Lent starts next week

Lent is a 40-day period for Christians to think about their lives and faith. It starts on Ash Wednesday and ends the day before Easter. Some people give up things like certain foods or social media, while others focus on prayer, Bible reading, or helping others. It’s a time for self-reflection and positive change as Christians prepare for Easter.

Day 1 – Start with scripture

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

Read this Gospel passage.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke
R. Glory to You O Lord

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
 “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that!”



The Gospel of the Lord
R. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Luke

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:

Do we really have enemies?

Why is Jesus calling us to love and pray for our ‘enemies’?

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

Almighty Father,

As we approach Lent, help us to see your love and grace in all the people we meet. If we have strong, negative feelings toward others, help us to let go and trust in your will.

Amen

St Peter and St Paul…

Pray for us.

Amen

Day 2 – CAFOD

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

There are many places around the world that struggle to provide food to the people who live there. It can be very easy to take our access to food and clean water for granted, forgetting the millions that don’t have any. In Lent we should make a commitment to remember not just that Jesus died to save us, but that He died to save ALL of us. Let’s see some of the work that CAFOD does.

You stand on Holy ground

Lord Jesus,

When you died on the cross, you died as a prisoner and as a slave. Help us to see those people who are prisoners to the struggle of finding food to eat and clean water to drink. Through our work this Lenten season, help us to help them.

Amen.

St Peter and St Paul…

Pray for us.

Amen

Day 3 – What is Lent?

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

Lent officially starts on Ash Wednesday.

Something to consider:

Personal Pledge Card Creation (5 minutes): Students choose one pledge they want to commit to and write it on a small card or piece of paper. They can decorate the card if they wish. This card serves as a personal reminder of their commitment.

Lord God almighty,

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who offend or hurt us.

We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son. Amen.

St Peter and St Paul…

Pray for us.

Amen

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13 comments

comments user
10API

In the passage Jesus is telling us to be nice to our enemies.
Jesus is saying we should pray for our enemies so that there is no conflict, there is peace, and we can avoid negativity.
In school we can be respectful to peers, even if we don’t like them.
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10BCU

We think that we do have enemies but we are all humans who make mistakes and Jesus is calling on us to forgive those who have wronged us, to love our neighbours, and to treat others in a way that we would like to be treated.
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comments user
10GHE

Enemies do exist for example opposing sides in conflict. Sometime enemies can become allies after reconciliation and time.

We should pray for and love our enemies as Jesus does not want us to hate or hurt others.
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comments user
8EOY

yes we could have enemies

It fits into if you love your neighbour as yourself
Jesus wants us to have a Christ-like heart so as to make heaven so if we pray for our enemies it tricks our heart to love them
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7MFI

Enemies:

L: Yes – because you’re always in competition with others, but they don’t need to be human.
C: It depends what the situion is. If they disrespect you, but because if you don’t like someone then not really.
V: No, because love beats hate.
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liturgyspace

10API
Jesus tell us to love our enemies and be nice to people
Jesus tells us to do this so that we can stop conflict, ensure there is peace and stop negativity even to people we don’t like.
In school we can be nice to other students, even if we don’t really like them.
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10OP Mr. Papaioannou

Being kind or nice to enemies is not natural – it doesn’t feel normal to do that but that is what God wants for us to do. You can be nice to people who you don’t know but it is very hard to be nice to people who don’t like you.
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7ETA

– Life is too short to have grudges. We need to forgive.
– We don’t know what others are going through.
– Jesus sacrificed himself for others and forgave, we should follow his example.
– Is Jesus wants us to live in peace, should we really have enemies?
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8ETo

Do we really have enemies? Probably not because if you pray for your enemies, you can’t be an enemy which is when people mutually hate each other.

Why is Jesus calling us to love and pray for our ‘enemies’?
Because we never know what our enemies might be going through. To follow in the footsteps of Jesus and be respectful to others, no matter who they are or what they do, or when they did it, or why they did it.
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Carol Gilbert

Do we really have enemies?
Most people in the form said “yes” with 2 people saying “no”. Reasons for yes include: ‘we hate people for reasons’, without any reasons provided, ‘because they are mean’, ‘they have done wrong’, and ‘not everyone has to be like you’. Reasons for ‘no’ are: ‘we should treat everyone the same’ and ‘respect everyone’.
Why is Jesus calling us to love and pray for our ‘enemies’?
For the second question, responses in the form include ‘Jesus is telling us to respect one another’.
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comments user
10KG

do we really have enemies?
bailey- The only enemies we have are those who we treat wrongly and those who we don’t forgive
will- the point the scripture was making is that we should treat our enemies right, this means be the better and more mature person, following the scriptures and guidance of the word will complete us as a person and show us our full potential.
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13LT

Our pledges for Lent range from giving up certain foods to being more sociable. Making contributions to charity, trying to smile more and control anger. Most members of the form have a pledge.
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8JHO

Some of us don’t really believe that we truly have enemies, just have people that we don’t like or do not get along with. Jesus wanted us to avoid conflict so that we can have peace with each other. Jesus preached the idea of forgiveness, so he believes if people have wronged us they should be allowed to repent. If we were to love our enemies there is a chance they will love us back.
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