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Youth of Limerick Online - Youth Ministry Magazine for the Diocese of Limerick
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Youth of Limerick OnlineYouth of Limerick OnlineYouth of Limerick Online A huge fáilte to you all! This magazine is a new initiative of the Diocese of Limerick Youth Ministry Team (aka Chris, Aoife and Paul!) It contains information and photos on recent youth ministry events, and details of upcoming events as well as prayer ideas,
jokes, competitions, letters to God, letters to Sr Concepta (our resident agony aunt) and lots, lots more!
11 April 2014 Issue No:1
“On January 12th 2014 the following eight transition year students; Molly Johnson, Alan Costelloe, Matthew O’Neill, Eimear Nelson, Mark Long, Emma Cosgrave, Niamh Mulhall and Aoife Nelson took part in the Limerick
Diocesan’s leadership programme called Anois. The programme is run over two weeks and Castletroy College took part in the first week along with Doon, Laurel Hill, St. Clements and Gael Choláiste Luimnigh.
We set off Sunday evening on a bus heading for St. Patricks College Thurles along with 32 strangers who we were going to be spending the week with. Little did we know then that these people would turn into friends for
life. The minute we arrived we were met by Fr Chris O’Donnell, Aoife Walsh and our leaders who would become our mentors and family for the week.
Each school picked a name for their group for the week; ours was “The Trojans”. Every now and then teams competed against
one another in activities such as egg drop, spud challenge and straw and pin towers. To do these challenges we would go off to
our breakaway rooms with our three leaders, Gearoid, Kate and Siobhan. Some amazing memories were made in this room. Each
breakaway session was filled with laughter and fun.
The week involved different ac-
tivities which included team-building, leadership, trust, com-
munication and listening exercis-es. To get to know everybody, every day we had different games, icebreakers
and the all exciting secret friends. Each evening included activities such as the all-time favourite Anois style quiz, Anois idol, Anois Olympics and our nightly sing
song. It is hard to capture with words how truly amazing and inspiring this week was.
Often we were pushed outside our comfort zones but with unbelievable sup-port and encouragement around us we put our fears and doubts behind us
and got stuck in. It was a truly unforgettable experience and we will treasure the memories for the rest of our lives. We would like to like to thank our school
and in particular Mr Griffin for this fantastic opportunity.”
The Castletroy College students (aka The Trojans) returned to school
with an idea for a project that they thought would help people in
their community. Their idea was to hold technology classes for el-
derly people to teach them how to use mobile phones, ipads,
Skype and other new fangled technologies. Last week they had
their first class and it was a wonderful success. As well as teaching
people how to use mobiles everyone stayed for a cup of tea and a
chat afterwards. Well done to the students and to Mr Griffin, Mr
Flanagan and Castletroy College for supporting and encouraging
such a great idea. Keep up the good work guys!
The Anois Students from Scoil na Tríonóide Naofa in Doon, Co Limerick have also
been busy with their Anois project. They have had wristbands made which com-
memorate the life of Alan Feeley, a teacher in their school who died suddenly last
year after a brain haemorrhage.
They are using the slogan #LiveLifeGiveLife because money raised from the sale of
the wrist bands will be divided between Organ Donor Awareness and the Donal
Walsh livelife foundation.
The colours they have chosen for the wristbands are navy and pink because he
was well able to carry off pink clothes and his club colours were navy.
Wrist bands will be sold for €3 in their school and in shops around Doon and Cap-
pamore and a fundraiser in memory of Mr Feeley will be held in August in UL.
Well done and congratulations to the Tríonóide Triangle team, Molly Buckley,
Róisín McKenna, Michelle Berkery, Mary O’Connor, Paddy O’Donnell, Ryan Lon-
ergan, Seán McMahon and Tadgh Whelan.
Thanks to everyone who attended our recent presentation day. We had a great morning playing games and
hearing about each others projects.
#sistaswag (Laurel Hill FCJ Secondary School) made the Tipperary Star!
(Thanks to Brian Curtin’s Granny Pauline!) They’ve also been baking, and
raised €351.45 for new school benches at a bake sale they didn’t tell us
about!!!
Acmelllo (Gael Colaiste Luimnigh) are taking credit for the Croagh Pat-
rick Pilgrimage. Although one of them thinks it’s called Croke Park!
Clemenems (St Clements College) held a fun table quiz for first years to raise money for the Serve trip to Brazil
which Shane and Sean will be taking part in.
CMATY (Colaiste Mhuire, Askeaton) had planned a project around their school hall however the recent storms
have damaged the hall so plans have had to be put on hold for now and they are busy looking at other ideas!
Naplara Crew (Ard Scoil Rís) are busy preparing for a mini anois day for first years.
Les Migonnes (Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ) are working on creating a “Positivity Wall” in their school which will contain
resources and support for positive mental health. They also hope to organise speakers to visit them in school and
talk about positive mental health.
Octocomp (Crescent College Comprehensive) have also
been very busy organising an anti-bullying week. They’re also
taking part in a cycle to the Aran Islands to raise funds to buy
equipment for St Gabriels School.
The Tiny Carmels (Scoil Carmel) had planned on raising mon-
ey to buy new computers for the school but unfortunately the
news about the school closure has meant that they’ve had to
rethink their plans and they are now hoping to print a school
year book for those finishing this year.
We had over 50 people at this year’s St Bridget’s gathering where we had
some icebreakers and made some St Bridget’s crosses. Everyone joined in to
create one big cross which Aine is holding in the picture below while James
looks on curiously. (Yes it does look like she’s using it to ward off a vampire at-
tack!) We also celebrated Michael O’Connor’s 18th birthday! Happy Birthday
Michael!
On March 17th we embarked on the hill walking journey of a lifetime; 26 of us travelled to Co. Mayo to take on Croagh
Patrick. (On Patrick's Day, how much more Irish can you get?) We left Limerick at 7.30 and used the time on the bus to
prepare for the climb of our lives ( and to have a ferocious song battle!) The climb itself was easy in comparison with the
song battle on the bus! I’m kidding, it was actually a really tough climb and we needed many, many, many rest stops
on the way up. Morale was kept high with renditions of “Ain't no mountain high enough” and other classics.
Some very pious (crazy) people tried doing the
climb barefooted but were advised by our medi-
cal experts to “put on your darn shoes”. After
many hours the group finally reached the summit
and what better way to celebrate than by hav-
ing Mass! After being refreshed with a good mass
at which Michael O’Connor earned his second
cap as a Eucharistic minister the group headed
back down the mountain.
On the way home waiter of the year Diarmuid
Bucke managed to order Supermacs for all the
people on the bus which everyone thoroughly
enjoyed except a certain Muireann Bennett who
just wanted Ice-cream, which is apparently a Patricks day tradition in Tipperary. (???) Thankfully everyone got home in
one piece and a good day was had by all.
I told Chris that staying up all night to get the batter right would be worth it and it was! The pancakes
were delicious and if Chris wasn’t such a good priest I’d really think about sending him off to Master-
chef. Ably supported on the day by our commis-chef Paul McNamara the afternoon went off without
a hitch. We had some new faces, and some familiar faces and some old faces (that was Frank
O’Connor!)
In true Lenten Ninja style we also used the opportunity to get people to think about what they could
Give Up or Take Up for Lent and we had some interesting pledges. Thankfully they were anonymous
so we don’t know who said they were going to Take Up being nicer to Liam Mullane and who said
they were going to give up childhood! (I suspect that was Nicole Cooney who was 18 last Friday—
Happy Birthday Nicole!)
We also had a “Guess the number of paperclips in the Jar” Competition. Congrats to Aoife Ryan. We
owe you an Easter Egg!
Congratulations to Ard Scoil Rís on their recent victory in the Harty Cup Final and commiserations to
Doon CBS. We had former Anois students on both teams and were sorry not to be there to see the
game. Well done Ronan, Micheál, Michael, Colin, Paraic, Peter, Tadhg, Patrick and Tommy! We hope
we haven’t forgotten anyone!
Congratulations also to Niall Carmody who was elected president of the Mary I Student Union this week,
James Deegan who was elected Welfare and Equality Officer and won the very prestigious Presidents
Award! Well done too to Clíodhna Mc Coy who has been busy following in her sister’s footsteps and has
been elected entertainment officer. Slowly
but surely people, we are taking over the
world!
Commiserations to all Man-United Support-
ers, they really suck right now don't’ they! (If
this is still in the magazine then Chris didn’t
proof read this properly so I don’t feel a bit
sorry for him! LOL!)
we embarked on the hill walking journey of a lifetime; 26 of us travelled to Co. Mayo to take on Croagh
Patrick. (On Patrick's Day, how much more Irish can you get?) We left Limerick at 7.30 and used the time on the bus to
prepare for the climb of our lives ( and to have a ferocious song battle!) The climb itself was easy in comparison with the
song battle on the bus! I’m kidding, it was actually a really tough climb and we needed many, many, many rest stops
cream, which is apparently a Patricks day tradition in Tipperary. (???) Thankfully everyone got home in
While St Patrick is our patron saint we know very little about him. He was
born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is
believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. At the age of 16,
Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking
his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years
in captivity.
During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from peo-
ple. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a de-
vout Christian. After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped.
Upon his return to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a revela-
tion—an angel in a dream told him to return to Ireland as a missionary.
Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than 15 years. (Maynooth was
a doddle in comparison!) After his ordination as a priest, he returned to Ireland. Familiar with the Irish lan-
guage and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons on Christianity and so we
have stories about shamrocks, celtic crosses and bonfires. St Patrick had a great sense that he was far from
perfect and was amazed that God could use him in spite of his faults. God was not a distant figure for him but
someone who was very near, so near he could happily pray ‘Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ above
me, Christ below me’.
He was on fire with the love of God and couldn’t hide it. So much so, that he wrote “I cannot be silent” and “I
cannot hide the gift of God”. Maybe the best tribute we can pay to St Patrick is to trust that the gift of God is
not just in some of us but in all of us. Let’s not be silent and hide this gift, as it is only in the sharing of this gift
that we make this world a better place.
Pope Francis has been described as the young people’s pope and he has ex-
pressed his interest in trying to connect with young people and to relate to them.
Pope Francis even has his own official twitter account
which offer tweets almost daily. Here are two of my favourites…
Let us never lose hope! God loves us always, even with our mistakes and sins.
(Feb 22)
The Lord is knocking at the door of our hearts.
Have we put a sign on the door saying: “Do not disturb”? (Jan 13)
Hey Guys, as you know there’s nothing I love more than some good celebrity gos so I’ve been put in charge of the Celebrity Section. I was
going to do a whole bit about Chris and Gwyneth but to be honest I’m still too upset so instead I decided to focus on my other favourite ce-
lebrities - Pope Francis and St Patrick. (Yes, I know St Patrick isn’t exactly alive but come on if he was around today he’d definitely have
If you have 2 minutes this week or 1 minute and 59 seconds to be exact,
then get online and check out this You Tube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY
Jesus was walking along one day, when He came upon a group of people surrounding a lady of ill repute. It was obvious that the crowd was prepar-
ing to stone her, so Jesus made His now-famous state-ment, "Let the person who has no sin cast the first stone." The crowd was shamed and one by one began to turn away. All of a sudden, a lovely little woman made her way through the crowd. Finally getting to the front, she tossed a pebble towards the woman. Jesus looks over and says, "I really hate it when you do that, Mom." Q: Need an ark to save two of every animal? A: I Noah guy. A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this? Some kind of joke?” The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watch-ing." Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples”.
Jesus, be with me,
and don’t let me go.
And I hope this Lent
that my faith will grow.
You are with me always
When I’m happy or blue,
Help me this Lent
To be mindful of You.
May this little cross,
a sign of your care,
remind me today,
to love and to share.
Be with me always,
throughout this Lent.
As I try to become better,
And learn to repent.
Amen
If you haven’t heard it check out Jessie J’s song “Who you are”. The lyrics are lovely and
remind us all that everybody has insecurities but you should still be yourself. #bawling! Ed
Sheeran does a lovely acoustic version of it too.
Don't lose who you are in the blur of the stars, Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing
It's okay not to be okay, Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart.
Tears don't mean you're losing, Everybody's bruising, Just be true to who you are….
Sr Concepta is a member of a little known Religious Order called the Order of the Lovely Nuns of Jesus. Sr Concepta lives in a small convent in Calculasia but we’ve been lucky enough to have her visit us in Thurles on the Anois pro-gramme. (She is normally home raising money for left handed orphans in Janu-ary) Her common sense approach to life and words of wisdom made her our number one choice for agony aunt! So if you have any questions you can send them to us and we’ll pass them on! [email protected]
As this is our first edition we only have one letter this week...
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your lovely letter. I too am a shy and retiring type of character. I much prefer to sit quietly in the background and I
only give my opinion when asked for it but over the years I have had to learn to stand up for myself. For example when Mother
Superior said that we could all get rid of our habits and wear “street clothes” I said “NO, I’ll do no such thing!” After all if God
didn’t want me to wear a habit he’d surely have provided me with better hair?
I know too that it can be difficult to stand up to certain types of very opinionated people (or loudmouths as I call them) but you
must trust in yourself and you are right when you say that there are some subjects which are inappropriate and childbirth is defi-
nitely one of them. Apart obviously from the birth of our Lord, which is always appropriate. Thankfully, though, the evangelist
had the good grace to spare us the gory details and I’m sure if it was to happen again today you wouldn’t find Our Lady on “One
Born Every Minute.”
In relation to your specific problem I think it might be a good idea to raise your concerns at a staff meeting. You might be sur-
prised to find that other people in your office will be glad that someone has finally had the guts to say something and if th
doesn’t work write to the Bishop and he’ll soon sort it out. He’s a great friend of mine, ask him about the Trip to Tipp in 1988, oh
we had all the Holy LOL’s (little old ladies!).
But I do agree with you that inappropriate conversations are the curse of our time. People think that it’s fine now to talk abou
any thing they like and while you’re having a nice cup of tea someone might suddenly ask you how much money you have in
your bank account and what did you do with the money raised in the Christmas draw. If you ask me it’s questions like these th
cause most of the problems in the world today. I think it’s absolutely atrocious and perhaps with the help of Christian minde
people like yourself we can all come together to end all of this inappropriateness now!
God Bless you, Sr. C x
Dear Sr Concepta,
I hope you’re keeping
well. I really enjoyed
meeting you in
Thurles this year.
I hope you’ll be able to help me as I’ve
been struggling a bit recent
ly with a tricky situati
on at
work. There is someone in my office who is consta
ntly
making inappro
priate comments. I
’m quite shy an
d I get em-
barrassed rea
lly easily so
I find this ty
pe of thing v
ery diffi-
cult. Last week my co-worker started
a conversation
about
having babies
and proceeded to give a very graphic
descrip-
tion of the
whole process.
I was mortified! I’ve
tried chang-
ing the subjec
t but my foot
ball team aren’t
doing that w
ell
at the moment so
I don’t know
what to talk a
bout!
Please help,
Your friend Ch
ris
and I
only give my opinion when asked for it but over the years I have had to learn to stand up for myself. For example when Mother
God
ou
defi-
ists
ne
sur-
prised to find that other people in your office will be glad that someone has finally had the guts to say something and if that
, oh
bout
any thing they like and while you’re having a nice cup of tea someone might suddenly ask you how much money you have in
your bank account and what did you do with the money raised in the Christmas draw. If you ask me it’s questions like these that
cause most of the problems in the world today. I think it’s absolutely atrocious and perhaps with the help of Christian minded
In each edition we’ll post pictures from youth ministry events of years gone by. If you were
there and you know the people in the photo’s let us know. Correct answers will win a prize!
Also if you have photos from a youth ministry event that you were part of please email
them to us and we’ll use in in our next edition! It might be a nice surprise for someone’s
birthday!!!! ([email protected])
Every night in my dreams, I
see you, I hear you, that is
how I know you’ll go on......!
The 2010/2011 Diocesan Youth Project was called ‘Letters to
God’. The young people were given no limits and were simply
encouraged to write letters to God. The response to this project
was incredible. We received over 900 letters that contain the full-
ness of life as perceived by young people; their joys and their sor-
rows, their doubts and their beliefs and we felt that their genuine
questions and openness deserved a response.
We know that God has already heard the words these young
people have written as he knows our every thought and wish.
However given the breath and depth of the letters we received
we thought it might be a good idea to seek responses from some
of his faithful here in Limerick. We are in the process of putting a
book with all the letters and responses but in the meantime we
will print them here in YOLO.
Dear God,
Thank you that you gave me my little baby cousin, he is so sweet and kind, but I still can’t believe that you took away my grandmother from me. I think it’s not fair because she was only 57. She had half of her life in front of her and you took it away. I’m not proud of you and I’m not going to say sorry.
From a girl aged 13 - County Limerick
This week’s letter comes from a girl aged 13 and is responded to by Mary Sadlier. Mary is a retired sec-
ondary school teacher living in Fedamore. Mary is a mother and a grandmother and a great supporter
of youth ministry in the Diocese. Mary taught in Scoil Carmel in Limerick City for many years but like
many she is now busier than ever since she retired! We certainly appreciate her work on our behalf, in-
cluding taking on the role of Safeguarding Representative for her parish and still finding time to paint
lovely pictures for us! Mary’s outlook on life is that we’re “too blessed to be stressed.”
MyDearFriend,
IamsadthatyouaresoupsetaboutyourGrandmotherandIknowthatyourheartissoreandthatyoumissherverymuch.Yourgrandmothermissesyoutooandsheishappythatyouarenotforgettingher.
Sometimes,wethinkthatthenumberofyearsapersonlivesisthemostimportantthing.Itisn't.Themostimportantthing,thereallyimportantthing,ishowthatpersonlovesotherpeopleandislovedbythem.
YourGrandmotherlovesyouverymuchand,Iknowfromyourletter,thatyouloveherverymuchtoo.Thatisthethingyoumustremember,thatlovewillneverdieandwillalwaysbewithyoufortherestofyourlife.Youcanpasssomeofthatloveontoyourlittlebabycousin,thatwouldmakeherheartglad.
God
You know those questions you always wanted to ask about issues of
faith but were afraid to in case you sounded silly? Well here’s your
opportunity. If you have any questions (about faith guys, we’re not
telling you where babies come from again!) just email them to Aoife
or Chris and we’ll answer
them here for you. We’ll
start with one that some-
one asked last week at
the Pancake Party…
Thanks for your question. We do not give up things for Lent so that we can fit into a lovely new dress for Easter, although that might be a nice side effect of our Lenten fasting!
Ultimately Lent presents us with an opportunity, just like every season of the Church does. Whether we take the opportunity or not is up to us. Lent presents an opportunity to us to look at our lives and the ways in which we can become better and more loving people.
Making various sacrifices or taking up Lenten challenges will not just benefit us and others but might also help us to enter more fully into the liturgies of Holy week, which culminates with the highlight of celebrating the Resurrection of Christ at the Easter Vigil Mass.
The length of Lent (try saying that 10 times!) is to mirror the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert (when he gave up sweets, alcohol and Facebook!) Jesus dying on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice, a sacrifice made out of an overwhelming love for each of us. Our sacrifices, as well as preparing us for Easter and hopefully making us better people also in some way connect us to this supreme sacrifice of Jesus. Therefore giving up things or taking on things shouldn’t just benefit us, they should benefit others.
If you think about it, giving up sweets isn’t such a great sacrifice especially if you store up all the sweets that come your way during Lent and then have a massive sweet-fest at Easter! This really only benefits you (and your dentist!). However if you saved all your sweets and then gave them away your sacrifice will have had a positive effect on your own life and the lives of others.
So it is about seeing what we can give up or take up that makes us better and makes the world bet-ter for us while also knowing it can be a token to show God that we appreciate the sacrifice he has made for us and that we don’t take it for granted. And if at the end of Lent our sacrifices mean we can fit into a nice Easter dress that is a lovely bonus!!!
So what are you going to give up for Lent?
Why do we give up things for Lent? Is it so we’ll fit in�to that lovely new dress on
Easter Sunday?
All events require Consent Forms which you can download from the Muintearas Íosa Facebook page or
online at http://www.limerickdiocese.org/uploads/youth%20ministry/Muintearas%20Iosa%20Event%20BookingConsent%20%20Code%20of%20Behaviour%202014.pdf
What? Muintearas Íosa Easter Weekend
When? 18th to 20th April - Boland’s Meadows Foynes
What? Lourdes Newbies Gathering When? 12th April - Pastoral Centre 11am-1am
Lourdes Newbies and Oldies Gathering When? 17th May - Pastoral Centre 11am-1am
Lourdes Parents Meeting When? 29th May - Pastoral Centre 7.30pm
The parents meeting is just for parents! (The Clue is in the name guys!!)
What? Exam Mass When? 25th May - Pastoral Centre 6pm
You may have noticed that we have a lovely youth ministry logo on the
front of our magazine. We have to thank James Malone for this wonderful
piece of work. The original idea for the logo came from James and some
other young people in the centre who had been tasked with coming up
with an idea for a youth ministry logo.
As one piece the overall image brings to mind the image of our Lord on the
Cross and of course it’s important to remember that Jesus and his love for us
is at the heart of what we do. Individually the other elements also represent
important aspects of our mission and identity. The green of the “Y” or the
central cross is of course a recognition of our Limerick roots, while the blue of
the “M” marks the important place of Mary, especially in relation to Lourdes
as this is a huge part of our ministry to young people. (The green “Y” and the
blue “M” also stand for Youth Ministry” - ingenious right?!)
The flame while representing the light of Christ also has special significance
in its three layers, firstly there’s the connection with the trinity and secondly
there is the representation of the three fires of Muinteras Íosa, fáilte, fog-
hlaim, and guí which are the cornerstones of our work with young people.
James, thank you so much. We love you and thank God for your giftedness
(and patience!).
March 22 was World Water Day, which I’m sure you knew, but I didn’t! I was alerted to it by our friend Hannah
who works with Trócaire. She told me about Enestina, a young girl who lives in Malawi near the Kamboni river.
Every day Enestina and her family take water from the river. The water is dirty and it makes them sick but they
need it to survive. Twice each day Enestina carries 15 litres of water to her house which is a half a kilometre
away. She has to queue for the water and this makes her late for school which she hates because she loves
school and hopes to be a teacher when she is older. However, thanks to Irish support, Enestina’s life is about
to change. Trócaire are installing a water pump in her village which will bring clean water to her village for the
first time. I was really struck by Enestina’s story and have since discovered some very shocking facts about our
consumption of water. It also reminded me of the great work Trócaire do. You can check out Enestina’s story
yourself at http://www.trocaire.org/lent-story and don’t forget to support the Trócaire Lenten Campaign - put
some money in the Trócaire Box people!
Try taking the quiz below to see how much you know. Hopefully it’ll make you think about the way you use
water.
1. How much of the earth’s
surface is covered in water?
A) 50%
B) 60%
C) 70%
D) 80%
2. How much of that water is
drinkable?
A) 100%
B) 78%
C) 22%
D) 3%
3. How much sea pollution
comes from sources on land?
A) 12%
B) 43%
C) 65%
D) 77%
4. How much water runs to
waste if you leave the tap run-
ning when you brush your
teeth?
A) 0.5 litres
B) 1 litres
C) 5 litres
D) 15 litres
5. How long can people survive
without water?
A) Less than a day
B) Less than a week
C) Two weeks
D) One Month
6. How much new water is being
created on earth each day??
A) None
B) 200 litres
C) 2000 litres
D) 2 million litres
7. How much water are people in
Britain/Ireland using today compared
with 30 years ago?
A) The same
B) 15% more
C) 30% more
D) 70% more
8. In one day you flush more water
down the toilet than some people
in the developing world get in...?
A) 1 day
B) 1 week
C) 2 days
D) 2 weeks
Answers: 1:C 2:D 3:D 4:D 5:B 6:A 7:D 8:B 9:B 10: ABCD!!!!!
9. How much water do you use on
average every time you take a
shower?
A) 15 litres
B) 35 litres
C) 70 litres
D) 100 litres
10. What have you learned?
A) Water is vital to life
B) We use a lot of water
C) There is no new water being made
D) Water is too precious to waste
We recently had two wonderful retreats with the first year girls from the Salesians in the John Bosco
Centre in Milford Parish. The theme of the retreat was “Be the Change you want to see in the world”
and we used the prayer service below. The girls also created a wonderful sacred space with blue
cloths as the sea and yellow cloths for a beach. They even had a lighthouse, starfish and boats!
In the Name of the Father…
Opening Prayer: “If we all do one random act of kindness daily then we just might set the world in the right direc-
tion.” Give us the strength and courage Lord to make a difference, so that we might encourage those around us to make a difference too.
Opening Song “If you give a little love you get a little love in return” (there’s a great video for this on You Tube!)
Reading Gospel of Luke: “But I say to you listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those
who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much
again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, run-ning over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Starfish Story : One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up an-other starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…” It made a difference for that one.”
Song: World on Fire - Sarah McLachlann (Great video on You Tube about how much it takes to make a music vid-
eo and how the money could be more effectively spent)
Prayers of the faithful: • Lord help us please to follow the example of your son Jesus so that we can be people of light, courage, and
selflessness. Lord hear us… • Lord we pray for those who make a positive difference in our lives, our families, teachers, coaches, friends
and mentors. Bless them Lord and keep them safe. Lord hear us… • Lord help us to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most, those living in poverty and those
living in fear or isolation. Lord hear us… • Lord we pray for those who have died in Christ. Like starlight their memory shines for us daily and we pray
that they are at peace by your side. Lord hear us… • Lord we pray for Pope Francis and Bishop Brendan and other leaders in our Church; that their leadership will
continue to be a source of hope and inspiration for the world. Lord hear us...
We bring these and all our prayers to you Lord as we pray, Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Angel of God…
Closing Prayer and Blessing: We ask for your blessing today Lord, upon us and all those we hold dear. May we
take inspiration from those people who have made a difference in the world; Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Mother
Teresa (feel free to add more names or change these ones) and remember the words of Ghandi who said that we must be the change we wish to see in the world. Help us Lord to be people of light, people of joy and people of faith. Amen
Closing Song: Firework (Katy Perry) or Jesus on a boat!