Good Shepherd Primary School

Last week we had the Primary 7s from Good Shepherd Primary School here for their post Confirmation retreat. As always, we started our day off with a few games. One of the games we play is called "Zoo" but one of the boys pointed out that a better name would be "Noah's Ark. " We thought this was a great idea, so "Noah's Ark" it shall be henceforth.

The Primary 7s were telling us all about their experience of Confirmation and now that they are confirmed they were thinking about what it means in their day to day lives.

If we're trying to follow Jesus we need to know what type of person Jesus was and so we played a game to think of all the stories about Jesus we could remember. The groups thought of loads of different stories.

Then we looked to see what qualities Jesus was showing in each story. We thought of people we know in our own lives who might share that quality and how we ourselves might show that quality to those around us.

The P7s wrote some prayers for the Prayer Service asking God to help them and others and thanking God for the blessings in their lives.

Dear God
Please help me and all my family.
Amen.

Dear God,
You are my light when I am in trouble and when I'm in bother.
Amen.

Dear God,
May our class become more wiser and have new friends in secondary school.
Amen.

Dear God
Please help the poor people live a happy life this year.
Amen.

Dear God,
Please help the homeless and keep them safe so that they find someone in their family.

Amen.

These thoughtful prayers and the effort that went into the other preparations meant that we had beautiful liturgies on each of the three days.

There was great spirit in all the young people we met and we wish them all the very best and hope some of them will be here again with their post-primary schools.

St. Aidan's Primary 7

The Primary 7 boys from St. Aidan's came yesterday for their post-Confirmation Retreat. They were a great bunch of lads who made it a lovely day for us. They told us all about their Confirmation, which took place earlier on in the month.

We talked about how Confirmation is an ongoing process and how the ceremony itself is a beginning and not an end. The boys talked about the challenges of being a Christian in day to day life. We agreed that one of the greatest of the challenges of following Christ is trying to see Him in everyone we meet, EVEN the people we don't really get along with!

We reflected on how we can take steps in our own lives to try to live in a more Christ-like way, by showing love and letting our light shine. Everyone was able to think of a person in their own lives who has been a light to them.

The prayer service was beautiful, with thoughtful prayers, a fabulous poster, a beautifully designed focus of a candle, a great drama and some excellent music.

It was lovely to meet all these great boys. We wish them every blessing as they move into their post-primary schools and beyond.

Our Lady of Mercy, Year 12

Over the past week we've had the year 12s from Our lady of Mercy School in with us. It was the girls' second visit to the Centre, having been here for their year 8 Retreat at the beginning of their secondary school career. The girls took the opportunity to reflect on their time in secondary school so far, their thoughts on God, their relationships with others and the qualities that they have within themselves.

There was a great spirit in the girls and many of them welcomed the opportunity to reflect at a deeper level. We often talk about it as journeying inward or spiraling inward, hence the spirals that were made by the girls.

One of the groups did a flower for the Focus for the prayer service, to represent their growth together as a form class. Coincidentally the girls choosing the Scripture reading for the day chose Matt. 6:28 about the 'flowers of the field.'

**************

Some of the Prayers and Reflections written during the week can be read below:


R E F L E C T ----- find out what it means to me!
I enjoyed quality time with my class.
I enjoyed taking time out for myself.
I enjoyed getting in touch with my inner feelings.


Dear God,
Please help my friends and family and my classmates to get over their problems.
Help everyone with their GCSEs that are coming up.
Help my family with the new arrival.
Help my friends because of all the stress of school coursework.
Thank You for all Your help in the past.
Amen

Dear God,
Please help us all to pass our GCSEs in June.
Be with us in any pressure we may feel.
Amen

God, please look after all the sick people in the world. help them to get great care in hospitals and to get better. Also, bless the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Amen

A group chose Luke 6 as a sripture reading. It is one of the greatest challenges of Christianity. This was their reason for choosing it:


You should always love your enemies as your neighbour and you should love sinners, as everyone sins and we have to be forgiving.

Today has meant a lot to us all.

We have had fun and had a ball.

It's brought us closer together.

Our friendship will last forever.

It has made us think of the type of person we are,

And, no matter how near or far

We will keep in touch,

No matter where we are

God is with us always

No matter where we are,

He is in the sky

Shining, like a star.

Even if we feel alone

He is always there

To show us the way home.

Help us to shine as brightly as can be.

Help us succeed.

God, help us with anything we need.

One of the themes that came up this week was that of Belief. We talked about believing good things in ourselves so that when time for choices came, we didn't just settle for what was easy. Conversations such as these made for great richness in our Prayer Services this week.



"We chose the verse of Scripture from Joshua. The message from these verses is that God is always with us. He wants us to be strong and courageous, he doesn't want us to be afraid or discouraged, for he is our God and is with us wherever we go."


One of the groups used the words blessing and love as the themes for their Scripture Reading. There was a great theme of celebration among the group.

Many of the prayers were about the world, ourselves, those who are experiencing grief and those who are in need of material help.

Dear God,

A few weeks ago there was an awful earthquake and thousands of people died due to the terrible conditions that were left. Please keep the families safe.

Lord hear us.



Dear God...
Please help all the less fortunate in the world today. For example, homeless, poor, or natural disaster victims. Help things to get more positive for them.
Lord hear us.



Dear God,
Over the last few years there have been a terrible impact of suicide all over the world. People have lost mummys, daddys, brothers, sisters and friends. Please help those who have lost relatives or friends due to this and help the young people out there today with problems and let them know that there is never anything bad enough that you cannot talk about.
Please help the people that this has happened to.
Lord hear us.



One reflection took the form of reflecting on today, on the past, and the future.



Today was fun especially at break and lunch because we spent time together as a form class.



We've been a form class from 1st year. I started late. We've had fights in the class, and we've had wonderful laughs. This retreat has brought us closer together as a class.


When we leave school at the end of the year, I hope we all stay in contact because it would be nice to have friends from the past, and have a few more childish laughs.




Another took the form of an Acrostic Poem.



Peaceful on our walk with Jesus
Reflecting on our lives
A feeling of being special
Years from now we will remember this
Experiences like this last a lifetime
Remembering it with the friends we love and hope never to forget



What a great bunch of girls. We hope to meet some of them again in Year 14. In the meantime, God Bless Year 12s.

St. Mark's, Warrenpoint

Last Wednesday, we had St. Mark's Warrenpoint make the journey up to Belfast for a day of retreat. We took time to think about who has influenced us, who the important people are in our lives, how God helps us, and how we can appreciate one another. It was a lovely day.

For our liturgy, we each wrote the name of someone we were thankful for, and the name of someone we had an intention for on a piece of paper and then stapled it to a paper circle... it made the focus-space be filled with our hopes and our gratitude.

When the focus-space was all complete, it reminded us of that gorgeous phrase in Irish:

- ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine -

- it is in the shelter of each other that the people live -

We always look forward to having St. Mark's pupils with us and look forward to more groups this year.

Dominican College, Year 8

The year 8 classes from Dominican College, Fortwilliam have been in with us over the past couple of weeks. It's always lovely for us to work with them and our retreat theme was Qualities. We talked a lot about the qualities we look for in a friend. We talked about the qualities we recognise in ourselves and our friends and family. This got us thinking about the God who made us and gave us all our good qualities. We talked about the qualities that were evident in Jesus and how it's up to us to be like Him so that "others may see the good you do, and praise your Father in heaven." Matt. 5:16

Dear Lord, I ask you for help, not only for me but for others as well. Please grant them all their wishes, and I ask you to help me through every exam I'm going to have. I thank you for creating the world and everyone in it. Amen.

Dear God,
I am praying to you for you to help me in all my exams. I am very grateful for you helping me in all the exams that have just passed. Thank you very much. Thank you God for helping my little baby cousin get through his transplant and get discharged from hospital. My whole family were very thankful. Thank you very much.
Amen

Dear God,
Please help my nanny get better as she is very very sick at the moment. Can you also help my daddy... Thank you for helping me get into Fortwilliam and make such wonderful friends. Help me all the way through Fortwilliam and further. Thank you.
Amen.

Dear God,
Can you help me through the school years.I would like to pray for my papa because he is quite sick and help my mum get through it because she is worried about him. Thank you for helping me through the school year so far. Keep all my friends and family safe!
Amen.

Dear God,
Can you help me to do well in school and get good marks in school tests?
Thank you for getting me into Fortwilliam and making good friends. Amen

Dear God,
Please help my daddy who has arthritis to get better soon.
Also can you help my mummy who isn't quite well.
Please help her make a recovery.
Amen.

Dear God,
Please help my granda and all the other grannys and grandas in the world who are ill.
Take care of them and give them strength and good health.
Lord hear us!

God, you are amazing. I pray for all the people in Haiti. For the doctors and nurses and hope all the people are okay. I would also like to pray for both of my friends' brothers' - one of them has severe kidney and heart problems and the other has severe back problems.

Amen

Dear God,
I would like to pray for my brother and my puppy dog and also my dear mother. She has to look after my brother because he was not well but thank you God for getting him a kidney transplant.
And I would like you to help my Auntie because she needs a lung and heart transplant.
Thank you God. Amen!

Dear God,
I want to pray for the people of Haiti. They have been going through a tough time lately.
Please help them find shelter, food and aid.
Lord hear my prayer.
Amen.

Dear God,
I would like to pray for all those who are in need like people that are lonely sick, or suffering in ways that people can't get food or medicine care.
I would also like to pray for people in 8c who have intentions that they are worried about.
Lord hear my prayer.
Amen.

Dear God,
Please help my mum because last week and this week there have been four people who have died who my mum knows so could you please help her get through these sad occasions.
Thank you God for my loving family and all my friends.
Amen.

Dear God,
Please help my granny get well soon because she is in a very bad condition at the moment. She is strapped down to a bed and if she moves too much she could get paralyzed. Please pray for those who help her and I thank you for them also.
Amen.

Today's was about God who cares and shows us love.
Jesus is alive outside and in.
Jesus loved and never sinned.
I love my family and my family loves me
I have faith which you can see.

God is always there. To prove, we say a prayer!
He's special in his own way and is there for us everyday.

If I was drowning

Jesus would swim
And save me from
This nightmare I'm in.
Jesus is gentle.
Jesus is kind.
A heart in Jesus
You'll always find.

Jesus loves you,
Don't worry, it's true!
Even if you do wrong
He'll always be with you.

Jesus has an ear
Which will always be near.
The light will shine
on everyone.

Friends are faithful.
Reliable friends are the best.
Important are friends!
Everlasting love they have. They
Never turn away.
Don't stop believing
Should they ever go astray.

Together we work, together in groups,
Eating, drinking, laughing, having fun.
Always wanting to help.
Making and sharing ideas.
We enjoyed all of this day.
Opening your heart to people is important,

Reading and sharing everyone's opinions,

Knowing we had a wonderful day. Can we come back another day?

Who is God?

God is the one we turn to each day.

He's there for us when we're down or not okay.

We can share our feelings with Him and He will not tell.
If we're confused or unsure what to do,
God will be there to guide us through.
Everything will get back to normal.

Quiet in meditation
Unique in every way
Amazing everyday
Listens to you
In good times and bad
Talks to you when you're sad
Interesting personality
Excellent at being a good friend
She always sticks with you.

Dear God,
Please help the people in haiti and make them have hope and faith.
Please fill all their needs. Let them try to see a good life ahead of them.

Give them strength to be happy and help them to build the strength of their loved ones.
Lord hear us.

Restful and fun

Enjoying all the fun activities

The yummy trolley full of sweets we all enjoyed

Relaxing, respecting and meditating

Ever respecting Christ

Arriving we were nervous, but our confidence was built.

Thanks to all wo helped us and to our teachers for arranging the day.

If you've been watching the news lately you would probably know about the earthquake in Haiti, and how it's the worst earthquake to have hit Haiti in over 200 years. Many people have died. We remember them in our prayer.

Having fun all day long has been enjoyable for all.

A very good day we have all had. No-one is now sad.

Playing games is very fun. We took our turns, one by one.

Praying with the music. It was lots of fun.

You have all been happy on retreat.

Thanks to everyone who arranged this. It was a wonderful treat!

Let these remain among you!