The Novena to St. Oliver is promoted by the Parish of St. Peter, Drogheda. The resource includes a theme for each day along with a prayer and a short commentary based on each theme. It is suggested that it could be used this year from 23^rd June leading up to the Feast on 1^st July. Alternatively, a Triduum could be held from Monday 29^th up to the Feast on Wednesday 1^st. Such a Triduum would coincide with the reopening of some of our churches for public Mass. The commentary (first paragraph of each daily theme) is optional and may be used as an added resource for each day or as a basis for a homily. The St. Oliver Festival Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Michael Router at the National Shrine of St. Oliver in Drogheda on Sunday 5^th July at 4.00pm and will be accessible by St. Peter’s Parish website, http://www.saintpetersdrogheda.ie (St. Peter’s Church webcam). 

Download for use.

St. Oliver Novena 2020

Resources_including_Mass_of_St._Oliver

Checkout this for information

St Oliver Plunkett – Martyr and Peacemaker

The Story of St Oliver Plunkett

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Join Declan in praying the Jesus Prayer for our world, and all its People as we cope with this pandemic.

The Jesus Prayer is an ancient Christian Prayer form, based on the words of the Blind Man asking for help from Jesus.

Traditionally you begin it by repeating the Phrase often in the presence of a Holy Icon.

Jesus is reputed to have lived for 33 years on this Earth.  So it is repeated 33 times.

This practice was used in the very early Christian Church and was a favourite of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in Egypt.

I believe it was used even earlier back as far as the time of the Apostles.

It is sometimes known as ” the Prayer of the Heart”.  What starts in the mind slowly deepens from the head into the heart or soul.

It is a very powerful way to pray.  Please try it. Some people use it with prayer beads or ropes with 33 knots.

This is not essential.  Sit and join me and allow God to fill your heart with His peace.  God Bless you.

Many will be in lockdown living with family members.  This is not always easy.  The lovely prayer attributed to St Francis is a way to help us live in these unusual times.  We are each called to try to be true instruments of peace as we follow the example of Jesus our Master.  Join Declan in praying this lovely prayer. Indeed it might become a family morning and night prayer.  Don’t go to your rest in an angry mood.  Make peace.  God Bless and love you  .

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

PSALM 8  A PRAYER OF APPRECIATION FOR THE GIFT THAT IS CREATION

Many of us who are isolating are spending time walking or working in our gardens if we are lucky to have one.  Perhaps a byproduct of this prolonged time in isolation is a growing awareness and appreciation of the beauty that God surrounds us with each day.  Perhaps we have taken this gift for granted in the past busy lives we led.

Take a few moments to pray with Declan as you view this video.

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PRAYING BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT FOR OUR WORLD AND ITS PEOPLES.

Join Declan in praying for ten minutes before Jesus The Bread of Life.

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This prayer uses Holy Scripture from the Gospel of John and also the Litany Pope Francis used at His prayer during the Holy Week Urbi et Orbi message and Prayer this year.

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PRAYING WITH THE BLESSED TRINITY ICON. 

Declan explains this wonderful Holy Icon, a copy of the famous Rublev Icon and prays with it.

The core of Christianity is the belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Take 10 minutes to pray before this lovely icon.

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SMA RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES  and SCHOOLS DURING THE PANDEMIC

This programme gives families of every kind the opportunity to become stronger by working and reflecting together. The programme consists of four sessions and the resources here will guide you through each of them. Any family can participate, the family in the home, in the classroom or school or community group.

https://sma.ie/family-tree-programme/

_{Session 1. OUR FAMILY: ROOTS} 

_{Session 2. OUR GROWING FAMILY: TRUNK}

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Below are some resources we wanted to make you aware of:

Attached is 24/7 Prayer’s resource for helping young people to pray that we highlighted on the call. Thanks to 24/7 for developing this!

We highlighted a resource called Rock Solid TV made by Youth For Christ. It is brilliant and you can find out more at the below link!

https://resources.yfc.ie/

https://ireland.alpha.org/online

Scripture Union Ireland have just launched a part of their website called SU+ where they have been releasing fantastic resources. Link is below

https://scriptureunion.ie/

COVID-19 Praying with Young People[1]

The writers of the senior cycle RE programme The Backpack have recently added these “relaxation tracks” to their website.  There is a shorter and a longer form – You can access them at the following link:    https://thebackpack.life/pages/relaxation-tracks

Messenger Publications – The following message has been forwarded by Donal Neary S.J., editor of the messenger of St. Anthony:  “The Messenger is still being printed and distributed monthly. However, some may find it hard to access it. Thus, we are offering a free digital subscription for three months. If you would like to receive this, please send an email to c.henry@messenger.ie, with message digital.”

Messenger publications can be ordered at www.messenger.ie/bookshop.

PERSONAL HELP

Sr Deirdre McKenna RSM who is a social worker with the Southern Health Social Care Trust in NI along with her colleagues has created some helpful short videos on helping to respond to living and dying issues during the current COVID-19 situation. From the videos I have watched, these are very good resources and I commend them to you. The following link will take you directly to the video clips: https://learningzone.niscc.info/storage/adapt/5e96d384c8b6f/index.html#/.

Teacher Welfare – Some practical and timely advice for teachers during this difficult time.

https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Announcements/teacher-wellbeing-self-care-during-the-covid-19-coronavirus-school-closures.pdf

… and for the students

https://www.unicef.ie/stories/coping-with-exam-postponement/

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Emotional Wellbeing during the Covid-19 Pandemic – Video

In conjunction with Fr. Dermot McCaul, SMA, the diocese has produced a short video on emotional wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The video is intended to offer guidance around issues of emotional wellbeing and mental health during these times.  It also gives some sound and practical advice on how each of us can navigate these challenges and indeed flourish beyond this period.  Fr. Dermot suggests five daily actions and activities that can help:

1. Reduce and limit Media and Multimedia interaction
2. Exercise Daily
3. Make time for daily prayer
4. Develop and maintain a daily routine
5. Whilst honoring social distancing protocol engage with family and friends

The video can be accessed at the following link:

https://youtu.be/f8jX-f0QcH0

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A good read to cheer you up

‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ is a beautiful, illustrated, heartfelt book filled with characters each of us can relate to in some fashion. The conversations held between the Boy, and the friends he finds along the way, are a reflection of truths many of us have forgotten — how to be gentle to ourselves and others. How to love without limit. (Author: Charlie Mackesy)

Also Read

HOPE FOR THE FLOWERS by Trina Paulus.

“How does one become a butterfly,” Yellow asks pensively. “You must want to fly so much That you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

Susan has shared the Fully Alive Texts in digital form as PDF .  You may find these helpful to draw upon.

You can put the Fully Alive books upon their VLE’s. Also Workbook and Activity Book for each year

You can download these from here

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Fully Alive 1 screen res

Workbook

Activity Book

Fully Alive 2 screen res

FullyAlive2Workbook

FullyAlive2ActivityBook

Fully Alive 3 screen res

Fully Alive 3 Workbook

Fully Alive 3 Activity Book

All teachers may find the following a help ……

36 Online Lesson Plans with embedded links to Other Resources, e.g. YouTube links, Songs etc.

GSR in the Classroom.  This site hosts excellent lesson plans, encompassing good discussion questions, stories, testimonies,  scripture passages, suggested actions, links to Youtube clips and concluding prayers on the following topics:

Lent (6 lessons)
Environment (6 lessons)
Human Trafficking (6 lessons)
Migration (6 lessons)
Race Relations (6 lessons)
Vocations (6 lessons)

Each lesson follows Tom Groome’s approach of going from life to faith to life.  There are also great cross-curricular links within RE and with other subjects, e.g. geography, business, history.

Everything you require for a lesson (some could cover two class periods) can be found in one downloadable handout (pdf), which you can email to your students pre or post-lesson if you wish.  Links to YouTube clips are also embedded further limiting demands on you.  There is also a teacher guide for each lesson (clearly written by an experienced teacher) but given your own formation and experience as an RE Teacher and the quality of each handout,  you may not require this.

To source these lessons plans, teacher guides etc. go to:  www.globalsistersreport.org/classroom

Checkout also   https://www.24-7prayer.com/videos

JUNIOR CERT RE  NEW BOOKS FOR CATHOLIC STUDENTS.   SOULSEEKERS  By Tom Gunning.

Do go on line a check these resources from Tom

Dear RE teacher,

We are aware of the increased pressure on RE teachers at this particular time to gather resources for their students. Accordingly, we have decided to provide free access to the resources on our Soul Seekers website: www.soulseekers.ie . Please find the details below:

Email: soulseekers2020@veritas.ie

Password: SS2020Veritas!

This year our Annual Religious Education Teacher Community will meet on Tuesday 23^rd June in St John the Baptist College, Drumcree, Portadown.

This Annual Gathering has proved to be very successful in helping to meet the personal, spiritual and professional needs of teachers of Religious Education in our Archdiocese.  It also affords an opportunity for RE teachers and HODs to build networks for support and to exchange ideas and resources.  Being part of this community helps build a strong sense of support, belonging and identity.  We hope to commence at 9.45 am with Taize Lectio based Morning Prayer,

Full details can be downloaded here.

Annual RE Community Day 2020

Reply slip 2020

Our Annual Armagh Community Day Programme

9. 45 am           Arrival & registration    (Declan )

10. 00 am          Taize Lectio Morning Prayer   (Declan)

10. 40 am           Coffee break

11.00  am            “Living the Gospel as RE Teachers”     Mrs Joan McCombe

12,15. pm             Pure in Heart      Marie Cummins and team

1.00 pm                Lunch break    (Light Lunch Provided)

1.50 pm               Sharing resources and issues.

( Bring 15 copies of one resource you used and found good )

2.10 pm            “ The Fifth Gospel  –  Learning from the  Holy Land itself ”

. Fr Paul Clayton Lee.

3.30 pm               Evaluation and Closure.

I really hope as many of you as possible will come along.

I realise the Co Louth schools will be on Summer Holiday by then but maybe a few may make it north to join us all.

“Lent,” Pope Francis said, “is a time in which to turn off the television and open the Bible.”

During his teaching for the weekly Audience the Pope reflected on the 40 days spent by Jesus in the desert as He prepared for His public ministry and said that, in a sense, it is a time for us to imitate Jesus and seek a place of silence, where we are free to hear the Lord’s word and experience His call.

“In the desert one hears the Word of God,” he said, “one finds intimacy with God and the love of the Lord,” noting that Jesus taught us how to seek the Father, who speaks to us in silence.  For many of us, it is not easy to be in silence as we live in an environment that is “polluted by too much verbal violence,” by so many “offensive and harmful words” which are amplified by the internet “ Lent is a time to disconnect from cell phones and connect to the Gospel,” he said.

“It is the time to give up useless words, chatter, rumours, gossip, and talk and to speak directly to the Lord,” he said, it is a time in which to dedicate ourselves to an ecology of the heart.

Following on from our CSW Tree planting and Sprout Pencils now is a chance to get more involved in saving our Planet  Mother Earth. .

THE SMA LAUDATE TREE PROJECT.

The Laudato Tree Project is Ireland’s contribution to the Great Green Wall – an incredible global initiative to plant 8,000km of trees, spanning 13 countries, right across Africa and to establish a mosaic of greened areas in the Sahel region south of the Sahara.

While the trees you help us plant in Africa will combat the destructive impact of climate change, we must also practice what we preach. So, as a statement of intent that we are serious about tackling climate change and meeting our own greenhouse targets, your generous donations will also help plant trees in Ireland – a country with one of the lowest forest coverage levels in Europe.

The Laudato Tree – Be part of something amazing

Also

Game Changers | Trócaire

These 22 groups of young people, their teachers and Trócaire staff then came together to enjoy a hugely energetic and colourful event. On the day, the judges were wowed by the standard of gameplay on show but the final say on who took home the title went to the entrants themselves.

‘Children are hope’ – a new book by Pope Francis aimed at children.

I Bambini sono speranza (Children are hope) is the of a newly published children’s book composed of short and simple statements by Pope Francis that encourage sharing, acceptance and love.

Another book aimed at young people owes its origins to extracts from Pope Francis@ letter Christus Vivit.  Called “CHRIST IS ALIVE” £1.50 copy

Pope Francis calls all those aged 16-30 to throw themselves into life, to love, to create community, to care for our sisters and brothers who suffer, to build a better world and get involved as Jesus did.

Chapters include the following topics

The booklet is produced by Synod Fruits.

Check out this https://www.synodfruits.org.uk/#resources  You can order online.  Much more fascinating resources to be gleaned on this website.

Lent approaches as February passes.

Pope Francis tell us all

“Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the faithful friend who never abandons us. Even when we sin, he patiently awaits our return; by that patient expectation, he shows us his readiness to forgive.”

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Watch Utube video  WHAT IS LENT ?

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also check out  Utube video  ” LENT IN THREE MINUTES “

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Some more resources you may find helpful with your classes.

LENT 2020 an overview

Stations-of-the-cross-Assembly

Year-group-Reconciliation Sacrament 

50 things to give up for lent

Teachers-Notes-for-A-Lenten-Garden

Along_the_Lenten_Road

Ash Wednesday Prayer Service

School Liturgy for the Distribution of Ashes

Introduction to a Christian Seder

Stations for Armagh Archdiocese

STATIONS OF THE CROSS Large

Donna kindly sent me this

Dist of Ashes 2020

Lent Board from Roisin

Lent idea from Donna

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Watch this uTube video of their time together.

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