Crossing Barriers - Clongowes Wood College

Posted: 26th January 2018

As part of the annual Christian Unity week celebrations, Clongowes was delighted to take part in a bilateral celebration of the Christian faith with The King’s Hospital, Palmerstown on Sunday, January 21st. Students from King’s Hospital arrived in Clongowes for tea and coffee at around 10.30, accompanied by Head of Pastoral Care, Mr. John Aiken, Deputy Head, Mr Cormac UaBuadair, Deputy Headmistress, Ms Louise Marshall and the Reverend Peter Campion.

After light refreshments, Poetry boys, Brian Gallagher, John Maher, Conor Martin Hugo O’Donnell and Mark O’Loan accompanied the King’s Hospital students to Sunday Eucharist, where we celebrated the similarities between the two Christian traditions and highlighted the need for unity. Reverend Campion delivered a homily, while Justin from King’s Hospital did a reading and his classmate Sinead sang the psalm. After Mass both groups of students had lunch together in the refectory before commencing a tour of the college grounds and facilities.

In the evening, students from Clongowes travelled to King’s Hospital for Evening Service accompanied by Fr Barney McGuckian SJ, Mr Cyril Murphy and Ms Anne Marie Dolan. This is always a beautiful occasion and one in which there is a lot of effort given to making us feel welcome. Reverend Campion reinforced the same ideals of celebrating the similarities between the traditions and highlighting the need for unity. As ever, we were well looked after with tea and sandwiches and are again grateful to The King’s Hospital for their solidarity, compassion and generosity to our school with their time and effort on these occasions.

That all may be free

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally observed from 18th to 25th January – the octave of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The theme chosen for 2018 is ‘That all may be free’ and the resource material was prepared for worldwide use by the Caribbean churches and uses Exodus chapter 15, ‘your right hand O Lord, glorious in power’ a song of triumph over oppression, as the motif:

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-3)

More on The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity here.

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