For May Eucharist, the Grade 5 students provide the homily. This year the class reflected on a passage from Acts 2:14, Acts 2:36-42, Psalm 116:10-17 and Luke 24:13-35. As these students finish their last weeks as students of Trinity School, all of the teachers and personnel who have loved them and taught them take comfort and a little pride in their wisdom.
Sabrina: In Psalm 116:10-17 the lesson is to be a servant to the Lord. No, not like a servant who fans people and brings food; a servant who obeys the Lord, believes in the Lord, loves the Lord, and helps the Lord. Why should you be a servant to the Lord? Like Peter did in Acts 2:36-42, you should speak up and be a leader, even if you weren’t the original leader of a group. Tell your group what is right.”
Cole: Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” I think he meant that Jesus will forgive all the bad things you’ve done, and that God can forgive anyone. The advice based on this passage is to always forgive. Maybe sometimes you cannot forgive someone who has done many horrible things, and in that case God would decide if he or she shall be forgiven.
Toni: In this passage, I think the apostles actually start believing in themselves and that they could do what Jesus did. They healed the sick, convinced people to change their ways, and cleansed people of their sins. It’s kind of like if one of your friends was class president and moved away and you had to take their place, and after a month or so you finally start believing in yourself.
Will: I think that even if you don’t realize it, Jesus is always with us. For example, when two of Jesus’s disciples were talking about the death of Jesus, sad and mourning, a stranger appeared and started talking about the gospel and after a while they regained hope. I myself have had experiences when I felt hopeless, like with middle school, but in the end it turned out great. As my mom always says: “God was with us.” Because of this, I will never lose hope.
Rainier: Why did Jesus go to those two specific disciples? I think Jesus went to those disciples because they were the first to leave Jerusalem. The two disciples left Jerusalem like we are leaving 5th grade. When we do leave the fifth grade, Jesus will come too, in our hearts. When Jesus died, they had to step up and continue with what Jesus did. He had risen and then he went to heaven, but He will live as long as we love.
Cynthia: I think that when Jesus took the bread and blessed it, the two men realized that the “stranger” was Jesus because they knew that’s what Jesus did during the last supper. I think that everyone can relate to this. You can be doing something bad and you don’t even realize it. But then your conscience can recognize that you are doing something bad just like the two men realized that the “stranger” was Jesus.
Dylan: I think the disciples recognized Jesus because the last thing he said was “take this for the remembrance of me.” Also he only came to the disciples at meals. I think that is really cool. I also think that the disciples’ sympathy helped bring Jesus back. It is cool that Jesus was risen from the “dead”.
Isaac: When Jesus was alive, disciples were kind of like bystanders, on the sidelines, but when Jesus died they had to step up and continue on with what he did. I think it is like how the fifth graders have been standing on the sidelines in a way. We have seen lots of other fifth graders leave and now it’s our turn. We’ll never really leave like Jesus never really left.
James: I made a connection about middle school from the Psalms verse: I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” I didn’t get into any of the schools I wanted, and I was really sad. My mom told me to keep my faith and now I’m fine with going to a new school. And even though I didn’t get into any of the schools I wanted, public school will be a great opportunity to make new friends.
Gary: Never stop believing in Jesus, friends, family, and yourself. You will never accomplish anything in life if you don’t believe in yourself. Your friends and family will stay with you your whole life. Just like everything you have learned at school will be a part of your life. Trinity and Jesus teach somewhat the same thing, how to love one another. Always believe and never ever give up at anything you have started.
Emma: Jesus probably said…don’t be scared and keep teaching the children of God and do good deeds like all things I did. For example good deeds you could do are to help people when they need help, call a teacher when something is wrong that you can’t fix, and to always have a positive attitude.
Spencer: My advice for the younger students based on these verses is to have faith in yourself, take care of yourself, and always take risks and sacrifice for the greater good, like Jesus did. Love your friends and your family. Also, think about what everyone has done for you and thank them.
Karen: Jesus’s death wasn’t just for Jews or Christians, but for everyone. Jesus was both God and man, and God was his father. When we die, we go to God, and so did Jesus. Jesus had to die to take away all our sins so we can go to heaven to see his father. We all sin, so Jesus died for all of us. When Jesus died, he rose again to show God’s glory and how powerful God is.
Lucas: The advise I would like to give to you is that if you are sad about something – keep going. If someone died, do what they would want you to do. Like when Jesus died, the disciples kept teaching and did what he wanted them to do.
Lauren: God is truly amazing and he can do anything. You should never lose faith in God. Also, if something bad happens that doesn’t mean it can’t turn itself around and become a good thing. Before Jesus died he told his disciples to keep having faith and to keep spreading the word about God. And that’s the same for us. We need to continue having faith and spreading the word.
Nicky: I think the verses mean, at a deep level, that Jesus is never really gone. He came back and visited the disciples for a few weeks after he was killed, then ascended to heaven. I think he’s still with us though he’s in our hearts. To bring him out all we have to do is help bring peace and do good deeds. Then we will have good memories from Trinity. So when we leave Trinity we will never really leave, like how Jesus never really left Earth.