The Catholic Leader - July 2

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The Catholic Leader, July 2, 2017
News
Adoration inspiring students and teachers to pray more
School puts Christ first
Adoring Jesus: “I’m just lost for words – to sit in the church and watch the children’s faces, it’s God’s presence and it’s so inspiring”.
By Emilie Ng
EUCHARISTIC adoration is re-
connecting students and staff of a
Brisbane Catholic school to the true
purpose and meaning of Catholic
education.
Students and staff at St Finbarr’s Primary
School, Ashgrove, completed a second year of
24-hour Adoration after receiving many beauti-
ful responses from children who experienced the
program last year.
Adore for 24 takes children out of the class-
room to the nearby St Finbarr’s Church, which
is part of the Jubilee parish, for 30 minutes of
Eucharistic adoration over the course of one
school day.
Parishioners, staff and parents of children are
also invited to pray before the Blessed Sacra-
ment during and after school, with the Blessed
Sacrament exposed for 24 hours.
Year 3 teacher Niamh Healy co-ordinated the
Adore for 24 program last year, proving to both
principal Ann Hall and parish priest Fr Peter
Brannelly that children can have profound expe-
riences of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
“I’m just lost for words – to sit in the church
and watch the children’s faces, it’s God’s pres-
ence and it’s so inspiring,” Ms Hall said.
“It brings you back to what we’re all about as
a Catholic school.
“At the core of Catholic schools is to con-
nect us to our Catholic identity, and Niamh has
nurtured the faith with the teachers and children
in ordinary ways.”
In preparation for the program this year, Ms
Healy ran formation sessions for each classroom
to explain the Road to Emmaus scripture, which
was read during the adoration sessions.
“We were focusing on the difference between
what it means to talk about God, because we do
learn a lot and that’s essential to teach children
about God and about Jesus,” Ms Healy said.
“Facts such as where he was born and all those
things are necessary, but this was more helping
them to understand and to participate in what it
means to talk to God.”
The formation also taught the children that
Christ wanted to transform their lives in the way
he transformed the disciples on the road to Em-
maus when they recognised him in the breaking
of bread.
In written feedback to the staff, several stu-
dents said being before the Blessed Sacrament
inspired them to pray, gave them a sense of calm
from their worries and even even gave them an
understanding that God does forgive their sins.
One student wrote, “for the first time ever, I
actually felt like God was really with me”.
“I felt like his hand was resting on my shoul-
der,” the student wrote.
Another student said after approaching the
Blessed Sacrament they “felt God’s love in my
heart”.
“During Adore for 24, I felt relaxed and I had
an image in my head of Jesus helping me and
caring for me,” the student wrote.
“It was a really relaxing time and when I left I
had a smile on my mind.
“Just being in the church made me happy.”
The immense joy of being before Christ was
also obvious for one student, who felt “like Jesus
was right there hugging me” as the Scripture was
being read.
“After the session was over, I was very aware
of how lucky I am, to be going off to such a
good school, having a loving family and living
in a safe country,” they wrote.
“I was also very aware that wherever I go,
Jesus and God will always be with me.”
Ms Healy said the responses from students
were inspiring.
“I learned from these responses that many stu-
dents had a special experience; a moment with
God,” Ms Healy said.
“Knowing that a little eight-year-old now
believes that she will always feel loved by God
and hearing that another student believes that
Jesus can open his eyes to the truth, completely
inspires me.
“I believe it is so important to take the chil-
dren physically close to God, to break open the
Scriptures in a tangible way and allow Jesus to
do the rest.
“Listening to my students, children really felt
Jesus’ true presence, they discovered that Jesus
is real, not just a concept or an idea, and they
simply loved spending time with Him.
“This in itself shows me that providing chil-
dren with an opportunity to have some time in
Adoration, allows that beautiful relationship to
be fostered.
“To have had this opportunity has been a
special blessing and I feel very grateful.”
It’s also a program St Finbarr’s principal
deems worthy of repeating every year.
“It’s just part of us now, it’s part of our reli-
gious life,” Ms Hall said.
The success of the program and the spiritual
zeal felt by both students and staff has also
impressed St Finbarr’s parish priest.
“The proof is in the pudding,” Fr Brannelly
said. “It’s not a matter of dragging kids across to
the church and making them sit there quiet for an
hour – it’s doing the preparation.
“That Road to Emmaus (formation) provides
the foundation for them to understand about
opening their eyes to what they are experiencing
over there.”
As well as ensuring students in his Catholic
schools are receiving formation in the faith,
Fr Brannelly said Adore for 24 made sure the
church was always open.
“Once before, all our churches were always
open, and there was a tradition of, if you went by
a church, stopping in to ‘pay a visit’, as the old
line would go,” he said.
“These days most churches are locked up and
they’re only open for small portions of the week.
“There’s nothing more unwelcoming than
driving by a church and seeing everything
bolted up.
“St Finbarr’s at Ashgrove is our church in a
village, literally, and one of the great challenges
is to open the church up and let it be a place of
welcome.
“Let’s not be afraid, terribly afraid, of some-
thing happening (but) open the church, and by
this Adore for 24 is just one of those opportuni-
ties to open the church up, open the doors up.”
Joyful
prayers:
Students
and staff at
St Finbarr’s
Primary
School,
Ashgrove,
completed
a second
year of
24-hour
Adoration.