Day 1 – Head
On the first day we will be looking at a piece of scripture, trying to gain some knowledge and a deeper understanding of Christ’s message. As before, the parts in bold should be read by a student each day, with achievement points available for doing so.
We begin our prayer this morning with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Today we are going to hear some of the Gospel from Sunday’s Mass. This reading comes form Matthew’s Gospel which talks us through Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, O Lord.
‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.
‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
In this scripture it talks all about forgiveness and the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness allows each person to be able to move on and feel freed from the predicament at hand that can often feel like a weight of each persons shoulder. Forgiveness can be challenging especially when you feel as though you have been wronged, however, in order to be truly forgiven yourself you need to ensure that you are forgiving others just as your Father in heaven would do.
‘And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
What does Jesus want us to take from the passage above?
Has there ever been a time when you did not forgive someone when you should have?
How can forgiveness help and allow us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps?
Let us ask God now to help guide us and be with us in times when we might find it hard to forgive or follow in what he teaches us as we say the Our Father:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen
We end our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Day 2 – Heart
On the second day of the week we focus on our hearts. How can the scripture that we looked at yesterday impact our lives, and the lives of others? What themes can we draw from the scripture?
We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Yesterday we looked at forgiveness and the impact that forgiveness can have on us all. Jesus taught us that we should always forgive and that, in order to be forgiven ourselves, we must start by forgiving those around us when they have done wrong.
The lyrics in this song speak all about asking God to guide us in forgiveness. “How do I forgive? How do I let go? Teach me Your ways, My forgiving Lord” – these lyrics show clearly that the path to forgiving someone is not always easy and it can feel hard to just ‘let go’ but with the power and help of God we can get through it and find our strength, all we need to do is ask for help.
We will now give Glory to God for always being with us every step of the way and guiding us on our path to forgiveness as we say the Glory Be:
Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without End. Amen
We end our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Day 3 – Hands
On the final day of the week we try to put into action the things we have learnt and reflected on previously in the week, hence the hands link!
We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Over the past couple of days we have been looking at Matthew’s Gospel which explains the importance of forgiveness. In this scripture Jesus explains that in order to be truly forgiven ourselves we must be willing to forgive those around us too.
‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times. This passage explains how no matter how many times we have forgiven before, we must be prepared to forgive again in order to follow Jesus’ teachings.
Today you can spend some time discussing ways that you can forgive others around you and how you think this will benefit yourself as well as those that are being forgiven.
Once you have your ideas please leave your thoughts down in the comment box below!
Today to show the respect and forgiveness we have for all those around us you are invited to offer the Sign of Peace. Let this be a symbol of your ability and readiness to offer this forgiveness to the people around you.
We will now end by praying the Our Father together:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen
We end our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
We now know the importance of forgiveness, and will attempt to make forgiveness a priority in the coming week at school.
This passage tells us Jesus wants us to forgive people like He forgives us. When we need to be forgiven He always forgives us, but we don’t always do the same.
Jesus forgave people who did wrong so we should too. Jesus died on the cross so that our sins would be forgiven, so we should offer forgiveness too.
We found the song quite touching. God helps us to find forgiveness when it seems impossible.
“forgive those who trespass against us”
forgiveness should be a process.
We can forgive others by moving on in our lives and try to forget about what happened.
We can simply forgive by accepting apologies.
We will give people who wronged us another chance
Prayer for this person. Prayer for them to pray and seek forgiveness. Evangelisation.
Benefit – we’re more at peace and calm.
Say sorry.
Be kind to them.
Talking to God to help us to forgive the other person.
Talk to the person, help them reflect.
Try to understand why the other person did the things we have forgiven them for.
Be welcoming to that person.
Don’t hold grudges.
Ways we can forgive others:
– Saying I forgive you
– Do something nice with or for the person who you forgive
This tells us to forgive others the same way we want to be forgiven when we do wrong.