A Concord Pastor Comments: Back to School Prayers 2014

UPDATED for 2015! Click here!

In this post you'll find 3 prayers I've written for those who are returning to the classroom: one for parents, one for students and one for teachers. If not for yourself or folks in your immediate family, who in your extended family, in your parish or among your neighbors and friends might benefit from these prayers? Please do pass them on! In my parish we distribute these prayers with the bulletin just before school begins.

Following my prayers, you'll find Diana Macalintal's Parent’s Prayer When Children are Leaving Home (in two versions: for a daughter and for a son leaving home for college or the work place). This prayer is taken from Diana's fine new book, The Work of Your Hands: Prayers for Ordinary and Extraordinary Moments of Grace, published by Liturgical Press and reprinted here with permission.

You might think of praying the Student's Prayer with your children at home on the first day of school. You might slip a copy into backpacks and lunch kits - and of course, the refrigerator door makes a good home for these texts. In my parish we print copies of the first two prayers below and distribute them at Mass at the beginning of the new academic year.

+ + +

A Student's Prayer

Dear God,
Help me remember that you’re always by my side
at school and all day long.
Help me be the best student I can be,
using all the gifts and talents you’ve given me.
Help me study well and often
– especially when I don’t feel like studying at all!
Help me finish all my homework – on time.
Help me listen to my teachers and coaches.
Help me play fair and play safely.
Help me be honest when I’m tempted to cheat.
Help me always tell the truth.
Help me be kind to everyone at school
and to treat others as I’d want them to treat me.
Help me make good friends
and help me be a good friend to others.
Help me know how I can help others
and to ask for help when I need it myself.
Help me love and respect, trust and appreciate my parents
- and to be honest with them.
Help me remember that you’re with me always, Lord,
and that you’ll never leave my side.
Amen.
ConcordPastor.blogspot. com

+ + +

A Parent's Prayer for Students

Dear Lord,
As my children leave for school,
I pray that you will keep them in your care.
Send your Spirit to open their minds
to all that is true and beautiful and good.
Help them to see the gifts and talents
you have given them and to use them well.
Help them to grow in knowledge and wisdom.
Help them to be kind to others
and lead others to be kind to them.
Give their teachers patience and understanding
and help them teach what is just and true.
Send your angels to guide and guard my children
and to keep them from all harm.
Open their young hearts to your presence
and enfold them in your peace and protection.
Hold them in the palm of your hand
and bring them home safely at day's end.
Amen.
ConcordPastor.blogspot. com

+ + +

A Teacher's Prayer
Dear God,
A new school year is about to begin
and my classroom door will soon open
to the students you've assigned to my care...
Open my mind and heart to each of them
and especially to the ones
who will challenge me the most...
Help me challenge my students, all of them,
to study, to learn, to grow in knowledge
and even a little wisdom...
Help me remember, Lord,
how young my students are:
give me patience to help them grow up
and insight to know the help they need...
Help me to understand that sometimes
my students may not understand me:
may I be clear in the things I say and do,
and in how I say and do them…
My students don't know the burdens and worries
my heart brings to the classroom,
so help me remember, Lord,
how anxious and heavy my students' hearts may be...
Keep me from favoring any particular students, Lord,
except for those who most need my help...
Let my decisions in the classroom
be fair and just, honest and true...
Send your Spirit to fill me with gifts
of knowledge and understanding, counsel and wisdom…
Lord, open my mind and heart to my students' parents,
especially those who will challenge me the most...
Help me challenge parents to challenge their children
to study, to learn and to grow...
Help me to teach as you would, Lord:
help me be understanding when I need to be firm,
gentle in all things,
and patient until the last bell rings…

A new school year is about to begin, Lord,
and I wonder
what will you teach me,
what will I learn, this year? Amen.
ConcordPastor.blogspot. com

+ + +

Many mothers and fathers are watching their sons and daughters move away to college. For both parents and offspring, this rite of passage is often moistened with tears and burdened by aching hearts. Here's Diana Macalintal's Parent’s Prayer When Children are Leaving Home, in two versions: for a daughter, for a son.

+ + +

A Parent’s Prayer When A Daughter Leaves Home
Gracious God, you blessed me with the gift of my child
and entrusted me with her care.
Surround her with good people and watch over her each day.
And let her know that I will always be near
whenever she may need me.
Heal any hurts we may harbor with each other
and forgive our failings
as we learn to be in a new kind of relationship with each other.
And when the sight of her empty room
pierces my heart with sadness,
may I find comfort in knowing that my child is your child too,
filled with your grace and sheltered by your love.
Amen.

Copyright 2014 by Order of Saint Benedict. Published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. Reprinted with permission.

+ + +

A Parent’s Prayer When A Son Leaves Home

Gracious God, you blessed me with the gift of my child

and entrusted me with his care.
Now he leaves this home and begins a new life apart from me.
Surround him with good people and watch over him each day.
And let him know that I will always be near
whenever he may need me.
Heal any hurts we may harbor with each other
and forgive our failings
as we learn to be in a new kind of relationship with each other.
And when the sight of his empty room
pierces my heart with sadness,
may I find comfort in knowing that my child is your child too,
filled with your grace and sheltered by your love.
Amen.

Copyright 2014 by Order of Saint Benedict. Published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. Reprinted with permission.