Surfing through the age range

Today was one of those days that makes me glad to be a priest. After morning Mass, I prepared a class for the Religious Studies Ad-Level group at our Sixth Form College, St Luke's. They are taking their exam on 14 June so we were revising a couple of topics and looking at how to write the best exam answer. These were students just about to leave College so 17-18, I guess. They are great people and I pray that they will all get A grades in their exam.

Then over to Our Lady of the Rosary School for Mass with Year 4 - these children are 8-9 years old. A while back, I got fed up with the themes from All That I Am (Building Bridges, Special Places etc.) and undertook to produce Mass texts myself. So today, being not too far from the feast day, we had a Votive Mass of the English Martyrs. Lots of parents turned up for the Mass so I hope they also got a sense of our great Catholic history in England.

A short stop at home where I could do some work at the desk, then back to the same school for a a Curriculum Committee meeting - looking at how the school is juggling Government demands with the exigencies of real life.

After that, the rehearsal for the first Communion Mass. I have baptised many of the children and it is lovely to see them growing up and learning to take part in the Mass. We prayed for fine weather on Saturday and I encouraged them to think most of all of the wonderful gift of receiving Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time. These occasions are good for all of us - they help us to focus once again on the loving condescension of the Father in sending his Son to us.

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