A weekly privilege.
We are fortunate to be able to hold our weekly Mass in our Chapel every week. Each Form takes it in turns to organise the Mass by choosing the hymns, reading, serving at the altar, playing Music, taking up the Offertory gifts and, of course, composing and reading their own Prayers of the Faithful.
Today we welcomed Fr Liam from Our Lady of the Visitation, Greenford, to celebrate Mass for us. The first reading was from the prophet Daniel and spoke of how, during the Babylonian exile, the Hebrews Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship the gods of King Nebuchadnezzar. But then, to the king’s amazement he saw the results, ‘I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’ Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent his angel to rescue the servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own.’ God protected those who were faithful to him.
In his sermon Fr Liam explained that we are all precious to God and are all beautiful. We all want to be accepted – and God does accept us.
Last Wednesday, 14th March, it was the turn of Upper VA to organise Mass and their Bidding Prayers (Prayers of the Faithful) are an example of the beautiful prayers that the girls put together every single week.
As we near the end of our journey through Lent, we thought we would share these prayers with you.
‘We pray for the Church, that it continues to guide us in our faith. We celebrate the coming canonisation of Blessed Oscar Romero and we reflect with the Pope on the importance of mercy and love, as he reminds us to share the gifts that God has given us.’
‘We pray for our community, for those who are ill, hungry or struggling with loss. Help the homeless survive through the bitter cold and those living in extreme poverty. May we ask our Father to look after them and equip all of us to help provide for them and to tackle the root causes of homelessness.’
‘We pray for those who are suffering as a result of war in Syria and in the Yemen. May God bless them and may He hold them in the palm of His hand. May God help world leaders to end these wars and to care for the innocent civilians caught up in these conflicts so that we can all be good stewards of creation.’
‘We pray for our health and that Christ will be our light and guide us through the difficult times in our lives.’
