People regularly count the ways in which the restrictions due to Covid 19, transforms lives and lifestyles. Some restrictions are helpful, some not so. Consider examples of restrictions related to travel, social life, family, work circumstances, leisure activities, educational opportunities, medical appointments, shopping, and those related to our spiritual lives. Human relationships and life are central to the restrictions. By default, the world and its people transitions to a new way of life. There is no return to the old.  Today a blessing God’s people will miss is the individual blessing of throats.

Yesterday, Candlemas day, the priest blessed the candles for use during the forthcoming liturgical year in the Church. Included in those candles were those that the priest uses to bless peoples’ throats on this feast.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St Blaise. Tradition states that before becoming a bishop he was a physician. The Church venerates St Blaise as patron of all who suffer from diseases of the throat. The blessing that the faithful receive in the Church today is a sign of our faith in God’s protection, love and healing for us and for the sick. In the ritual of blessing the priest uses two  blessed, crossed and unlit candles and places them on the throat of each person saying these words,

‘Through the intercession of St Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from all ailments of the throat and from every other evil [or from every disease of the throat and from any other illness]. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’

The fact that the blessing is communal and on webcam takes away from it’s personal dimension. Of course, it is good and helpful to receive the blessing in faith. The experience offers people an opportunity to reflect on the many blessings we receive from God through the priest each time we receive the sacraments. The priest or bishop administers one to one blessings in Baptism, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and The Anointing of the Sick. During the celebration, the priest blesses the bread and wine which becomes the Body and Blood of Christ. We receive the Body of Christ in Holy Communion.

There are also other occasions of blessing in life. At Mass or prayer time, we pray the Sign of the Cross and when the priest proclaims the Gospel, we pray the threefold sign of the Cross. We ask God to bless the food we eat when we say Grace before Meals. The priest blesses devotional objects using holy water from time to time.  He also blesses the dead during the prayers of the funeral rite using holy water and incense. Can you recall any other time of blessing?

A blessing is a sign of love. The psalm proclaimed at Mass today is Psalm 102. In it, the psalmist invites the listener ‘never forget all his [the Lord’s] blessings.’ The psalmist also invites them to ‘give thanks and bless his [the Lord’s] holy name’.

Therefore, we learn from God’s Word that God blesses each person and each one can bless God. In addition, in Psalm 148 the psalm invites all God’s creation to praise and bless the Lord. This is a dominant theme in Laudato Si’, Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis’ letter to every person in the world.

Let us receive the blessings of the Lord and remember to give thanks. Mary, Mother of God never forgot to say thanks for the great things that God did for her. She said thanks in her ‘Magnificat’ prayer.

Families who accompany their children in faith, hope and love will find very helpful resources on the Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé website including the Children’s Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé e-book.

Logon: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

PRAY:

• The Sign of the Cross/ Comhartha na Croise
• The ‘Magnificat’

ACTIVITY:  Write/ Draw your own prayer of thanks to God. Read it aloud.

READ: Psalm 148 from the Bible or from the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Children’s e-book

VIDEO:  Watch the video lyric of Psalm 148 (Grow in Love online resources, Fourth Class/P6) where the psalmist invites all creation to bless the Lord. How do the sun, the moon, the stars and the animals, insects and trees bless God? How can you bless God?

Sr Anne Neylon

When did you last light a candle at home, in church? In a time of celebration? A time of grief? A lighting candle can bring consolation, light and warmth to one who is grieving. A lighting candle enhances a meal, a prayer environment or an event. There are safety warnings around lighting candles. Sometimes one can only feel and see the darkness beyond the light. Lighting candles add joy to the birthday cake celebration. A candle when lit can bring hope and light.

The light on the Tower on the Hill of Allan was a beacon of hope in preparation for the feast of St Brigid. The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games.

Candles are a key feature of Church liturgies. The light represents Christ’s presence as the sacristan lights the candles on the altar for the celebration of Mass. The sanctuary lamp is continually alight in the sanctuary reminding God’s people of the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Children receive a Baptism candle when baptised, lit from the Paschal Candle. This light is a sign of faith for their lives, which enables and empowers them in their Baptismal call. On the first day of Creation God separated the light from the darkness.  He made the day and the night.

During this time of restriction when people cannot attend Mass or receive Holy Communion, they go to the Church to light a candle and pray privately.  People and families amble into the Church. They move from shrine to shrine and intercede with Our Lady, the Sacred Heart and the saints as they seek God’s protection and support.

On the 2 February, the Church celebrates ‘The Presentation of The Lord’. This day is also called Candlemas because the people bring their candles to the Church where the priest blesses them. It is significant that the Church celebrates this feast 40 days after the birth of Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world.  This is one of the Church’s oldest feasts, which the Jews celebrated in Jerusalem since the fourth century. This year with Covid restrictions, the Church will celebrate Candlemas differently.

The ritual that takes place generally includes a procession where the people process into the Church with blessed lighting candles. This takes place before Mass. In an antiphon, the priest invites the people to ‘welcome Christ the king’. He recalls Mary in the temple as she carried Jesus in her arms, ‘King of glory and new light’. He recalls Simeon who took the baby in his arms announcing him as ‘Lord of life and death and Saviour of the world’.

The Gospel (Luke 2:22-40) proclaimed at Mass today gives the account of Mary and Joseph as they presented Jesus in the temple. There they encountered Anna and Simeon. Simeon, on whom the Holy Spirit held up the baby, blessed God and said that Jesus was, ‘the light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.’

Today the Church also celebrates ‘World Day for Consecrated Life.’  The Church celebrates lives consecrated to God and prays for them. Those in religious life commit themselves to live their baptismal consecration through the practice of the vowed life. The baptism call invites people to respond to God’s love in continuing Jesus’ mission.

So today as God’s people celebrate this feast, God’s people go together to meet Jesus the light of the world. Jesus is the true light who comes ‘to enlighten the Gentiles and give glory to Israel, your [his] people’.  The Gentiles were those people who were not Jews.

Today also, the installation of Dermot Farrell as Archbishop of Dublin takes place in the Pro-Cathedral. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will rest on him as happened for Simeon and proclaimed in the Gospel (Luke 2:22-40), to guide and accompany him. In Dermot Farrell’s episcopal motto, he states that, ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord’ (Psalm 124). Let us trust in God always.

VERITAS PUBLICATIONS make the Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé online resources available to the public. Access is on the Veritas Grow in Love website:

Logon: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial @growinlove

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

Read: From the Bible or the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Children’s e-book read the Scripture of the ‘Presentation of Jesus in the Temple’ (Luke 2:22-40)

Pray: On your Rosary beads, pray the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Presentation in the Temple. The family might like to light the online Virtual candle from the dashboard of the Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé website

Chat: With your family, take time to chat about your Baptism and family Baptisms. See if you can find your Baptismal Candle at home and photographs of the celebration and ceremony

Art: Make a card for your godparents and ask them to pray for you or draw a candle and write on it, ‘Jesus is the Light of the world.’

Sr Anne Neylon

The world nationally and internationally annually recalls joyful and tragic historical events. Celebration and remembrance are important moments in life. Examples of such events are Armistice Day, Nine-Eleven, 1916 commemoration of the Easter Rising, International Holocaust Day, International Workers Day, Bloomsday.

Families also remember and celebrate events in life such as birthdays, anniversaries, the sacraments and achievements. How will people recall the pandemic?

The Church also celebrates the Liturgical Year, which begins annually on the First Sunday of Advent.  Every year, the Church publishes a Liturgical Calendar, which highlights the Liturgical seasons and marks each day as being so important in the spiritual life. The Church marks its Feast Days, Holy Days and days dedicated to different occasions and causes to remember for example, Catholic Schools Week, Day of Prayer for Temperance, Day of Prayer for Vocations, World Communications Day, World Day of Migrants and Refugees and others.

Pope Francis regularly writes about the holiness of the lives of the young saints. In his Apostolic Exhortation, Christus Vivit, Christ is Alive (2019), the Pope writes of ‘the young saints who devoted their lives to Christ.’ He describes them ‘as precious reflections of the young Christ’ whose ‘radiant witness encourages us and awakens us from our lethargy.’ (CV, no. 49).  He urges God’s people to ‘renew her spiritual ardour and her apostolic vigour’ by pointing to the lives of these young saints. (CV, no.50).

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St Brigid, born in Faughart, Dundalk in 454 and died in Kildare about 525. People identify her as Mary of the Gael. St Brigid was an Irish nun who founded a monastery for women in Kildare. With St Conleth, she also founded a monastery for men. She was renowned for her goodness and her love of God.  In Lisbon, the Church dedicated a chapel to her. God’s people also venerate St Brigid in St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Many schools and churches in Ireland are dedicated to St Brigid.

We celebrate St Brigid’s life each year by recalling legends associated with her.  Her stories are appealing and inspiring.  They show clearly, how St Brigid inculcated the Gospel values in her life through her openness, generosity, respect and her desire to share the Good News. People make St Brigid’s crosses from rushes or straws, have them blessed and hang them in their houses. There is a story told about St Brigid’s cross and the dying chieftain. Brigid spoke to the chieftain who was dying about God and he asked to be baptised.  Other stories relate to St Brigid’s Cloak, and St Brigid’s Well and another tells of her power of healing.

These stories, though they may not be historically true, relate to the Word of God proclaimed at Mass for the feast of St Brigid. Today the first reading proclaimed at Mass is from the Book of Job (Job 31: 16-20, 24-25, 31-32). Job helped persons in need, persons who were hungry, naked and homeless. Brigid spent her life doing acts of kindness and caring for others. She did this for her love for Christ.

The Gospel proclaimed at Mass today from Luke (Lk 6:32-38) quotes Jesus teaching on love. He teaches that to love is to have a compassionate, non-judgemental, forgiving and generous nature.  St Brigid shows these qualities in her life. We pray for these qualities in our lives also.

Families who accompany their children in faith today can read about the life of St Brigid, the legends associated with her, sing a song and engage with the interactive activities etc. They are available from the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé online resources including the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé e-leabhar that are accessible on the VERITAS website accessed at:

Website: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

Find: The legends about St Brigid in Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé e- book, (Senior Infants/P2, Second Class/P4, Fourth Class/P6, Sixth Class/P8)

Art: Draw a St Brigid’s Cross-or use straws or rushes to make one. Look at the video on the website www.growinlove.ie for instructions.

Search: Search on the web or newspaper for the tower on the Hill of Allen, Co Kildare that is lit up to celebrate St Brigid’s Day

Pray:

Paidir chuig Naomh Bríd

A Bhríd, a Mhuire na nGael,

A Bhríd, leathnaigh orm do bhrat,

Is coinningh faoi do threarmann mé

Go bhfaighinn bás i gcairdeas Dé.

Sr Anne Neylon

How does a child learn to trust? Trust is an essential quality in human relationships. A person learns over time and through human encounters of love within the environment of family and friends how, who and when to trust. Generally, a person trusts another until there is reason not to do so. It is desirable that each person grows in trust and love and is oneself a trustworthy person.

Psalm 36 proclaimed at Mass today during Catholic Schools Week 2021, invites and encourages God’s people to trust in God. The psalmist explains what is possible when one places their trust in God saying, ‘…you will live in the land and be secure…he will grant you your heart’s desire…trust in God and he will act…’

The gift of faith, received at Baptism and nourished in the sacraments helps us to place our trust in God. This is why the psalmist encourages listeners to ‘commit our life to the Lord,’ and ‘to trust him.’

In the Gospel proclaimed today (Mark 4:26-34) Jesus encourages a trustful waiting similar to the farmer who sows the seeds. The farmer waits night and day for the seeds to sprout and grow. He trusts they will grow but he waits patiently. Jesus also speaks of the parable of the mustard seed  ‘which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’

Throughout life, our desire to trust in God grows and deepens. It helps to read the Word of God regularly, reflect and pray.

St Faustina (1905-38) is a saint for our times. During her life, Jesus taught her a number of prayers. One of them is ‘Jesus I trust in you.’

Today in this celebration of Catholic Schools Week 2021, we pray that the communities of family, parish and school will trust God and one another.

The Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé resources are accessible online including the Children’s Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé e-leabhar. There you will find helpful resources.

Website: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

• Read the parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-32) from the Bible or from Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Children’s Book or e-book
• Read Psalm 36 from the Bible and sing ‘Trust in the Lord’ (video lyric, Grow in Love, Fourth Class/ P6/ I nGrá Dé Rang IV
• Find out more about St Faustina
• Thank someone in your family today for their trust
• Pray ‘Jesus, I trust in you.’

Sr Anne Neylon

Hope keeps peoples’ dreams alive during this time of pandemic as they continue to live through daily joys and disappointments. People long for schools to open, the vaccine to be administered, to go on holidays, go to Mass, to receive the sacraments, to attend a funeral or wedding, to have a child baptised, to play sports, go to theatre, cinema and 1001 more places. Hope is key to life. It is yet another gift from God.

The first reading proclaimed at Mass from Hebrews (Hebrews 10:19-25), today during the celebration of Catholic Schools Week (24-31 January 2021) instructs God’s people, ‘to keep firm in the faith we profess.’ God gives God’s people hope in the person of Jesus and they trust that ‘the one who made the promise is always faithful.’

The Church celebrates the memorial of St Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican priest. He influenced Church doctrine as a writer, a teacher of philosophy and theology. In one of his conferences he wrote about the crucifix, the cross on which Jesus died. This teaching is relevant for Catholic Schools Week as each Catholic School and classroom displays a crucifix.

St Thomas taught that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. He also invited people to look at the crucifix and reflect on what Jesus taught us from his experience. St Thomas Aquinas explains that Jesus showed charity by giving his life in love as a sacrifice to save us from our sins. Jesus showed patience when he didn’t complain about his suffering. Jesus showed he was humble when he willed to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die. Jesus showed obedience by doing what God asked him to do.  Jesus gave up his life on earth and all material things, even he was stripped of his clothes, as he suffered on the road to Calvary and finally his crucifixion on Good Friday

However, Christians believe that Good Friday is not the end. On Easter Sunday Jesus rose to new life in the Resurrection.  The Resurrection is our hope that Jesus is alive and present among us.

In Catholic Schools Week the communities of family, parish and school celebrate the hope that God gives us in Jesus. God’s people show gratitude by praying with thanks for this great gift of hope. We can make hope alive every day when we think of the great things God has done for us. We thank God. That is what Mary, the Mother of God did. Mary prayed the Magnificat, a song of praise in which she says, ‘The Almighty has done great things for me, Holy is his name.’

Today God’s people carry their crosses of anxiety, sickness, bereavement and suffering. Their hope is that they are not alone in their suffering. Jesus understands and is with them always.

VERITAS publications provide all the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé resources online including the Children’s Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé e-book

Website: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

• Pray the Act of Hope (Grow in Love Sixth Class/ I nGrá Dé Rang a Sé e-leabhar)
• Find out more about St Thomas Aquinas’ life
• Check out your Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé e-leabhar for the story of the Resurrection
• Take two strips of paper and make a cross. Write the words patience, love, obedience and humility. Colour the cross using your favourite colours. Hang it on the fridge or where the family can see it.

Sr Anne Neylon

Words such as care, love, support, kindness, tolerance, patience are so important to hear in this time of pandemic. What’s more essential is the action! Due to the fact, more people are staying at home, sometimes in overcrowded spaces families are living closer together. This brings challenges.  The world is educating itself to a new way of life whether people are aware or not. God’s people believe that God is present in every situation and brings hope. The communities of family, parish and school celebrate the spirit of faith, hope, and love during this Catholic Schools Week.

Today during this special week assigned by the Church, Catholic Schools Week 2021, the Church remembers St Angela Merici (1470-1540) who founded the Ursuline Sisters in 1535 in Brescia, Italy. She formed a group of women to teach poor girls to become good Christians. She wanted to inculcate the virtues of love and charity in this group of women she gathered. She said to them,

‘I ask you please to try to bring them up with love, with a gentle and kindly hand, not                 overbearingly or harshly. Try to be kind always. Notice what Jesus Christ says, ‘Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart.’

The Gospel proclaimed at Mass today tells of the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-20). Jesus teaches about the Word of God and the manner it takes root in a person’s life. Just as the seed falls in different places, somewhere it cannot grow due to bad conditions, in other places the seed thrives because of the nourishment it receives. God will nourish the Word in our lives as disciples if we take time to read the Word, reflect on it and pray.  The Holy Spirit will help us as disciples to follow Jesus’ way of love and kindness.

Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter on Fraternity and Social Friendship speaks about kindness saying, ‘…because it entails esteem and respect for others,  once kindness becomes a culture within society it transforms lifestyles, relationships and the way ideas are discussed and compared. Kindness… opens new paths where hostility and conflict would burn all bridges.

The Parable of the Sower is accessible online in the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Religious Education programme.

INVITATION

VERITAS offers all the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé resources on the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé website.

Website: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

• Thank God for all the kindness that you receive
• Read the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-20) in your Bible or in the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Children’s Book or e-book
• Do something kind for your family today
• Pray for the people in your family, in your parish and in your school that all may be kind to one another

Sr Anne Neylon

In this time of Covid 19 many children miss seeing their grandparents and vice versa. Social media platforms regularly relay such experiences and personal stories. However, as St Vincent de Paul once said ‘love is infinitely inventive’ and technology helps communication to continue. AN POST also continues its service to help keep intergenerational contact. However, nothing can replace face-to-face contact. The virtual hug is a poor substitute. Nevertheless, viewers’ hearts lifted when Aidan King appeared on the Late Late Toy Show with his family and introduced the virtual hug. What a true gesture of love.  Well done to Aidan! Aidan is still sending out those virtual hugs and so are other people.

This week (24-31 January 2021) as the world celebrates Catholic Schools Week; the Church celebrates the feast of St Timothy and Titus. Both men were disciples and co-workers of St Paul. Timothy accompanied Paul on his travels as he proclaimed the Good News. He was in charge of the Church in Ephesus. Titus was Paul’s messenger and he was in charge of the Church at Crete.

Paul wrote a letter to Timothy long ago, an extract of which the Extraordinary Minister of the Word will proclaim at Mass today (2 Tim 1:1-8). He wished Timothy God’s grace, mercy and peace.  St Paul in the letter said he thanked God for Timothy and remembered him in his prayers. He expresses gratitude for Timothy’s sincere faith, which first came to his grandmother Lois and to Eunice his mother.  Lois and Eunice handed on the gift of faith to Timothy. Paul advises Timothy to share the gift of faith saying ‘fan into a flame the gift God gave you.’ God’s gift of faith is ‘full of power, of love and self-control.’ He also instructs Timothy not to be afraid to witness to faith and love. Paul acknowledges how difficult that will be. He assures Timothy that he can rely on the ‘power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.’ The assembly will respond to the Word by saying, Thanks be to God.

The message in this letter is not only for Timothy but also for all God’s people. God gives the faithful the grace to live the gift of faith and to share it with others. We can thank God for this gift every day, which we received at Baptism.

The Liturgy of the Day every day, even on Saturday and Sunday connects with the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Religious Education programme for Catholic Primary Schools.

VERITAS offers all the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé resources on the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé website.

Website: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

• Thank God for the gift of faith and all other gifts
• Pray the Act of Faith (Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé, e book, Sixth Class)
• Read this section of St Paul’s Letter to Timothy in the Bible (2 Tim 1:1-8)
• On a map of Europe find Ephesus and Crete
• St Paul wrote letters to many of the Christian communities. Can you find these letters in the Bible? You will find extracts of these letters at all levels of the Grow in Love/ I nGrá Dé Usually God’s people hear an extract of one of St Paul’s letters read on Sunday at Mass.
• Families might like to talk about how Timothy’s Grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice shared faith with Timothy. How can families share faith today?
• Draw a picture of ways you can share your faith by praying and reading your favourite Bible story and showing acts of kindness.

Sr Anne Neylon

‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’

The Prayer of the Church offers God’s people this prompt today, ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’  God created heaven and earth and God’s help is always available to those who desire and seek it. Everyone needs help from time to time. During this time of Covid, people were never more in need of help. Sometimes a person needs to ask for help in a situation. At other times people take the initiative to help. In our relationship with God a person just has to believe and ask God in faith to help. God promises to answer our prayers in the way God sees best.

In his Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis entitled Chapter 5, A Better Kind of Politics. He explains ‘the development of a global community of fraternity based on the practice of social friendship on the part of peoples and nations calls for a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good’ (no.154).

In the Pope’s concern for the vulnerable he sees governments and politicians neglecting their needs, through unjust political structures and creating situations of poverty by ‘promoting an economy that favours productive diversity and business creativity.’ The Pope is always advocating for those who live in poverty because he recognises Jesus mission was to the most neglected and those who lived on the margins of society. He calls his disciples to continue this mission.

In the Word proclaimed at Mass today (Heb 2:5-12), the faithful hear that God appointed Jesus to be in command of everything. In the world we see that such a power of being in command of everything can be abused. God knows that the reign of God brings justice for the poor, the eradication of poverty, the dignity of the human person and the defence of human rights. God desires for all his children (God calls us children because we are heirs) to be with Jesus in heaven at God’s right hand. In order for that to happen they must go through the suffering as Jesus did on the cross. God saw it fitting that Jesus would die on the cross. By suffering, the Christian discovers the love of the Father for the Son. God called Jesus our Saviour and Redeemer.

In the world people experience suffering like Jesus did on the cross. Christians are asked to take up their cross as Jesus did. Suffering and the cross take different forms in life; maybe at this time enduring sickness or bereavement due to Covid, or when we feel rejected, ignored or slighted by people. God is always present in situations of suffering. Jesus knows our suffering because of his personal experience of suffering. He offers us a shelter in his heart and wants to give us strength in our weakness and comfort in our sorrow.

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) on his reflection on the Cross said that ‘the cross provides an example for every virtue…charity, patience, humility, obedience’ and love for discipleship.

In the Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé Religious Education programme at every level, families accompanying their children in faith can read Bible stories showing Jesus’ compassion towards people who were sick, suffering and those who experienced any form of poverty. Families can also read how Pope Francis and the Church teaching continually invites people to defend the dignity of every person by upholding human rights. Sometimes this did not happen in history and today human dignity is still not upheld as Jesus desires.

The Good News is that VERITAS PUBLICATIONS are granting free access to the Grow in Love series during this time of pandemic.

Logon: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

TO PRAY (from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé)

ST PATRICK’S BREASTPLATE

Christ be with me,

Christ be beside me,

Christ be before me,

Christ be behind me,

Christ be at my right hand,

Christ be at my left hand,

Christ be with me, wherever I go,

Christ be my friend forever and ever.

Amen.

LÚIREACH PHÁDRAIG

Críost liom.

Críost romham.

Críost I mo dhiaidh.

Críost ionam.

Críost ar mo lámh dheas.

Críost ar mo lámh chlé.

Críost I mo chuideachta is cuma cá dtéim.

Críost mar chara agam, anois go buan. Áiméan.

TO READ (from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé or the Bible)

Jn 19:26-27

Sr Anne Neylon

‘Let us come before the Lord giving thanks.’

Ordinary time in the Church Liturgical year doesn’t mean that life is dull and unexciting! The Word of God is alive and active and God is always saying something new to us giving us life, joy, hope and energy, even when we think times are bad. God loves us unconditionally.

As the Church begins Ordinary time, the faithful are urged today, ‘Let us come before the Lord giving thanks.’

For what can I give thanks today? I can thank God for family and people who love me, friends, food to eat, clean water, frontline workers and lots more. One way of saying thanks to God is to pray.

The Word of God proclaimed at Mass today (Hebrews 1:1-6, Mk 1:14-20) prompts God’s people to be thankful. For example we are thankful that God spoke in the past to our ancestors through the prophets. When God spoke to the prophets, God wanted them to tell the people how much he loved them and asked them to love their neighbour and treat everyone with kindness.

In later times and continuing today God speaks to us through his Son Jesus.  God appointed Jesus to inherit everything. God sent Jesus to show God’s love, compassion, forgiveness and generosity. God is love.

We are thankful that Jesus chose Simon, Andrew, James and John as apostles to help him in his mission.  These men left their jobs as fishermen, listened to Jesus and followed him. Jesus taught them how to proclaim the Good News, to teach the people about God’s love, to heal people and forgive sins.

Today God’s people are thankful that Jesus chose them as disciples to continue his mission of love and care. The Holy Spirit helps the disciples to pray, to love God and our neighbour.

Pope Francis always shows a spirit of gratitude.

The Grow in Love Religious Education programme for Catholic primary schools tells all about God and God’s love. It also tells about such prophets as Jeremiah and Isaiah. Yesterday, the Church celebrated the Baptism of the Lord. After Jesus was baptised he began the work that God sent him to do. You can read all about Jesus in the various levels of Grow in Love. At Mass we can hear many of the Bible stories from Grow in Love.

VERITAS PUBLICATIONS are granting free access to the Grow in Love series during this time of Pandemic.

Logon: www.growinlove.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION

TO PRAY (from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé)
PRAYER TO GUARDIAN ANGEL

Angel sent by God to guide me,

Be my light and walk beside me;

Be my guardian and protect me;

On the paths of life direct me.

PAIDIR CHUIG AN AINGEAL COIMHDEACHTA

A Aingil dhil Dé, cuir mé faoi do smacht,

Mar d’ordaigh Mac grámhar Dé ina

reacht.

Seas le mo thaobh gach am den lá.

Soilsigh is cosain is seol mé slán.

Áiméan.

TO READ (from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé or the Bible)

Mk 1: 14-20

Sr Anne Neylon

‘Indeed, how good is the Lord; bless his holy name.’ (Invitatory antiphon).

Covid-19 was an unknown virus when it first swept through the world, killing many along its path. Thankfully people also recovered from it. The world doesn’t have huge knowledge about the virus, though more is known now, than in previous weeks. To date, there is no vaccine available to rid the world of the virus, so citizens are cautious. Many continue to hope and pray as research continues. People are requested to be ever more cautious about maintaining physical distance, hand hygiene, wearing face masks, and cough and sneezing etiquette; now that restrictions are being lifted.

Contact among the general public was limited for months for fear of contagion. Countries found themselves in a new situation due to the lack of availability of medication for the corona virus. Slowly the world re-opens.

THE WORD OF GOD

Today’s readings from the first Book of Kings (2 Kings 25:1-12) and the Gospel (Mt 8:1-4) are proclaimed at Mass via the webcam or read from the Old and New Testament.

The Gospel (Mt 8:1-4) proclaims Jesus’ healing of a person with leprosy. The man suffered for many years with this condition. Leprosy consisted of a variety of skin problems. Its worst fact was that it isolated the person from family, friends and neighbours, because the disease was contagious. The man encountered Jesus as he came down from the mountain with his followers. He approached Jesus humbly, unsure of whether Jesus would take time to see him. The man bowed down before Jesus, showing his reverence for him. By saying to Jesus ‘Sir, if you want you can make me clean’ the leper shows his faith. He believes Jesus can heal him if he so desires. He is dependent on God’s compassion. The leper is trustful of Jesus and his mercy and in Jesus’ power.

Jewish law forbade touching such people. People with leprosy were quarantined from society. People avoided contact with them. Therefore Jesus was breaking all rules when he touched the man.

But Jesus was bigger than the rules and he was compounded by love and mercy and faith in God’s power. Jesus showed his compassion by saying these words in response to the man, ‘I want to, be clean again.’

Imagine how delighted the man felt that Jesus wanted to cure him?

Jesus noticeably refused to take advantage of the opportunity for publicity. Jesus is not interested in getting credit from others for what he has done. He abides by the Law of Moses by asking the leper to go and show himself to the priests and to offer sacrifice.

SEEK GOD’S LOVE IN THE GROW IN LOVE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

This Scripture provides opportunity to chat about the person of Jesus as a healer and his encounter with the man with leprosy.  Children are introduced from the junior classes to the miracles of Jesus. God worked through Jesus to heal the sick, make the deaf hear, the blind to see and the people who were lame to walk.

Disciples also are open to being healed by Jesus. This Sacred scripture shows the way for the disciple to approach Jesus for healing.

Children might identify being healed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation at which they are reconciled with God and one another.

Today the covid-19 experience might spring to the mind of children. They are aware of what it means to be isolated and being socially distant. They experience the challenges of such a situation and the way it impacts on daily life. There is a possibility that some children may feel anxious and fearful about leaving their house and family again as they listen to warnings on the media.

One of the verses from m the Bible that might be helpful and children will recognise is, ‘Do not be afraid.’  Jesus often spoke these words and children might recall them as they take a moment to reflect.

They explore the idea of the man approaching Jesus, bowing to him and encountering him. Children recognise that each time they pray they encounter Jesus. They can also encounter him in other ways through people and events. In prayer, children might choose to sit quietly in the presence of God or say a formal prayer. They might pray for themselves and one another; for the sick and for those who care for them; for those who are doing research to discover a vaccine; to ask for help for the people of the world to live a healthier lifestyle.

They might reflect on the fact that Jesus broke the Law in order to heal him.

Children recognise the trust the man placed in Jesus. He was in need and asked for what he wanted but he left the choice of acting to Jesus. Children might explore how the man might have felt if Jesus didn’t cure him. Would he have been angry? Or would he have felt more isolated? What might the man have said to Jesus?

The children might reflect on the requests they make on family and friends. How do they react when they don’t get something they want? When they do get something they want and ask for how do they react?

In fact, because Jesus had so many followers with him the man knew Jesus could have avoided him. His faith led him to know Jesus could cure him. Jesus was humble also in his approach. He expressed his desire to cure the man, ‘Of course, I want to.’

The man showed confidence in himself and Jesus, so his dignity was upheld. Jesus showed great love for this man. In the encounter it was the man that mattered totally to Jesus, not the crowds. The man knew that he was loved and that Jesus cared for him. The children identify with this love and care in daily life as they are loved by those who care for them. They can think about these people and ask God to bless them.

In curing this man, Jesus also obeyed the Jewish Law. He told the man not to tell anyone. He didn’t want to draw notice to himself by people giving him credit for what he had done. But he acted in accordance with the Law by telling him to go and show himself to the priests and to offer sacrifice.

Resources on the VERITAS website are available including the Children’s Grow in Love e-book to  support the teaching of the miracles of Jesus.

Logon: www.veritas.ie

Email: trial@growinlove.ie

Password: growinlove

INVITATION TO:

READ from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé

‘Jesus Cures a Leper’ (Mt 8:1-4), ‘God is love’ ( 1John 4:7-8), Psalm 18:2, Psalm 23, ‘Jesus Teaching about Prayer’ ( Mt 6:5-14), ‘jesus heals a man who was deaf’ ( Mk 7:32-5), ‘Jesus heals a man who was blind’ (Mk 8:22-25).

SING from Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé:

‘The Great Commandment’, ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, ‘Céad Míle Fáilte Romhat’, ‘Wherever You Go’, ‘Lay your hands’,

PRAY with Grow in Love/I nGrá Dé

SIGN OF THE CROSS

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

COMHARTHA NA CROISE

In ainm an Athar, agus an Mhic agus an Spioraid Naoimh. Áiméan.

ST PATRICK’S BREASTPLATE

Christ be with me,

Christ be beside me,

Christ be before me,

Christ be behind me,

Christ be at my right hand,

Christ be at my left hand,

Christ be with me, wherever I go,

Christ be my friend forever and ever.

Amen.

LÚIREACH PHÁDRAIG

Críost liom.

Críost romham.

Críost I mo dhiaidh.

Críost ionam.

Críost ar mo lámh dheas.

Críost ar mo lámh chlé.

Críost I mo chuideachta is cuma cá dtéim.

Críost mar chara agam, anois go buan. Áiméan.

COMMUNION RITE

INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION

Celebrant: Behold the Lamb of God,

behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

Blessed are those who are called to the supper

of the Lamb.

People: Lord, I am not worthy

that you should enter under my roof,

but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

DEASGNÁTH NA COMAOINEACH

CUIREADH CHUIG COMAOINEACH NAOFA

Sagart: Seo é Uan Dé, seo é an té

a thógann peacaí an domhain. Is

méanar dóibh siúd a fuair cuireadh

chun séire an Uain.

Pobal: A Thiarna, ní fiú mé go dtiocfá

faoi mo dhian,

ach abairse an focal

agus leigheasfar m’anam.

‘Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.’ (Benedictus antiphon).

‘Remember your mercy, O Lord; according to the promise you made to our fathers.’ (Magnificat antiphon).

‘ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth, if I remember you not.’ (Psalm 136:6).

From LAUDATO SI’, ‘A PRAYER FOR OUR EARTH’

‘O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. ‘. (Laudato Si’, no. 246).

‘O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.’

Sr Anne Neylon