We were blessed to be invited to read the bidding prayers at the first Good Samaritan Mass for all the Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark.  Six boys were chosen to write them and another seven to read them.

It was just our luck that on the day, having planned free train travel,  there was a rail strike.  But this turned out to be good luck as we took a 468 bus from outside the school all the way to the Elephant and Castle which was a short hop to the cathedral.

We were the first school to arrive and were shown to benches at the very front of the nave.  Having arrived we took a few moments of prayer in gratitude for our invitation

Bishop Pat Lynch said Mass.  Previously he was parish priest of St Chad’s, the next parish to us and most likely baptised some of our students.

the opening hymn was Christ be our Light, which we had to admit was not known to a lot of our chaps but all were soon in tune by the third verse.

The first reading was about the failed attempt to stone St Paul to death and his return to Antioch, the message in the gospel was ‘do not be afraid’. Bishop Pat’s homily told us of the fearless work St Damian of Molokai, how he transformed the liturgy on the Hawian island of Molokai from a turgid ritual to a celebration and how he worked among the lepers, eventually succumbing to the disease himself.

Then we were on; the boys lined up and bowed reverently to the altar and read the following prayers

Bishop Pat: Turning our hearts and minds to Our Heavenly Father, let us ask him to hear our prayers

Kaylem: That the Lord gives wisdom to all our Bishops and our Pope ……. may they lead us in our Holy journey to the Kingdom of God.  Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Tristram: In thanks for Catholic schools that teach us good things …… may help the pupils gain more wisdom and understanding and bless the teachers and staff so that their good work might not be in vain. ( Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Elliot: That the message of the Gospel that we hear with our ears will be understood by our heads ……. may it remain in our hearts so that we are led by Jesus the Good Shepherd to our home in Heaven. Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Ethan: For all those who are persecuted throughout the world …… may all people remember they are still sheep of the shepherd. Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Edwin: For all those who are sick …….. may they receive Your healing hand and be restored to full and perfect health. Grant wisdom to those who treat them, and courage & strength to those who care for them.  Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Rohaan: For those who have died …… that their sins may be forgiven and that they may enter eternal glory.  Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Emmanuel:  We ask our Blessed Mother to intercede for us as we say Hail Mary……

Let us now pray for our own intentions in silence

Bishop Pat: Heavenly father we ask for this and all our prayers through your son, The Good Shepherd and Good Samaritan , Amen.

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After communion we sang Be Still For The Presence of The Lord and the closing hymn was Shine Jesus Shine, which we sang to the best of our abilities.

Straight after Mass we had to head back to school.  The original plan was to have our packed lunches together somewhere but when you hear that Ofsted are coming the following day, you have to move.

However, this was an illustration of how magnificent our boys are.  They each understood, no one complained and they just headed back to school, where, if they chose, they could be excused from period five.