The idea of the Prayer Bag is that they are sent home with a different family each week. Each class will have their own and a different focus is put on each year group, so if you have more than one child the experience should be different each time.

We hope you will find the Prayer Bags help you as a family to come together to pray because prayer is so much part of the life of our school.

 Jesus said that wherever two or three people gather and remember him, he will be there with them. He knew from his own family life with Mary and Joseph how important it was to share his life with his family.

We hope and pray that the prayer bag will help you to come together for a few minutes each day over a week to share something very special in the presence of God.

Catholic schools offer our young people the chance to live, work and pray together. Every child’s home is also a school of prayer, a place where all the family can come together to reflect and share what you believe. Whatever your own faith we invite you to take this chance and share what is so important in our school.

How to use the Family Prayer Bag

There are four parts to the Family Prayer: We Gather, We Listen, We Respond, We Go Forth (This format is followed through in your child’s RE programme at school – Come and See.) The idea for the Prayer Bags came from the RE Service of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. We are very grateful for all their help.

We Gather

This is about creating a holy space within your home for the family to gather round. This might be on a floor or on a table. Choose a place in your home which suits your family. In the Prayer Bag are a number of items to place in the holy space. We use religious symbols as part of our prayer to remind us that when we pray we are truly I the presence of God. If you can safely provide your own candle for this focus space it would be a welcome addition. There is a notebook for you to record any prayer intentions or suggestions.

We listen

An important part of our family prayer is listening to the Word of God. Through the words of scripture God speaks to you as a family. It is important that everyone listens carefully to the reading.

We Respond

Once you have listened to the reading you will be asked to think, talk and share your thoughts about it. You might even like to have a short time of silence to think about what you have heard. You will be asked to make up your own prayers and to share some well-known prayers of the Church.

We Go Forth

The last part of our family prayer will include ways in which your family can live out what you have prayed about by the love and care that you show one another.