This week is the first week of Advent and our theme this week is Hope. This first week of Advent is a chance for us to look ahead towards Christmas, when God gives us the perfect gift of His Son, Jesus.
By doing this God gives us hope for the future knowing that Jesus will be with us along every step of our journey. Perhaps this week, we could also think about what we hope for this week and take some time to offer it up to God.
Mission: How might you give hope to those around you?
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This afternoon, we discussed how we could bring hope to others during the course of the week. The children in 6B were a little unsure to begin with, but once they got going with their ideas, there was no stopping them. The children talked about how giving a hot drink or meal to a homeless person would bring hope. Similarly, they identified how talking or playing with someone who seems lonely would bring hope. Several of the class have joined our school since Reception and talked about how being welcoming to someone who is new (and perhaps feeling unsure/afraid) is an important way of bringing hope. One child also said how we could give money to a charity – e.g. CAFOD – so that children who can’t go to school can have access to education – especially books. Other children wanted to ensure they donated toys, clothes and shoes to charity so that those without these things (for example, children in foster care) can have a nice Christmas. The children also recognised how simply helping someone in class with their work can bring hope when someone is despairing about a task. Well done 6B!
In Year 3, we thought that we could give hope to people around us by being kind. We also talked about bringing items in for the reverse advent calendar and that when the gift bags are given out, people will have hope.
In our Mission Circles on Monday, we reflected on what hope is and how we could give hope to people around us. Some things the children hoped for were peace, kindness, love, good health, respect and friendship. During our Liturgical Prayer on Thursday, we also reflected on the meaning of hope and how we can become more hopeful. Listening to the bible story of how Jesus healed a paralysed man reinforced to us all just how important hope is. Not only to ourselves, but to everyone around us. Jesus saw the friends’ loyalty to the paralysed man, their desperation in breaking through the roof, and the confrontation with the scribes to get their friend healed. The hope of the paralysed man and his friends was evident, and it shows us how we should continue to be hopeful, just as the paralysed man and his friends were. We need to remember that Jesus came to bring hope, that he is our hope, and that our hope is alive.