Welcome to this week’s Living Word! We’ve got loads going on this week and as ever, please keep your suggestions coming in about what we can do to make this time with your form better – it’s really appreciated

Check out this weeks intro video (which we need some help with going forward!) to find out about our word and what’s going on around school!

Day 1 – Gotta have a little patience!

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Each we we start with Scripture because it’s not just the foundation for our prayers, but for our lives. No matter what we believe, there is something that we can take from these words of Saint James that can help us think about how and why we should practice patience in our lives.

A Reading from the letter of St James.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The Word of the Lord
R./Thanks be to God

We’re going to have a form debate to help us think about what Patience means for us.

Discussion Questions:

This morning we’re going to discuss our word of the week a little differently. Try splitting your form in half or small groups and spend some time preparing for a debate.

This means that each will have a different viewpoint that they have to support (Even if you don’t quite agree) and then each side needs to convince the other of their argument.

Make sure it does not actually get into an argument, but try and see both sides of the debate and in doing so get a deeper understanding!

One half/group needs to argue argue that:

“Being patient means you never get anything done and you spend all your time waiting and nothing happens”

The other half needs to argue that:

“Good things come to those who wait and if we are patient we are able to focus on what matters if we just take the time to be patient”

It’s not about saying one is right or wrong – just about trying to explore what patience means to you!

Click below to “Add Comment” and capture some of what has been said in your form for others to see.

Take some quiet time to think about the discussion and to reflect on where you may be being called to patient in your life.

Day 2 – Patience is a virtue.

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

You often hear the phrase that “Patience is a virtue – a virtue is something that you have to practice it’s a habit that we form by doing it over and over again. Take a look at this.

Sometimes if we ask God for something we get opportunities to practice it. Think about the opportunities that you’ll have practice patience today and make the longest list possible as a form. Put your list into the comments box below and we’ll have a special prize for the form that gets the most. You’ll just have to wait until next week to get it!

Don’t forget to come and say hello on a Wednesday or a Friday in the Chaplaincy Hub and get involved!

Day 3 – Wait a minute!

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

You will need small pieces of paper, possibly post-it note sized, one for each person – including yourself.

What are you waiting for? In this Jubilee year of hope, we often think about the things that are to come. In fact, thinking of the good things that are to come can be a great way of being more grateful and positive in your everyday life. Often we try to find “something to look forward to” to keep us motivated, but it’s actually something we can use each day to really reflect on the blessings in our lives.

Spend a few moments in twos or threes talking about the things that you are looking forward to and how hard it is sometimes to be patient. You might want to share some with the whole form.

Then, on the small bits of paper, draw or write something that you are looking forward to and that you have to be patient for.

Your mission is to take the paper home and put it next to a clock, by your bed, or somewhere you’ll see it every day. Tell the people at home what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Then, every day, it’ll be a constant reminder of the virtue of patience, showing how waiting for the good things in our lives helps us to be grateful for the blessings we receive.