Ms Shemaraiah Bloomfield-Johnson, (pictured above with Chaplain, Fr Saju SDB) an RE Trainee at SJBC Battersea, writes about her first experience of helping her Year 7 students plan and prepare their class Mass.

I had the honour of planning and facilitating my first Holy Mass with my Year 7 class at St John Bosco College. Admittedly, I was anxious when I knew I would be teaching Holy Mass; there is some pressure there, because it is at the centre of the Catholic faith, and the Eucharist in many ways is the faith itself.

Thus, I knew carefully planning this was very important, once I began teaching this section of the syllabus; I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I also felt that I enhanced my understanding of Mass and the importance of Holy Communion. As a Rastafarian, who has grown up religiously and instilled with the importance of respecting faith, coupled with my love for understanding different religions and their practices, it was very exciting for me to embark on this journey of delving deeper into the Catholic faith.

Celebrating Holy Mass with my students was enlightening; it was beautiful to see another side to them. They treated the space with respect and admiration and were completely engaged in the proceedings. It was remarkable to not only have them choose the readings for Mass but to see them go up to the stand and read the scriptures that they had chosen.

The students' bidding prayers and offertory were moving and are etched in my mind for eternity. I was extremely proud of them. Fr Saju led Mass with such elegance and ease, creating a calm and harmonious environment. Overall, the experience was grounding and the perfect way to culminate our lessons.

Shemaraiah Bloomfield-Johnson