Time
5-10 minutes
Frequency
Daily
Material
N/A
Purpose
To develop the ability to reflect on the positive elements in our lives while developing a personal understanding of our areas of need and growth
Say to students:
- Bless yourself and take a few minutes to think of things for which you are grateful.
- Spend a moment asking God to show you how he has been present with you today.
- Mentally review your day and consider the moments when you were calm, filled with happiness or simply felt on top of your game. When thinking about these things, consider how God was present in your day.
- Ask for forgiveness and continued blessing.
- Think about ways you will improve tomorrow and ask for God’s help.
This can be done as a whole school community over the PA system.
Engaging in frequent prayer practices is positively linked with increased well-being and mental health (Schmidt & Jankowski, 2014). The same study found prayer to provide a self-regulatory effect which supported emotional control and stability. According to Maltby, Lewis & Day (2008) “individuals who, through their prayer, feel and think quietly about God in quiet reflection, who pray regularly, or who have feelings of deep well-being or deep experience of God report better subjective well-being.”
Maltby, J., Lewis, C. A., & Day, L. (2008). Prayer and subjective well-being: The application of a cognitive-behavioural framework. Mental health, religion and culture, 11(1), 119-129.
Schmidt, E. M., & Jankowski, P. J. (2014). Predictors of relational aggression and the moderating role of religiousness. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 23(4), 333-350.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that God wishes for all people to calls man “to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with all his strength. The Examen prayer was developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits for man to know God. It is a well-known and widely practised reflection that allows all who practise it to see God at work in their day and experience the grace that abounds in their lives.
(1f) A discerning believer formed in the Catholic Faith Community who seeks intimacy with God and celebrates communion with God, others and creation through prayer and worship.
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