The passion of Jesus Christ is the story of his suffering and death – a story of love, sacrifice, and redemption. Jesus’ courage and perseverance give us hope, strength and inspiration to carry on during difficult times. It reminds us that he truly understands us when we struggle and encounter hard times.
Day 1 – Start with scripture
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
Have a read of this scripture passage. Think about what this tells us about Jesus’ example
A Reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Word of the Lord
Philippians 2:1-11
R. Thanks be to God
Spend some time in pairs or threes and talk about the questions below. When you’re finished share them with the whole form and see where the dialogue takes you.
Discussion Questions:
What do you think this tells us about Jesus?
What does it mean for our lives?
What does it mean to serve a God who died for us?
Click below to “Add Comment” and capture some of what has been said in your form for others to see.
Day 2 – Catholic Social Teaching
We begin by making the Sign of the Cross
Human Dignity
There are many aspects to Catholic social teaching but the one we are going to focus on today is Human Dignity
Human Dignity is founded on the principle that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, therefore we are all special, loved, valued and unique. When Jesus died on the cross, and now, whenever anyone is persecuted – they have their dignity taken away. We can all work for the dignity of others by helping those who are suffering and by loving and valuing everyone that we meet.
Dignity
Spend some time thinking and talking about what you could do as a form to show dignity around school,
Make a poster / sign for your form room door saying what it is you’ll do to recognise the dignity of everyone who you meet – you could use an idea from the video or think of one of your own!
Make a poster / sign for your form room door saying what it is you’ll do to recognise the dignity of everyone who you meet – you could use an idea from the video or think of one of your own!
We finish with the Sign of the Cross
Day 3 -Hit the Headlines
We begin with the Sign of the Cross.
Have a look at the story of Jasmin Paris – her incredible achievement helps us to think about the things challenges we face and what it means to find the strength to carry on….
The first female runner to complete one of the world’s toughest races has said she did it for “women worldwide”.
Jasmin Paris is one of only 20 people to have finished the Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, USA, since it was extended to 100 miles in 1989.
She crossed the finish line on Friday with 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cut-off.
Jasmin, from Midlothian, Scotland, said she wanted to test the limits of what she was capable of and inspire others.
The annual race at Frozen Head State Park involves five loops of roughly 20 miles (32km), with 60,000 ft (18,000m) of ascents and descents – twice the height of Mount Everest from sea level.
The 40-year-old told BBC News how she realised she had just minutes to spare to make the allotted 60-hour completion time as she neared the finish line.
“I only had like a few minutes to get up that hill. So I ended up sprinting at the end of the end of 60 hours of burning through the forest, which felt really hard,” she said.
Her arms and legs are covered in scratches from the brambles she had to push through on the route, very little of which is on a path.
“Brambles would get you and it was like having somebody cut you and that would happen loop after loop and it was like doing it back over the same scars,” she said.
Extract from BBC NEWS
In the comments box below can you share how this amazing feat of endurance might connect with the themes of this week. The idea that determination and passion can carry us through tremendous physical challenges can help us think about Jesus’ last journey and what he endured.
Why do people do things that are so difficult? What challenges do we face and what can we learn from this story?
We finish with the Sign of the Cross.
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