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St. Augustine's School Prayer

Our Father in Heaven,

Look over and bless St. Augustine’s while we are working and playing.

Help us to respect and care for each other as you taught us to.

Give us the opportunity to do our best for you each day.

We look forward to being able to share our lives with our friends and families.

Keep us safe and give us the courage to be

people who want to know you more.

Amen.

I invite all families to pray this prayer at home, maybe one morning each week.

Prayer of the Week

Hail Holy Queen

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,

our life, our sweetness and our hope.

To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears

Turn then, most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb,Jesus.

O clement,

O loving,

O sweet Virgin Mary.

Amen.

Prayer for the Year of St. Joseph

To you,

O blessed Joseph,

do we come in our afflictions,

and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse,

we confidently invoke your patronage also.

Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus,

we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood,

and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ;

O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence;

O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.

As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril,

so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection,

so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously,

to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven.

Amen.

Scripture of the Week

Mt 28:16-20

The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

Reflection

By Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart

The twelve Apostles are not great people. At the time Jesus commissions them, only eleven remain, because one has committed suicide after betraying Jesus. Peter denies Jesus, Thomas doubts that he has risen, and none of them really understand what Jesus was all about. But they became great because Jesus sent them forth to do great things. They were given a responsibility, and they lived up to it.

When have you been given a big job to do? When did someone believe in you? When did you live up to a responsibility, even though you were not necessarily confident in your abilities?

How is it that ordinary people can end up doing great things?

When we are baptised, it is done in the name of God as Trinity. We are baptised in the name of a God that has relationship and love as the inner core:

‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’

‘Father... ’ Think of your father, your mother, your grandparents. Think of life, think of being created. Think of the times you have been creative and you have formed something out of an idea. This is what our Abba is about. What kind of God is this? Why are we baptised in the name of this God? What does it mean?

‘ ... Son... ’ Think of yourself as a son or a daughter. Think of yourself as a brother or a sister. Think of yourself as a teacher or a student of another. Think of yourself as a friend. This is what Jesus is about. What kind of God is this? Why are we baptised in the name of this God? What does it mean?

‘ ... Holy Spirit.’ Think of holiness. Think of power. Think of energy. Think of goodness. Think of the positive force of doing the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do. Think of the joy that comes to you when you make the right decision. Think of the harmony of all people joining together to be a support to one another.

Think of love. This is what the Holy Spirit is all about. What kind of God is this? Why are we baptised in the name of this God? What does it mean?