As May begins, we are in the full flow of Eastertide celebrations and the blossoming of Springtime flowers echoes the hope and joy of the Resurrection of Jesus. We look forward in hope and anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, marking the birthday of the Church and a renewal of our mission as followers of Jesus.
May is also traditionally the Month of Mary, with Marian feast days, May processions and a focus on the Rosary. Mary is the mother of Jesus and our mother too, and like a good mum who prays for her children, Mary prays for us. She accompanies us in our prayers and is there to walk alongside and encourage us, always leading us to her Son, Jesus.
May is a busy time in the church and it’s a busy time in school too! Already children and staff will be starting to evaluate and assess the year and take the first steps to prepare for the coming of a new school year. It’s certainly a time for Jesus’ Easter gifts of joy, hope, peace and love!
This newsletter shares some of the content children will experience in school throughout May and suggests ways to support your family prayer times.
The Eastertide Series Continues
The Eastertide assemblies, focused on Jesus’ gifts of joy, hope, peace and love, continue through May and take us all the way to Pentecost. Through these, we explore the Sunday Gospels as Jesus prepares His disciples to take over His mission.
Here’s some more information about each assembly in the series, a link to where you can read the Gospel and some prompt questions which you might like to explore further with your child/ren:
w/c 1st May
“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10
A Life Full of Love
This week is Vocation Sunday, and the Gospel is Jesus’ teaching about living ‘life to the full’. This assembly shares insights from people with various vocations to inspire children to feel fulfilled both now and in the future, and to pray for priests and those in the religious life
- Our vocation is what we are called to be, and children sometimes think about that only in terms of jobs or ‘what I want to be when I grow up’. This assembly invites children to think about their vocation to follow Jesus’ example by being generous, kind, helpful, and understanding and to use their talents to bring joy. Why not make these qualities part of family discussions and prayer times.
- You might like to share memories or photos of your child’s baptism; the day they were officially welcomed into the family of God.
w/c 8th May
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” John 14:6
1,2,3… Where Are You?
In this week’s Gospel, the disciples were looking for God the Father. Little did they realise that God was standing right in front of them in human form, through the person of Jesus. This assembly helps children to relate to God on a personal level through the person of Jesus Christ.
- The disciples were confused saying, “We do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Help your child/ren understand what Jesus explained: that knowing Him is the same as knowing the Father and following Him is the way to life in heaven.
- Discuss with your child/ren how we can get to know Jesus. Allow your child/ren a chance to share their thoughts and ideas, gently leading them to mention talking to Jesus in prayer, and learning about Jesus in Gospel stories.
w/c 15th May
“I will not leave you.” John 14:18
"I Will Not Leave You"
We are drawing near to the Ascension when Jesus returned to Heaven, and in this assembly, children are invited to imagine how the disciples might have felt at the prospect of losing Jesus again. However, Jesus has reassuring news: He will never leave us, and He has sent a Helper to be with us forever!
- Just as the disciples had become used to seeing Jesus again after His Resurrection, He told them that He was going away again but that He would send a helper: “The Holy Spirit will be with you. He will live inside you and guide you.” Discuss with your child/ren how the Holy Spirit helped the disciples and how He helps us now.
- The Holy Spirit is represented in the Bible and in art with images of fire, wind, and a dove. Discuss with your child/ren what these images tell us about the character of the Holy Spirit, inviting your child/ren to give their own ideas or represent some of the images in their own drawings.
w/c 22nd May
“Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; and, through the power over all mankind that you have given Him, let Him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to Him.” John 17:1-2
Fully Focussed
In this final Eastertide assembly, we look back to Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and all those who would continue His work. Through a distraction game, children learn that it is not always easy to stay focussed. Jesus showed us that turning to God in prayer strengthens our friendship with Him and helps us focus on spreading joy, hope, peace and love.
- Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all those who would carry on His work. That means that Jesus prayed for us, to help us as we do our best to follow Him! Discuss with your child/ren the ways in which we can follow Jesus and how Jesus’ example helps us to make good choices about our words and actions.
- Explore how we can follow Jesus’ example of prayer. You might like to share some of your own experiences of prayer and allow your child/ren to ask questions and share their thoughts and ideas.
Prayer
“Jesus is our hope. Nothing can separate us from His love.”
Pope Francis
The Resurrection of Jesus at Easter brought us hope and joy, and our spiritual leader on earth, Pope Francis, is an example of a person who lives life in a very positive and hopeful way.
The daily classroom prayers for the week commencing 15th May focus on some of the sayings of Pope Francis and encourage us to live our lives in the hope of the Lord.
Perhaps you’d like to share with your child/ren some of Pope Francis’ sayings…
Here is a prayer of hope that you might want to use as part of your prayer times at home:
Jesus,
Make my heart open to goodness,
Make my eyes open to beauty,
Make me hopeful as I welcome others today.
Amen
May, the Month of Mary
In May, we honour Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother too. Perhaps you would like to make the Rosary a focus of your family prayer time and talk with your child/ren about what they know about Mary from stories in the Bible.
This month, we’re pleased to share with your our Rosary prayer resource to enrich your family prayer times.
Let’s join our prayers with Mary as we say together:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us, sinners,
now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen
Credits:
Created with images by firewings - "Summer landscape with flowers on sunset" • oraziopuccio - "Rays of sunshine in the clouds " • Tinnakorn - " Hand of woman while praying for christian religion, Casual woman praying with her hands together over a closed Bible." • zwiebackesser - "Little child girl praying with a sweet expression. She looks down and holding a wooden rosary"