Catholic Schools Week 2017
Thoughts for Each Day
Monday:
Today is the first day of Catholic Schools Week 2017. This year we are learning with Pope Francis about caring for our common home. Our common home is not just the community or the country we live in, but our entire world. Caring for our home is so important that Pope Francis wrote a letter to remind everyone about our responsibility to love and care for the earth. Today we think of the beauty of the world that God created for us. Our world is a gift from God. From the shining sun to the twinkling stars, the deep blue seas and the snowy mountain tops, God made it all. From the colourful flowers to the beautiful animals, God made it all. We can see the beauty of God’s world all around us if we stop and look. When we take time to see the beauty of our world we can learn how important it is and we can remember to thank God for the beauty of his creation.
Lord, help us to always see the beauty of our common home. Together we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father…
Tuesday:
Today we are asked to think about how we can care for our common home. God gave us the earth and the earth gives us many gifts which help us to live. It gives us water, food and energy. It gives us so much to help us care for ourselves, but Pope Francis asks us to think about how we can care for the earth. We can try to use only what we need and try to live our lives in ways that help the earth. We can do this by recycling, wasting less water and caring for plants and animals. The care we give the earth shows God how much we love him and the beautiful home he has given us.
Lord, help us to care for our common home. Together we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father…
Wednesday:
Today is Grandparents’ Day, and we are asked to think about how our grandparents have watched over our common home, just as they watch over us. Our grandparents can play a special role in our lives. They can be very important teachers who show us how to love, how to be caring and how to share. They can teach us about the past and about the importance of our common home and how to cherish it. They can teach us about the beauty of God’s creation and help us to learn to care for it as we grow.
We thank you Lord for our grandparents, help us to be thankful for all they teach us. Together we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father…
Thursday:
Today we think about how we can protect our common home. God has entrusted us with the care of the earth. We can protect and care for our home in all we do each day; for example, by reducing our rubbish, recycling and using the resources of our world carefully. We pray that God will give us the courage to make changes in how we treat and use the resources of our home so that every creature on earth can see the beauty of his creation and come to know their responsibility to be a steward of the earth.
We pray that we may all work to protect our common home. Together we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father…
Friday:
As Catholic Schools Week comes to a close we are asked to think about how we can share our common home. Our world is a gift to all who live here: the people, the animals and the plants. Our world is not always shared equally: there are people who have no home, no food or water; people forced to leave the place they live because of war, natural disasters, famine or drought; plants and animals treated cruelly. In the letter he wrote to us, Pope Francis told us that ‘we must share with others’. This reminds us of the words of Jesus, who told us to love one another, to be kind and caring. To show God how much we love him and how thankful we are for the home he has given us, we have to work to share our home equally with all who live here.
Lord, help us to share our common home. Together we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us:
Our Father….