last song because when we all look in the mirror we always see the negative things about ourselves but today we focused on the positive things about ourselves and others.

Focus: This flower represents everybody growing together over the years. It also represents the friendships that have grown. The candles in the sky represent loved ones that have been lost and that they are looking over us all through our lives.

Scripture: We chose two pieces of scripture that we thought fitted into the day.
Lamp on a table (Matt 5:15). We chose this because each of us have talents that we should use. We shouldn,t hide them away. We should always use our talents to help others in our lives.
God asks us to care for each other as we want to be cared for. We should apply this to our everyday lives and help our friends not to put their talents to waste.

Love is patient (Cor:13:3-4). We chose this verse because God is love and he wants us to follow in his example, to put the needs of others first.

Also, we want to show how love is thoughtful, patient and kind and this is the way we should be towards each other as God's friends should be.

Prayers:

Dear God, 

May you look over all of us and our family,

and any of us going through a rough time and need your help.

Give us strength.

Amen.

Dear God,

We pray for all the year 14's,

that they may find the motivation to do well and succeed in exams

 and all they do through life.

May God guide and protect them on their Journey.

Amen

Dear God,

We pray for those who need strength to get through difficult situations in their life.

We pray for Cailin Murphy and her family.

Amen

Dear God

Please look over people who are in poverty.

May God help them and relieve them of their suffering, guide them into a better life.

Amen

 Reflection:

 Words that will remind us of the retreat day we had.

Praying

Relaxing

Reflection

Enjoyable

Sentimental

Quietness

Aquinas

It was great to see the pupils from Aquinas as they are always a pleasure to have at the centre. Today we disscussed what it means to be a Christian and how we can make a difference in our world. At the end of the day we enjoyed a prayer service as it had specail touches from everyone in the class.

Music: We chose Aerosmith because it's an uplifting song. we feel the title I dont want to miss a thing, is inspiring as sometimes life is very, very busy and yet we don't want to miss anything in life.

For our second song we chose Snow Patrol's - Run because sometimes you just want to run away, but then you realise the people in your life can light you up, even if you can't hear their voice.

Focus: The river symbolises the journeye of our lives leading up to a bright future and the red rocks represent difficult times.

The sun symbolises us as people as we are the light of the world and we must shine.

Scripture: We chose Matthew 6:34 as this passage is very comforting. we often worry about small things but do not stop and think, is there any point in worrying? This passage tells us there is not, and that we should focus on positive things. If we do this, God will sort out everything.

                                                      

Love your enemy, Matthew 5:44. We also chose this because there is no point in being angry. We need to love everyone the same.

Hatred and grudges are pointless.

Prayers:

Dear God,

We pray for the happiness of our form class.
We pray that God will guide us through any hardships and help us bring out the best in each other.

Lord hear us

Dear God,

Please bless our form class throughout our final year at Aquinas.
Help us to reach our goals both acidemically and spiritually, and guide us to happy and fulfilling futures

Lord hear us

Dear God,

Please grant us the guidance to make informed decisions and be good people.

Lord hear us

Dear god,

We pray for our families, especially those facing berievment.

Lord hear us

Dear God,

We pray for the sick, that God may help them through their struggle, especially
 those closest to us,

Lord hear us

Reflection:

On a day like today we have absorbed much advice, opinions and knowledge, from disscussing our belief in God to the imprtance of a moblie phone; help us to process this, and enrich our lives and develop us as young people. Do not fear, for even if you have cleared your mind, this retreat will have been a treat.

It is important for us to realise that in our busy lives it is imprtant to clear our minds. *(Edited version)

Focus: 14J represents our class. The different colours represent the different groups in our class, but together we are one. The sky is our limit and we are one and we are the stars in it. The candles represent the burning essence of love burning in our hearts. Even though we will take our separate books and go our separate ways. we will always be together, in here (hand to heart).

Music: For our first song we chose What a wonderful World by Willie Nelson , for obvious reasons that are mentioned in the song.

Our final song is, I want to know what love is by Foreigner. We chose this song because we all need to know what love is.

Scripture: We chose the prodical son because today it is very easy to become lost in the hustle and bustle of life, to be carried away by tempation and become lost in who we are, but we must remember there is always someone there who we can trust in and rely on like; friends, family, teachers and God, who will always help.

 Prayers:

Dear lord,

We pray for all the sick people in the world,

so their families may gain support and guidance. 

Amen

  

Dear Lord,

We pray for all the people all round the world suffering from poverty.

May God help them and enrich their lives.

Amen

Dear Lord,

We pray for our friendships, that they remain strong

 and loyal after we leave school and go our separate ways.

Amen 

Dear Lord, 

We pray we achieve the success in examinations that we deserve

and that God is there to support us in our future endeavours.

Amen 

Dear Lord

We pray for our families, may they always support us and know our appreciation,

Amen  

Dear Lord,

We pray for any special intentions that

any of us may have today

Amen

Reflection:

We chose these words as we feel they best descibe our day.

LOVE; today we respected each other and mixed together in activites
FRIENDSHIP; After writing in each others books we showed the love we have for one another, as friends.

BONDING; we have all mixed together and all came here today, we joined in with all the activities having
FUN with all our friends

The day started off with fun when we played the two games, this really got the day going.

The most relaxing part of the day was the meditation, it was great to take time out of our day to sit and not have to think about anything. I really feel that we bonded more as a form class,especially because we weren't put into our friendship groups, and we were able to talk to others we might not normally talk to everyday.

Music: We have chosen Newton Faulkner, Dream Catch Me, becasue it encourages you to be anyone you want to be and gives you hope for the future.

For our second song we chose C'est la vie by Bewitched becasue we have grown up with this song and it reminds us of all our good memories. It teaches us that no matter what happens we will all support each other.

Focus: We have made a flower. The yellow in the middle surrounded by the candles represents God and how he is the centre of everything. The colours around it represents all of us. The different colours represent the different cultures and backgrounds coming together.

Scripture: We chose Jesus Cures the Centurian's servant, because God loves everyone equally, no matter how rich or poor, sick or healthy. Everyone deserves to be saved regardless of their status.

Prayers:

Dear God,

Please pray for the sick and terminally ill and may you grant courage to their families at this time.

Lord Hear Us

Dear God,

Please pray for those in the world who are living in poverty.

May they find happiness in life.

Lord Hear us

Dear God,

Please pray for all those who are feeling lonely at this time,

may God comfort them and offer a helping hand.

Lord Hear Us

Dear God,

Please pray for all of our friends who are studying for exams.

Please help them not to be stressed and enjoy this year.

Lord Hear Us

Reflection: The river represents, not the river of life, but the river of today. We wanted to add in all the things that made our day special; candles for prayer, the sun for fun and God, skipping, the booklets.... 

 

Music: We chose Alabma3,  Let's go back to Church because it's themed on religion and about returning to God.
Our last song is The Verve, Bittersweet Symphony because it's about life.

Focus: For our focus we decided to integrate the idea of the river of life. The boat represents protection from the waves which represents bad things or fears. The stars represent hope and act as guiding lights. 

Scripture: The reason for choosing, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, is because this story is to encourage forgiveness and friendship, and to remove negative feelings.

Here in Northern Ireland there is a lot of retailiation, and we believe you must rise above this. It means going that extra mile, and truly being a Christian.

Prayers:

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for our friends and all the fun we had today

Amen.

Dear Lord,

Pray for all those who we care for,

for those who care for us,

for those who have nobody to care for them...but you.

Amen

Dear Lord,

Thank you for our families and friends,

thank you for our wonderful school and teachers.

Amen.

Dear Lord,

 Thank you for being able to go to school as there 

are those in our world who are not able to go.

 I ask that you help us through this year and 

help us achieve the grades we need for university.

Amen

Reflection: Friends Forever...

                                                     

       F - Fear that we have had

                   R - Relationships we have formed

        I - Interesting topics arose

             E - Education we have shared

                 N - Never give up on each other

            D - Depending on each other
S - Special memories

St. Joseph's

As we begin our new term we want to thank the young people from St.Joseph's College who helped us ease into our new retreat year. 

In our groups we disscussed  how people, events and memories can play a role in creating the person we are today. We also talked about our beliefs and values and how we can affirm our belief in others as well as ourselves. We ended our day with a prayer service which the whole group organised.

Focus:

For the 'Focus' at our prayer service we decided to make a river, as it represents our life. On one side the lit candles represent people who follow God, on the other side of the river are unlit candles on  a rough bank which represents the people who have not heard of God. There is also a bridge in the middle allowing people the opportunity to cross over to the lit side.

Music:

We picked Fast Car by Tracey Chapman as it talks about starting from nothing to making something of your life, having hope and faith in life.

Our second song was Just the way you are by Bruno Mars because God loves us the way we are. 

Scripture: We picked this scripture, 'I know the plans I have for you' (Jer:29:11), because it relates to what we were doing in our groups today; talking about the future and where we see God in this.

Prayers:

Dear God,

Please pray for those who suffer from terminal illnesses.
Give them and their families the strength and courage to cope through these hard times.

Please help them to have faith that they will get through it.

Lord hear us

Father Almighty,

We pray for the people who suffer from poverty and corrupution,

may you shower them with blessings,

and happiness as they live their everyday lives.

Ease their suferings and help them find joy inside their hearts.

We pray this through Christ, Our Lord.

Amen

Lord Almighty,

We pray for peace in our world.

We pray for our families and friends and those who have asked us to pray for them.

O Lord, keep themsafe and healthy and bless them Lord.
Amen

Reflection:

We chose the word friendship because we all came here as a class and we got to know each other better.

Day 2

Music: We chose Lean on me to start our prayer service as it reminds us all that even though it is our last year we still need to support and look out for each other.

For our second song we chose Castles in the sky because it mentions in the first line of this song 'do you ever question your life?' and we feel this is an important life questions we all need to ask.

Focus: This focus represents our journey of life.
The yellow sun at the beginning of the river represents the beginning of life.
The blue material is the River of life that we journey through.
The greens parts of the focus are our experiences through life.
The candles for us ment  - Light - Hope - God is hope.
We wrote the word 'End' because this is when we go home to God

 

Scripture: I know the plans I have for you (Jer:29:11):

We chose this story because of our imminent changing future.  If you fear the future, don't, your friends, family, and more importantly, God, will guide you into a prosperous future, full of happiness.

 Prayers:

Reflection:

We designed this poster to represent how we felt throughout the day;

Calming,

Revealing,

Spiritual,

Inspirational and

Fun