The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2025 is Catholic Schools: Alive in Christ. As we look forward to celebrating Catholic Schools Week 2025, the month of November offers us a moment to remember and pray for the Holy Souls. In November we remember and pray for those who died hoping in the promise of the resurrection. We also pray for the happy repose of the souls of all of our loved ones who have gone before us. During the hustle and bustle of school life, this resource gives schools the time and space to remember that the sorrow of death will give way to Christ’s promise of eternal life with God.
“Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way, he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” – Pope Francis, Christus Vivit, Section 1.
“Dilexit nos – He loved us” – Encyclical of Pope Francis
Prayers and Reflections based on “the Human and the Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ” are available on www.pioneers.ie
Information note for parish newsletter editors:
These prayers and reflections will launch on 1 November 2024.
They have been prepared for
Pioneers, Parish groups
Families,
Religion Teachers (Primary & Secondary)
University Chaplaincies,
AA / NA groups
Two versions of 16 x 9 image for Parish websites is also included
If you wish to be notified of updates, please contact prayer@pioneers.ie
NATIONAL RESOURCES FOR CSW 25 Click on links to access and download
Irish Bishop: Catholic schools follow the example of Jesus, serving all regardless of faith, creed or social background
Jan 18th, 2025 ICN Article
‘Saint Patrick on Croagh Patrick’ artwork created by Explorer’s Class in Knockrooskey National School, Westport, Co Mayo, for 2024 Catholic Primary Schools Management Association competition: Irelands Got Saints!
Source: Irish Catholic Media Office
Across the island of Ireland, from tomorrow, Sunday 19 to Saturday 25 January, the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week will be marked by parish communities. During this dedicated week, school communities will pray, explore and discuss the 2025 theme Alive in Christ!
Next week, on each day of Catholic Schools Week, there will be a specific thematic focus: Service in Our Community of Friends; Service in Our School Community; Service in Our Family Community; Service in Our Local Community; and, Service in Our Faith Community.”
Bishop Tom Deenihan, Bishop of Meath and chair of the Council for Education of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said, “Grounded in the dedication to service of their communities, Catholic schools continue to set a high standard in the provisions of education.
“This is the result of the dedication of all in the school community: pupils, parents, staff, parishes, and those who volunteer to serve on Boards of Management. Christ the Teacher provides the example and sign of what it is to be fully human, to be fully alive, and our schools endeavour to model the education that they provide on this example.
“Generations of people have benefited from Catholic schools and our society is all the better for their contribution to the common good. Our schools, following the example of Jesus, serve every person regardless of creed, background, faith, social status or age,” he said.
During this special week, Catholic schools will explore the meaning of Pope Francis’ introduction to Christus Vivit, “Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life.” This year’s theme complements Jubilee 2025, where Pope Francis calls on Catholics to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, contemplating what it means to be fully alive as a human being – living life to the full in Christ.
Sensitive to the age-appropriateness of the various classes and years, the CSW theme will explore how we exist for one another in Christ, building from the wellbeing of the individual, extending the notion of true wellbeing to others, to our families and communities, and to the Other, in God. The 2025 theme will mediate on hope, the true purpose and meaning of human life, and, in the more senior years, on true freedom. The theme connects with Grandparents’ Day next Wednesday during Catholic Schools Week, and correspondingly with the subject of family in schools at post-primary level.
Each day’s CSW resources offers scriptural reflection on prayer, action, student voice, and concern for our common home, and these are available HERE.
Countdown to Jubilee Year 2025 in Ireland and in Rome
By ancient tradition, a Jubilee Year of the Church is called every twenty-five years, and Pope Francis has announced that the theme for the Jubilee/Holy Year 2025 is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ (Spes non Confundit – Hope Does Not Disappoint). This theme encourages each of us to be messengers of hope in our very troubled world.
Pope Francis wrote ” In this time of preparation, I would greatly desire that we devote 2024, the year preceding the Jubilee event, to a great “symphony” of prayer. Prayer, above all else, to renew our desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to him and to adore him. Prayer, moreover, to thank God for the many gifts of his love for us and to praise his work in creation, which summons everyone to respect it and to take concrete and responsible steps to protect it. Prayer as the expression of a single “heart and soul” (cf. Acts 4:32), which then translates into solidarity and the sharing of our daily bread. Prayer that makes it possible for every man and woman in this world to turn to the one God and to reveal to him what lies hidden in the depths of their heart. Prayer as the royal road to holiness, which enables us to be contemplative even in the midst of activity. In a word, may it be an intense year of prayer in which hearts are opened to receive the outpouring of God’s grace and to make the “Our Father,” the prayer Jesus taught us, the life programme of each of his disciples.
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