Opening Of The School Year Prayer Resource

Opening of the School Year Prayer Service – Catechetical Version

Theme: The Optimism of Youth and the love for learning

The long days of summer are now behind and another School Year begins and with it all the potential and promise that awaits each person who is awake. Optimism is the key to unlocking the great gifts that will present themselves each and every day this year. Are you ready? Is your heart open to being surprised? Seize the day!

Introductory Story Setting the theme: The Joy of Learning

We've all seen the images on the Trócaire boxes; the melancholic advertisements on our television screens 'disrupting' our viewing, and the celebrities like Bob Geldof and Bono campaigning against Famine and Drought. To be honest, it was with these images and a feeling of guilt that I volunteered to teach primary school children in Kenya. With these feelings I arrived in Kitengela school. What all these images fail to capture however is the fun, vitality and youth of Kenya. The looks of amusement when I turned around from the blackboard having set an essay title, or the apprehension displayed as they gnawed their pencils during a math’s test or the friendly greetings of Mzungu' from the locals. Nowadays, I don't look at the Trócaire boxes with pity but with optimism.

Mike Mc Donald is a medical student at U.C.D.

Student Leader 1: What does school mean to you? Maybe you’re like Harry Potter and love it. For some it is about having the ‘craic’ with friends. For others it is a huge academic challenge. For others again they don’t get a chance to love it, it is all they dream of. For this latter group, over 125 million of them, that is one girl for every seven boys in the developing countries, school is denied them. Yet, they yearn to have the opportunity to learn. Loving school should not be an unfulfilled dream and should not define you as a strange or marginalised person.

Leader 2: All children are entitled to the same rights; the right to an education is one right among many. In our world of the twenty first century this regrettably remains a dream and not a reality for too many children. They live in the darkness of injustice. We, in this school, are among the most privileged in the world.

Leader 3: Today we celebrate and thank God for the love of learning and for the great light that education is for us. Whether in school or not we are always learning. Our homes, our school and our community are the best places for us to be right now at this exciting stage in our young lives. Parents, teachers and friends want what is best for us. This is exactly what Jesus wants for us too. Therefore, home, school and our community are holy places when they look out for our good.

Leader 4: Being optimistic and being hopeful are synonymous with being young. This is the energy that makes school great. This is the energy of the Holy Spirit. It is positive, joyful and dynamic. Like Harry Potter we can have a great time at school. Like Jesus we must do what we can to bring the light of education to all of his children. But first we must grasp it for ourselves.

Hymn: Voices that Challenge: Emmanuel Collection, Dublin Diocese Sacred Music (We are the voices that speak up for the oppressed. We are called to hear the voices of the poor. We are the voice of God) Poem (play some Ethiopian music in the background quietly)

One in Seven Through the viewfinder I see clearly one girl. Surrounded by seven boys against an azure sky.

She’s clutching: one copy, one pencil, one dream, tentatively in her arms.

Proud, regal, eager to learn. Does she, this Ethiopian girl, see as I see?

That she is one in seven girls privileged, to go to school.

In our all-girls school at home. I see: copies, pencils, books, uniforms and lunches.

Discarded. often binned.

Two realities one world.

(Annette Kavanagh – In, TWENTY FIFTEEN, Thoughts and reflections on the Second Millennium Development Goal: Universal Primary Education).

A Good Story from China ‘One never loses an education’ Almost 5 million students a year fail to complete compulsory education on time. About 1 million children drop out of school each year because of poverty, particularly ethnic minorities and girls – and those girls who remain in education are often the victims of systemic gender discrimination, particularly in rural areas. The poverty of an area as well as the poverty of individual families is an obstacle, with many schools in China lacking the resources to provide more than two to three years of schooling. They are poorly equipped, often providing little more than desks and chairs, and their curricula are severely limited. Notebooks and writing materials, not to mention quality stimulating textbooks are often prized possessions for the lucky few with access to them… The students were all very dedicated to their education, rising at 6am for morning exercises before breakfast and class beginning, with supervised study after the day’s schooling ending only at 9pm. It was apparent in every one of my students that they prized their education, and considered themselves lucky to be getting it…Unable to go places in reality they went there in their heads. Bringing ‘fun’ into the classroom made us popular with the students, but it was remarkable how it never made education frivolous for them. It was too important to ever be that… one can never lose an education.

(Cathy Geagan teaches English in China. In, TWENTY FIFTEEN, Thoughts and reflections on the Second Millennium Development Goal: Universal Primary Education).

Scripture Reading:

‘Let the children come to me’ (Luke 18:15-17)

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

Song: (or read as a poem) "Greatest Love Of All"

I believe the children are our are future Teach them well and let them lead the way Show them all the beauty they possess inside Give them a sense of pride to make it easier Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be Everybody searching for a hero People need someone to look up to I never found anyone to fulfill my needs A lonely place to be So I learned to depend on me

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow If I fail, if I succeed At least I live as I believe No matter what they take from me They can't take away my dignity Because the greatest love of all Is happening to me I found the greatest love of all Inside of me The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future Teach them well and let them lead the way Show them all the beauty they possess inside Give them a sense of pride to make it easier Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

And if by chance, that special place That you've been dreaming of Leads you to a lonely place Find your strength in love

Shared Prayers (use symbols/art work for each prayer)

Thank you Lord for the gift of our summer holidays. It was a time to break free from the daily routine of school to a more liberal use of our time and energies. We thank you Lord for the time with family.

Lord, every day is a gift. Every school day is an opportunity to meet friends and to gain knowledge. Let us never lose sight of how blessed we are here in St.______.

Lord, we are expected to reach our fullest potential here in St. ______. This means more than academic achievement. It also includes our potential as athletes, as creative people and as people of faith. The highest expression of our human potential is as people of faith.

Lord, we are all different. We all have different intelligences and learn in different ways. This is a good thing as we are all unique in our own ways. Praise and thank you Lord for the gift of difference as it makes our school a more interesting place to teach and learn in. Lord, we pray especially for the students who will do the J.C and L.C. at the end of the year. Lord, may your Holy Spirit give them courage and the will to work consistently over the coming nine months.

Lord Jesus you were a teacher. For this reason we respect all teachers, our parents too. Lord, continue to be present in the lives of our teachers as they share their wisdom with us.

Lord, many children still are not given access to education, one in seven. This is a burden that all of us share. The world is not an equal place for all its members. Lord, we pray today that we may reach out in our own way, through the various activities our school does for the developing world, to try to make a difference, no matter how small, to those less privileged than we. A Word for the Teacher/Leader/Chaplain

Catechetical notes are included in this Prayer service. They are located along the right hand margin. They can be used in preparation to the service in class or, indeed, can be worked easily into the prayer itself.

The Prayer Service embraces the multi-cultural reality of modern school life and, while Christ centred, should be accessible to students of all faiths and none. Jesus is the advocate for all children, no matter what colour, race or denomination.

There is a strong justice theme running throughout. In doing this we are saying to the student that we are called to look out for the ‘other’, my neighbour. All people share a common humanity. Our humanity is a special mechanism for the divinity of Christ that can, if we allow it, reach all those we meet. Participation is a quintessential characteristic of any good school liturgy. There is plenty of opportunity here for students to take a role. As St. Francis said, spread the Good News. Sometimes use words.