Local schools mark Catholic Schools Week
By Clodagh McGlynn (student at Loreto College, Mullingar)
Students from Loreto College Mullingar, Coláiste Mhuire and St Finian’s College gathered on the afternoon of Monday week last (January 22) in the Cathedral of Christ the King for a Mass to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.
The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Deenihan for the TY classes and leadership teams. The theme of this year’s Catholic Schools Week (January 21-27) was ‘Catholic Schools as Communities of Service’ and that was highlighted in the Mass by the presence of school leadership teams, such as student councils, senior prefects and health promoting school teams. Prayers of the faithful also reflected the daily themes of Catholic Schools Week, which are service in our community of friends, service in our school community, service in our family community, service in our local community and service in our faith community. These themes aimed to underline how Christian service puts faith into action and to encourage scriptural reflection on prayer, action, the student voice, and concern for our common home.
The Ember teams from Loreto College Mullingar, Coláiste Mhuire and St Finian’s College came together to organise the event. The Ember Programme is a faith leadership programme for TY and fifth year students. It is coordinated by the Archdiocese of Dublin Education Secretariat. The programme began in the Dublin Diocese in 2012, and now includes the Meath Diocese. It aims to develop teamwork skills, leadership skills, a sense of community development and the participants’ personal faith.
The Ember Programme began in local schools just last year, and several members received Pope John Paul II Awards in November. That is a faith achievement award for young people aged 16-18. It was launched by the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, His Excellency Most Rev Dr Giuseppe Lazzarotto, in November 2006 in the Diocese of Derry. The award was created to commemorate Pope John Paul II, who was had great belief in young people. Achieving the award involves participation in school, parish and community activities for one hour a week over eight, 14 or 20 weeks. The corresponding award relates to the amount of time invested in parish and social events, either bronze, silver or gold with the opportunity for Gold Award winners to achieve the Papal Cross Award.
The award ceremony took place on November 11 and a number of local students received the award, along with other schools in the Meath Diocese such as Scoil Mhuire, Trim and St Ciarán’s Community School, Kells.
The Ember teams organise faith-orientated events in their schools and parish communities. They have included organising cards for nursing homes at Christmas, faith quizzes and treasure hunts for Easter, commemorating feast days and composing liturgy for Masses such as the Catholic Schools Week celebration.
The three teams from each school gather monthly to prepare for upcoming feast days and to communicate and discuss ideas. They assisted in composing the liturgy and took part in readings throughout the Mass.
The Mass was concluded by the release of balloons on the steps of the cathedral, two yellow, two blue and two green, each colour symbolising a school, and is representative of the release of fears and worry coming into the new year. It also signifies the importance of collaboration to the three schools.