Mission Week - 11th-15th November 2024
Rationale
To begin our ‘Mission Week’, children will be given the opportunity to reflect on what the word ‘mission’ means for Christians and what our mission is as a school ‘Delight in the Lord, Delight in the Good’. They will discuss how ‘Delighting in the Lord’ is to fully open our hearts to Him and to value all we know about Him. Children will be reminded that taking ‘Delight in the Lord’ means that our hearts truly find peace and fulfilment in Him. It is to delight in what He offers by being ready to hear His Word and be open our hearts to learn from Him. Time will be dedicated to the importance of prayer in order to achieve this. As the Pope has dedicated this year to the ‘Year of Prayer’ in preparation for the Jubilee, children will be given time to focus on the importance of finding time in their busy lives for silence, stillness and prayer. We will reflect as a school on the different ways we pray and children will be encouraged to express how the like to pray and how prayer makes them feel. Children will learn that when we truly ‘Delight in the Lord’, then we are ready to ask God to help us to ‘Delight in the Good’. They will reflect on the importance of putting God before wealth, status and material possessions as if we put these things first then we will never be fulfilled and will always want more. Children will reflect on how God says we can ‘Delight in the Good’, understanding His commandments and putting our faith into action to serve God, His world and His people.
After this introduction and time to reflect on our faith, the main focus of our mission week will be ‘Living Simply, Living Fully’ as this year we aim to become a ‘Live Simply Award’ community further exploring ways we can answer the call for us to care for our common home and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers around the world. We want children to better understand the impact they can have on our global family, in their local community and here in their school. They will do this by reflecting on the teachings of Jesus, Catholic Social Teaching and Laudato Si’ along the way. They will also make links with others in the history of the Church as well as modern friends of Jesus who can be an inspiration to us and our work. We will recall the many things we already do at St Cuthbert’s to “protect this world which God has entrusted us”. Throughout the week, we will think about how we already work to achieve these aims of:
- living simply
- living sustainably with creation
- living in solidarity with people living in poverty
Once we have identified our many strengths, children will be able to begin to identify the many new opportunities that lay ahead of them. Mission Week will help children to feel inspired through their learning to do more, and our learning will form the basis of our mission going forward as we strive to build even stronger links within our community and St Cuthbert’s parish. Together, we will be inspired to live, not just more simply, but also more fully.