After months of writing, film and editing, CJM has rolled out the first part of the first module of Teach us to Pray – a series of video courses on different aspects of prayer and liturgy in the context of a Catholic school.
This accessible and practical resource draws on more than 25 years of experience working with young people to bring the liturgy to life, while staying deeply rooted in the tradition of the Church.
Jo Boyce writes: “We hope it will help give confidence and inspiration to RE Leads and Lay Chaplains especially, but have designed it to be accessible for all staff who want to contribute meaningfully to the prayer and liturgical life of their schools.
“It’s very much a work in progress, of course. But most of module one is available right now and you get instant access to that when you sign-up at: www.cjmmusic.com/teachustopray
If you’re not directly involved in the life of a Catholic school yourself, it is very likely that you know someone who is. So please pass this information on if you can. And please keep this project in your prayers. It’s a BIG vision, which is calling on A LOT of time and resources.
Hard to believe we are coming close to Ash Wednesday and Lent 24 !! I will attach resources for teacher and student use in the days ahead. Do share anything you find or write yourself and I will share it with the RE community out there! If you check back to earlier years there are many very good reusable resources on the blog already. I posted and delivered copies of the “Catechist February Edition” and a copy of “Celebrate Lent” and also “Lent Extra” both from Redemptorist Publications to our schools last week. Will drop to Dundalk Schools this week.
Here’s a link to St Vincent’s Dundalk liturgy for Lent… we recorded it and students watched in classroom Hope you enjoy! Conor
ICN Newsletter today has this analysis of the Message of Pope Francis for this Lent 2024.
Lent is a time of conversion and freedom
Feb 5th, 2024
Source: Vatican News
In his message for Lent 2024, Pope Francis invites the faithful to “pause” for prayer and to assist our brothers and sisters in need, in order to change our own lives and the lives of our communities.
“When our God reveals Himself, His message is always one of freedom,” Pope Francis says in the opening of his Message to the faithful for Lent 2024.
Recalling the Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt, the Holy Father explains that our journey through the desert can be a season of grace – not an abstract journey, but a concrete path that involves seeing the world as it is and hearing the cries of our oppressed brothers and sisters.
The Pope insisted on the need to counter a “globalization of indifference.” “Our Lenten journey will be concrete if… we realize that even today we remain under the rule of Pharoah. A rule that makes us weary and indifferent. A model of growth that divides us and robs us of our future.”
At the same time, Pope Francis reminded us that it is God who takes the initiative. Too often, he said, there remains within us “an inexplicable longing for slavery,” a desire to cling to idols that paralyze us, as Israel was paralyzed in the desert.
Lent, however, is a “season of grace, a time of conversion,” where the desert can become “a place where our freedom can mature in a personal decision not to fall back into slavery,” where “we find new criteria of justice and a community with which we can press forward on a road not yet taken.”
He added that the Lenten journey involves a struggle. It is a time for action, the Pope said, but also a time “to pause” – to pause in prayer and to pause “in the presence of a wounded brother or sister.”
“Love of God and love of neighbour are one love,” Pope Francis continued, explaining that “the contemplative dimension” of Lent can help us “release new energies,” to be “more sensitive to one another: in the place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers.”
Pope Francis concluded his Lenten message on a hopeful note: “To the extent that this Lent becomes a time of conversion, an anxious humanity will notice a burst of creativity, a flash of new hope.”
Calling on the faithful to “be ready to take risks,” he invited them “to find the courage to see our world, not as in its death throes, but in a process of giving birth; not at the end, but at the beginning of a great new chapter of history.”
“Faith and charity,” he said, “take hope, this small child, by the hand. They teach her to walk, and at the same time, she leads them forward.”
The Holy Father’s full text (on two printable pages) is attached. Senior Classes might read and discuss his message applying it to their own lives.
Ash Wednesday is fast approaching and CAFOD would like to invite you to join them as we all seek to make space and time to draw closer to God and our global family through reflection and prayer this Lent.
This year, as part of their reflections on one of the readings of the day, CAFOD will be sharing the stories of people from a fishing community in Liberia, as well as a daily prayer and suggested action you might like to take.
Join this journey by signing up for CAFOD’s daily Lent emails.
United Methodist Ed Foundation offers a Lent resource to download and use.
Lent is an important time in the Christian calendar to prepare our hearts and minds for Jesus. The 40 days of Lent 2024 (not counting Sundays) begin on February 14, Ash Wednesday, and end on March 30, the Saturday before Easter. This time represents the forty days Jesus suffered in the wilderness, enduring temptations and remaining close to God through fasting and prayer. This unimaginable time of trials and suffering is what prepared Jesus to carry out His ministry.
Am sharing Lectio & Taize Prayer Resources for the Sundays of Lent. Senior Students might enjoy a 40-minute Lunch Taize Prayer with a Chant and opening prayer followed by reading the Sunday Gospel and concluding with the Lord’s Prayer and another chant. See below.
Seasonal Articles From the Jesuit Spirituality Website
Preparation for Lent By Becky Eldredge Before Lent begins, turn to Jesus and ask, “What is the grace you desire to deepen within me over these next 40 days?”
How to Prepare for Lent By Vinita Hampton Wright How do you prepare for Lent? How have you prepared in the past? What are your ideas about what should happen during Lent?
Letting This Lent Be God’s By Marina McCoy What if this Lent we didn’t approach the practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting with an eye to what we can do to transform ourselves, but rather with an eye to what God wants to do in order to transform us?
Discernment in Making Lenten Plans By Vinita Hampton Wright How can we choose our activities or practices for this Lenten season? We can apply some Ignatian wisdom by asking several questions.
A Blessing and a Curse By Andy Otto Otto posits that Lent is a chance to grapple with the paradox of the cross as blessing and curse.
Walking Through Lent with the Risen Christ By Rebecca Ruiz If we invite the risen Christ into our journey through Lent, we might have an even deeper experience of the season.
A Time to Experience Emotion with Jesus By Gretchen Crowder Crowder wonders what it would look like if we considered Lent to be a time to experience emotion with Jesus.
Humility in Lent By Marina Berzins McCoy How can we try to make humility a practice this Lent?
Tilling the Soil of My Heart By Rebecca Ruiz Ruiz is gardening in the garden of her heart this Lent and invites readers to till the soil of their hearts too.
The Consequences of Seeing By Loretta Pehanich This story is inspired by John 9:1–41, the healing of the man born blind, and Mark 10:46–52, the healing of Bartimaeus.
Connecting with the Stations of the Cross By Kerry Weber Weber shares how she connected with the Stations of the Cross in this excerpt from her book, Mercy in the City.
Unlock the Stations of the Cross, Examen-Style By Gary Jansen Jansen shares steps derived from the Examen to help unlock the Stations of the Cross in a practical, contemplative, and reflective way.
The Language of the Cross By Joseph A. Tetlow, SJ Tetlow explores the idea that Jesus’ Passion brings us to embrace the world as it really is.
Come as You Are to Jesus By Rebecca Ruiz Jesus doesn’t demand perfection and is waiting for you this Lent.
A Patient Lent By Marina McCoy Lent invites exercising patience. We can bring to God the troubled parts of life and our tendencies that are less than holy, and ask God to tend to them.
The Anima Christi During Holy Week By Marina McCoy Many of the lines of the “Soul of Christ” prayer resonate with Passion Week, as the poem reflects on Christ’s body and spirit.
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