The Sixth Class pupils were celebrating St.Blaise day, with blessing of throats. The prayer, with candles read, ’’Lord, thank You for the gift of speech. May our voice bring blessing to the world’’. Then, they sang one line ‘’Thank You‘’ songs ......Thank You Lord for giving us speech ....right where we are ...Alleluia, praise The Lord ........Thank You Lord, for giving us voice ...right where we are ...Alleluia. Thank You Lord for the Teachers voice ...Thank You for the pupils voice ...Thank You for a fathers voice ...Thank You for mothers voice ....Thank You for the babies voice, and so it went on... nurse, doctor, trainer, shop assistant, politics person, pilot , the farmer, the working person, the handicapped. There was a small number of the pupils that chose not to participate. I felt sad about that, because they seemed sour and upset. The words of The Good Lord, in todays Gospel Story came to mind ...Your Father in Heaven makes the sun rise on the bad as well as the good. We are all under the same Loving umbrella. We all breathe the same air. At the end of the celebration, one pupil put up his hand. He said ‘’You forgot one person in the prayers ...you forgot the priest. I thought of good Pope John 23rd., who went to bed worrying about the church. He had a dream, and God said to him ...’’John, is it you or Me thats running the church. John smiled all next day.

Liam Hickey, St.Ciarans, Hartstown, Dublin 15.