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.