morning prayers - faith in web viewmorning prayers, scripture analysis and. reflection questions....

Morning Prayers, Scripture Analysis andReflection Questions

StudentsYou are a most significant educational influence on each other.

We invite you to become active participants in the process of Catholic education. We urge you to bring your energy, enthusiasm and generosity to the task of building a Catholic community within your school and to shaping the vision of Catholic education. Your strengths and your weaknesses, your joys and your fears, your struggles and your searchings, will be welcomed in this community. Whatever your age, you are not too young to assume responsibility with and for your fellow students. You are a most significant educational influence on each other. You can help each other become disciples of Jesus Christ or you can hinder each other from becoming everything you are called to be. How you are with one another now, will significantly influence how you will be with others as adults. The future of the church and its mission of service in the world will be yours. For this, you will need courage, self-discipline and all the love you are able to give. Take up the challenge of growing into a sense of who you are as Christians, so that you can develop the talents you have been given and bring the best of yourself to the society in which you will be living. (Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, This Moment of Promise)

Depending on your school’s practice, these prayers can be used in a variety of ways. Some schools have daily prayer over the school intercom, while others invite prayer within the community of the classroom. Each day, schools are invited to offer their own prayers and special intentions, specific to the particular needs of their community of faith.

Each prayer emphasizes a sub-theme of Catholic Education Week. Following the daily prayers the gospel reading is broken open in a more fulsome way. Individual classes may choose to expand upon the prayer by delving deeper into the gospel that was proclaimed. Reflection questions have been provided for personal student reflection and/or to facilitate further classroom discussion.

You may wish to select one or two individuals per homeroom class, prior to Catholic Education Week, to serve as prayer leaders each day. These students could be trained by the school’s Chaplaincy Leader to facilitate a prayer experience within the classroom. The prayer leaders could serve to deepen an understanding of some, or all, of the sub-themes, by continuing the prayer begun in the morning and leading a deeper reflection, as suggested in the questions provided.

However you choose to use these prayers, scripture analyses, and reflection questions, there is plenty of room to experience the gift of Catholic education. In each corner of this province there are young people being shaped by their Catholic educational experience and exploring paths of joy!

A Note about the Structure of the Daily Prayers:

The Sub-theme each day represents one of the successive moments in the “Road to Emmaus” narrative from the Gospel of Luke, and in keeping with the liturgical structure of that narrative, is also connected with one of the elements in the Eucharistic liturgy, as follows:

Walking Together and Sharing our Story: Gathering and Penitential RitesOpening the Scriptures: Liturgy of the WordWelcoming Others to the Table: Prayers of IntercessionRecognizing Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread: Liturgy of the EucharistProclaiming the Good News: Dismissal Rite

Each day the Call to Prayer makes the connection between the narrative and the parallel part of the mass, as well as for the communities (families, consecrated men and women, and all baptized Catholics) whom we honour, and whose work we would like to remember in a special way on this particular day of Catholic Education Week.

The Contemporary Musical Interpretations offer an artistic way to engage the broad themes each day. Teachers may wish to look up the lyrics of each song and make connections to the Scripture passages. Songs and lyrics are easily accessed on the internet.

The Opening Prayer, addressed to Jesus, speaks with the voice of the individual student, asking for a particular grace or growth. These prayers lead into the Scripture Passage and are mindful of the group for which we are praying.

The Scripture Passages from Luke’s gospel tell the story of the Road to Emmaus as the week unfolds.

The Closing Prayers, addressed to God, the Father of Jesus and Our Father, are more expressive of the faith we share as a Catholic community. They call to mind the special events of this year in the life of the universal church: the Synod on the Family, the Year of Consecrated Life, and the ongoing call to the New Evangelization.

Each sub-theme is concluded with a citation from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, which reminds us how all these sub-themes are rooted in the New Evangelization.

These prayer liturgies are offered in the hope that they might strengthen our own faith during this special week as we celebrate Catholic Education: Exploring Paths of Joy.

MONDAY – WALKING TOGETHER AND SHARING OUR STORY

“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.”

Evangelii Gaudium, no. 1

CALL TO PRAYER At the beginning of the celebration of Catholic Education Week, we gather as a community of faith, in the same way we gather every Sunday to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. We come with our stories of joy and humility, of yearning and penitence. As members of the community of our family, we arrive accompanied by those who have shared our story from its beginning. In humility we ask pardon for the ways in which we have been less than true to each other; in wonder we seek the meaning of the important events in our lives; and in faith we recognize God’s blessings which surpass what we could even ask for or imagine.

CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL INTERPRETATION: More to This Life by Steven Curtis ChapmanI’ll Lead You Home by Michael W. SmithA Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

Let us begin with the Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen+

OPENING PRAYER

Jesus, we read in the Gospel how you encountered two travelers who had left Jerusalem and were sharing with each other their sorrow over the events of the past few days. You met them where they were; on the road, and in their deep disappointment, and listened to them in a way that allowed them to share their story with you. May our families, we pray, be able to recognize the many ways in which you bless us with your caring presence, and welcome you to accompany us as did the two pilgrims on the way to Emmaus. We ask this grace through your Holy Spirit. Amen

SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:13-25

A reading from the Gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord.

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayers of the Faithful Reflecting the Needs of Your School

CLOSING PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you who blessed the two pilgrims on the way to Emmaus with your caring companionship, guide your Church during this year of the Synod of the Family. May we come to a deeper appreciation of the sacredness of the covenant of marriage and openness to the gift of children, the community of the family. Help us to appreciate more fully those who, in our earliest years, are the most constant companions on our life’s path, and who share our stories all along this sacred pilgrimage. We make this prayer through you, both Source and Goal of our faith journey. Amen+

“Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”


TUESDAY – OPENING THE SCRIPTURES

“The books of the Old Testament predicted that the joy of salvation would abound in messianic times… The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice.”

Evangelii Gaudium no. 4, 5

CALL TO PRAYER

In the course of our days at school, we are surrounded by God’s holy Word. We pray it together, study it in class, and whenever we gather at the Eucharist, like the disciples on the road, we listen to its saving message, so that we might recognize Jesus as he walks along with us. We are mindful, as well, of those contemplative men and women in convents and monasteries who have consecrated the daily rhythm of their lives to praying and living the Scriptures, and we give thanks for their lives of prayer and the mysterious benefits they bring to the world.

CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL INTERPRETATION: I Will Carry You by Michael W. SmithAfter the Fire by Amy GrantHis Eyes by Steven Curtis Chapman

Let us begin with the Sign of our Faith: Amen+

OPENING PRAYER

Risen Jesus, the disciples you met on the road to Emmaus were distraught and confused. They felt like all their dreams for you, and your saving mission, had been dashed. But by walking with them through the Scripture, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets,” you were able to bring them reassurance and a new hope. By turning to the Word of God, although they did not realize it at that moment, they encountered you, the Word made flesh. Help us, by opening the Scriptures to meet you as they did so we may come to “believe all that the prophets have declared.” This we ask through your saving Word. Amen



Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.



CLOSING PRAYER

O God, you reveal your very being to us through the words of scribes and prophets, apostles and evangelists, written down and collected over the centuries for us to read and ponder. Help us, we pray, to hear the call to encounter you in the Scriptures, so that we can say, like the disciples on the road, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Grant this grace to us through your Son, Jesus Christ, the living Word. Amen+

“The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. . .The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with the heart. If we approach it in this way, its beauty will amaze and constantly excite us. But if this is to come about, we need to recover a contemplative spirit which can help us to realize ever anew that we have been entrusted with a treasure which makes us more human and helps us to lead a new life. There is nothing more precious which we can give to others.”


WEDNESDAY – WELCOMING OTHERSTO THE TABLE

“The Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction.”


CALL TO PRAYER:

As we reach the midpoint of Catholic Education Week, the Gospel reminds us of the call to extend our circle of concern to those whom we may not know well, but whose needs are apparent to us. The Prayers of the Faithful at mass are a weekly reminder of those who stand in need of our care. We give thanks today for the countless men and women religious who live the Gospel by staffing and often running the soup kitchens, addiction treatment facilities, homeless shelters, homes for refugees, and shelters for abused women and children that welcome those in great need, along with those in consecrated life who respond to others through their ministry in hospitals, schools and parishes.

CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL INTERPRETATION: I’ll Be There for You (Theme from Friends) by The RembrandtsYou’ve Got a Friend by James TaylorStay for a While by Amy Grant

Let us begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross: Amen+

OPENING PRAYER

Pilgrim Lord, at the end of the day you were offered hospitality by your fellow travelers. In their encouragement for you to stay with them, “It is almost evening, and the day is now nearly over,” was an implicit recognition of your need for food and lodging. Although they did not know you, they extended their welcome to you. Give us the compassion and courage to offer that same invitation to those we don’t know well, but whose needs we know or can imagine. Help us invite them to our table in the cafeteria, to our circle of friends, or our social groups after school. We make this prayer in your name. Amen



As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.



CLOSING PRAYER

Compassionate God, you welcome us all to your table of fellowship. Help us to see the face of your Son in all those who cross our paths, and especially in those whom we have the opportunity to welcome into our circle. We thank you for all the sisters, brothers and priests in consecrated life whose mission is to reach out to people in need. This we ask in the name of your Son, and his Holy Spirit, who never cease to extend their loving embrace to include everyone who needs their care. Amen+

“Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. . . I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.” The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.”

Evangelii Gaudium, no. 2,3

THURSDAY – RECOGNIZING JESUS IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD

“Jesus leaves us the Eucharist as the Church’s daily remembrance of, and deeper sharing in, the event of his Passover.”


CALL TO PRAYER

Today’s reading points directly to the Eucharist, the pinnacle of our liturgical prayer. The Gospel tells us that it is was in the breaking of the bread that Jesus’ followers recognized the Risen Jesus who had walked with them on the road and opened the Scriptures to them. We give thanks today for those in consecrated life who, through their priestly ordination, make it possible for Jesus to continue to be present to his followers in the Eucharist. Let us be mindful of the wonder of Emmanuel, God being with us, in the person of Jesus and the gift of his Body and Blood for the whole church.

CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL INTERPRETATION: Pray for Me by Michael W. SmithSimple Things by Amy GrantMy Answer is You by Brian LittrellEverything Impossible by Mercyme

Let us begin with the Sign of our Faith: Amen+

OPENING PRAYER

Jesus, our Passover, you once said that “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Your followers recognized you in the Breaking of the Bread. Through your presence with them, a simple meal became Eucharist. Give us a deeper appreciation, we pray, for the presence of the Divine in the ordinary; for the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ in the bread and wine we offer at mass. We ask this in your name. Amen

SCRIPTURE: Luke 24: 28-32


As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”



CLOSING PRAYER

God, you who gave your Son to us as the source of our salvation, the Eucharist is the most immediate experience we have of finding the Divine in the ordinary; the Sacred in the mundane. We pray today for the Church, that in its ministry of revealing you to the world, it may continue to be blessed with those in consecrated life and priesthood. Help us, especially those whose lives are filled with the promise of commitment to good, to hear the call to the service of bringing Christ into the world. We pray this in the name of the One who gave himself for us. Amen+

“Many places are experiencing a dearth of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. . . Wherever there is life, fervour and a desire to bring Christ to others, genuine vocations will arise. Even in parishes where priests are not particularly committed or joyful, the fraternal life and fervour of the community can awaken in the young a desire to consecrate themselves completely to God and to the preaching of the Gospel. This is particularly true if such a living community prays insistently for vocations and courageously proposes to its young people the path of special consecration.


FRIDAY – PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS

“The Church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey; ‘communion and mission are profoundly interconnected.’ In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance, or fear.”


CALL TO PRAYER:

As we arrive at the end of Catholic Education Week, we realize that the structure of the Emmaus story has been that of a dialogue between the disciples and the Risen Jesus: they meet him on the road and share their story, he explains the message of the Scriptures to them, they invite him to stay with them, he reveals himself to them in the breaking of the bread, and in this final chapter, they bring the good news of their encounter with Jesus to the community of believers. In the same way we are commissioned, at the end of mass, to bear the Good News to others: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” This is what is meant by “the New Evangelization” to which the Church is calling us.

CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL INTERPRETATION: Give it Away by Michael W. SmithHe’s Alive by Dolly PartonSomething in the Water by Carrie Underwood

Let us begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross: Amen+

OPENING PRAYER

Jesus, those same disciples who persuaded you not to continue along the road because the day was over, left immediately to return to Jerusalem when they realized what had happened to them, and who it was that they had encountered. Telling their amazing news couldn’t wait for morning. Grant to us the same joy of encountering you, so that our lives, like theirs, will be filled with a sense of mission and purpose, and we will have a message of great value to share with others. We make this prayer in the name of your Holy Spirit. Amen

SCRIPTURE: Luke 24: 28-35

A Reading from the Gospel according to Luke.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.


CLOSING PRAYER

Saving God, in the person of your Son you have given us an experience of joy and an encounter with love that we cannot help but want to share. The call to the New Evangelization gives voice to the yearning of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis, that this saving message be brought to all people, especially those who have heard it already, but have not recognized that it is Jesus who is offering it to them. Instill in us a desire to share this Good News with all who are open to hearing it. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen+

All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.


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