EDC Denominational Schools In-service October 2013

1. EDC Denominational SchoolsIn-service October 2013 A journey in prayer: This is our faith

2. Aims of the day • To reflect on why and how we pray • To examine the place of prayer in the spiritual journey of all human beings • To deepen awareness of how prayer is developed through the cyclical planning of TIOF • To explore how we can deepen children’s understanding of the place of prayer in their life

3. Why do we pray? Group discussion Feedback to the whole group

4. A journey in faith – Teacher’s role • Evangelisation to Catechesis:- katechein = to teach - Instruction in basic beliefs of Christianity - Formation in all aspects of Christian life e.g. community living, moral living & prayer • Relevance in today’s society: - God’s grace at work in all people’s lives - theological concepts make explicit what has been felt at a human level

5. Teacher’s Role • Nicholas King SJ • The task of a Catholic educator is to preach the Gospel, and if in the everyday business of educating you are forever making it clear that children and teachers and parents are all an important inconvenience, whom you nevertheless have to pacify if you are to maximise the turnover of your business, then you will be telling them all that the Gospel is not true.

6. A journey in faith – Teacher’s role • Awareness of spectrum of faith: ‘Students will surely have many different levels of faith response; the Christian vision of existence must be presented in such a way that it meets all of these levels, ranging from the most elementary evangelisation all the way to communion in the same faith.’

7. Nature of faith development • Response to the Father’s invitation to communion with God. • Influence of Holy Spirit, people make this response to the Word embodied in the Sacred Scripture and in Church teaching. • Assent to the Trinity – personal and community

8. Nature of Faith Development • Fides qua – personal search:Coming to God • Fides quae – Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition Coming from God As a teacher how would you create a faithful class?

9. Why do we pray? • Prehistoric man – Prayer as ‘magic’ • Image ‘The Sorcerer’ – Les Trois Freres, French Pyrennes

10. Why do we pray? • Ancient Greece – Complex Pantheon • Asking for favours through prayer and sacrifice • Public and private prayer • Public prayer formula - Promise of votive offering in thanks

11. Why do we pray? • Ancient Rome – contractual agreement • Powers resided in natural & physical objects, overlooked by a deity • Man could influence these by symbolic action • Ritual and prayer – strict routines(one slip and you started again) • Prayer mostly for material benefit • Had to be careful to appease the Gods – they could conflict with each other

12. Why do we pray? • St Augustine of Hippo:‘We need not pray for what we need because God already knows what we need before we even ask’‘The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive the gift, which is very great indeed

13. Why do we pray? • Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may be holy.Act in me O holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is Holy.Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is Holy.Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I may always be Holy.

14. Why do we pray? • Pope Benedict:‘Life with no prayer has no meaning or points of reference’‘It is in fact in Jesus that man becomes able to approach God in the depth and intimacy of the relationship of fatherhood and sonsship’‘we must learn to pray, as if gaining back the art’

15. Why do we pray? • Pope Francis:‘our dialogue with God is of a precarious nature…’‘If we never sinned, then loving God and responding to God’s word would be something natural for us.’‘it is precisely after original sin is committed that God asks the question, “where are you?” and so begins the history of this dialogue we call prayer.’‘Our ability to seek out, discover, define, and orient our mission, comes to us and grows in us through prayer

17. Pause and pray • Why do I pray?Listen to the story of Martha and Mary(Luke 10:38-42) Think of a phrase from the reading What does it say to you?

19. Prayer and faith • Hours of God – explicit and inherent • Trinitarian – we pray to the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit • Response to God’s love and God’s call • Liturgical prayer in central to our faith – personal/community‘it is very much the wish of the Church that all the faithful should be led to take that full, conscious, and active part in the liturgical celebrations.’ (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14)

20. Prayer and Faith • As a community of faith we are nourished by prayer: Liturgical prayer Divine office Reading scripture Prayer to Saints • Habit of prayer • Prayer is an inner attitude, a manner of being in God’s presence (ccc 2558-2565)

21. Prayer and Faith • Prayer embraces all aspects of our lives • The Lord’s prayer is the most perfect of prayers • Through the Rosary we ask Mary our Mother to intercede with us • We honour the Saints and ask them to intercede for us.

22. Prayer and faith • ‘To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well.’ (Spe Salvi, para 32)

23. Faith Prayed • Examine E&O and Core learning for your stage • Think about the prayer experience that could lead from and enhance learning • Plan a prayer experience for the children at this stage. • Share with the bigger group

24. Let us pray: Mary our mother you are the great intercessor, who takes all our pleas and our needs to your Son. Help us to place all our trust in you so that we may be open to the graces of Our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN

25. All Sing: As I kneel before you. As I kneel before you Hymn As I kneel before you,As I bow my head in prayer,Take this day, make it yoursand fill me with your love.Refrain:Ave Maria,Gratia plena,Dominus tecum,Benedicta tu.All I have I give you,Every dream and wish are yours,Mother of Christ,Mother of mine, present them to my Lord.(Repeat Refrain)As I kneel before you,And I see your smiling face,Ev'ry thought, ev'ry wordIs lost in your embrace.(Repeat Refrain)

26. A reading from the Gospel of John John 2 Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!

27. Litany of Mary our Mother

28. All sing: Immaculate Mary, our hearts are on fireThat title so wondrous fills all our desire.Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!We pray for God’s glory, may His Kingdom!We pray for his vicar, our father, and Rome.Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!We pray for our Mother, the Church upon earth,And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth.Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!

29. Let us pray: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God,that we, your faithful,who rejoice in the name and under the protection of the most holy Virgin Mary,may, by her loving intercession,be delivered from all evils here on earth and be made worthy to reach eternal glory in the life to come.Through Christ our Lord. AMEN

30. Bring Flowers of the Rarest Hymn Refrain:O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.Bring flowers of the rarestbring blossoms the fairest,from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;our full hearts are swelling,our glad voices tellingthe praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!RefrainTheir lady they name thee,Their mistress proclaim thee,Ah, grant that thy children on earth be as trueas long as the bowersare radiant with flowers,as long as the azure shall keep its bright hueRefrain