FrancesThe dictionary definition for belonging reads “an affinity for a place or situation.” Hopefully now that we are a nearly a month into our new school year, all the new members of our communities are starting to feel like they truly belong. Feeling like you don’t belong can be really difficult, so this week make sure to keep an eye out for people who seem a bit lost, and really help them to feel a connection to the community.
Notices
- Friday is CAFOD Harvest Fast Day, so maybe instead of buying an extra snack at break or lunch you could donate the money to CAFOD instead. We’re also hosting a short liturgy in RE2 at lunchtime which everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
We end by making the Sign of the Cross.
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
What is belonging? It’s quite a tricky word because you can belong to so many different types of things, whether it’s a family or a team, or maybe you feel like you belong in a particular place. Have a read of the scripture below about belonging:
“We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body.” – Romans 12:4-5
What do you think the scripture is trying to say? How do you think it relates to belonging?
Now have a chat in your form and come up with a definition for the word belonging. It doesn’t have to be “correct” as according to the dictionary, but what you think it means to you. Then write it out and decorate it, and put it up for all to see in your form room.
We end with the Sign of the Cross.
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
The clip below is from a film called High School Musical. In this scene, the students are all gathered in the canteen and they begin to sing about how they enjoy doing things that, stereo typically, their group of friends is not known for doing.
Spend some time in quiet thinking about these questions and then have a discussion as a form about what you think:
Do you think that the students in the film are right to try and “Stick to the Status Quo”?
Can you think of a time when you have rejected someone and made them an outsider because you don’t understand their opinions or hobbies?
Would you feel like you belonged somewhere if you weren’t accepted for who you are and what you enjoy doing?
Do you feel like you belong to a faith or parish community?
We end with the Sign of the Cross.
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
All week we have thought about belonging, and what it means to belong to somewhere or something. The clip from yesterday got us to think a bit about how it would feel to not belong, and how unpleasant this would be. It’s unfortunate but there are people who don’t feel like they belong, and as Catholics it is our job to spread the love of God and to help people feel welcome and comfortable.
In your forms we want you each to create a pledge, a promise that you are going to make to help those who feel unwelcome and like they don’t belong. It needs to be specific-what are YOU going to make a particular effort to do to help those people? Then either display them in your form room, or keep them with you in your blazer to remind you that you need to look out for others.
We end with the Sign of the Cross.
We start with the Sign of the Cross.
As always we take time in our week to listen to Sunday’s Gospel.
We end with the Sign of the Cross.