Friday 16 June 2006

Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-04-28

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Friday Morning Prayer for 28 April 2006

Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!

Please look up – I would like to direct your attention to the Easter banner above me – no, no, no, not the Social Science Academic Week banner, but the one even further up. Can you see? It says: Christ is risen, alleluia. Please say it altogether. Christ is risen, alleluia.

Let’s hear just the Form One students say it. How about Form three students?

Your RE teacher may have told you – the Hebrew word Alleluia means May God be praised. Praise God! When we want to praise God, we may want to show a bit of cheerfulness, right? For example: You got a hundred marks for your dictation and your teacher would praise you for a job well done. If your teachers says Well done without smiling, you may wonder. So, when we praise someone, we may want to show a bit of happiness.

Now – why do we want to praise God? Because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Jesus died but lives again and even lives forever. We praise God because we are able to live with him forever and ever too!

Now let us pray. Please respond by saying the phrase: Christ is risen, Alleluia. When you hear me say: O God of life, we praise you. Then you all say: Christ is risen, Alleluia. OK?

+ God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us the same new life. We remember those who are sick and ill. O God of life, we praise you.

R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.

God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us strength to meet today’s challenges. We ask you to bless our fellow students who are sitting for their A-Level and HKCEE exams. O God of life, we praise you.

R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.

God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us joy. We remember our families and friends. We ask you to bless them. O God of life, we praise you.

R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.

God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us wisdom. We remember our teachers and the rest of the school year. May we all learn the wisdom of life. O God of life, we praise you.

O God of life, we praise you.

R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.

We make this prayer and all our prayers through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

St Joseph…. St Francis…

Please make the sign of the Cross and say “In the Name” together.

Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-04-07


As you all know, this week and next week are our English Week. (Don’t ask me why – there are two weeks but we only say English Week. Never mind.) Next Friday, you are going to have your Easter holiday. Isn’t that wonderful? The week right before Easter is known as Holy Week. 聖周During Holy Week, we remember what has happened during the days before Jesus died on the cross.

This year Holy Week happens to be English Week as well. Let me compare these two important events.

First, last Monday, for English Week, we had English Olympics, It was very joyous, noisy and exciting, wasn’t it? For Holy Week, on Sunday – that is this coming Sunday – we remember the day that Jesus went to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. People welcomed him by waving palm branches. It was also very joyous, noisy and exciting because the people (wrongly) thought that Jesus would help them to become independent from the Roman Empire. However, it was not fun at the end because these people became dissatisfied with Jesus and made him die on Good Friday.

Second, yesterday, as part of the English Week, we had English Tea. I wish I had been there to share nice company, wonderful conversation and good food. I surely hope there will be more English Teas in the future. Next Thursday, a week from today, it’s Holy Thursday. On Holy Thursday we remember the day when Jesus had his Last Supper with his friends, his disciples, his students. Similar to English Tea yesterday, Jesus shared nice company, wonderful conversation and good food with his friends. This was Jesus’ Last Supper before he died on the cross. So, Christians celebrate Mass彌撒or the Eucharist聖餐to remember Jesus’ death on the cross.

Finally, there was the Easter Egg Hunt on Tuesday. Did you participate in it and run around the school to look for Easter Eggs? Were you happy to find the eggs? Next Sunday, it will be Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday, we remember how people ran around Jerusalem to tell people that Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus came back to life three days after death on the cross. When people found out that Jesus is alive again, people were happy, just like finding the Easter Eggs.

So you see, English Week is similar to the Holy Week in some ways. I hope you would enjoy the rest of the English Week. And for Holy Week, I hope you will take the time to think about, to reflect on the love of Jesus for all of us. He loves us so much that he was willing to die on the cross. Take the time to think about the new life that Jesus gives us. Only he can give us new life because he was raised from the dead. He came back to life after dying on the cross. So let us pray and commend our lives to God.

~ Brother William OFM