Share the following prayer service from Marriage and Holy Orders: Your Call to Love and Serve with your students. It is especially appropriate for juniors preparing to be seniors and seniors at the time of graduation.
The last semesters of high school are filled with planning for the next stage in life. Which college will you attend? Which career will you prepare for? What will it be like to leave family and friends at home? How will you grow in a personal and adult faith? These are only some of the questions to consider on a regular basis. Pray often for a smooth transition from high school. Keep Christ close to your heart as you make these important decisions. On several occasions, pray using the following format.
Call to Prayer for Seniors in High School
Pray the following words or choose some similar words of your own. Construct your prayer around some specific situations arising in your final months, weeks, and days as a senior in high school.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Be with me today in my studies.
Improve my work habits.
Help me to learn to relax when taking exams so that I am able to test to my potential.
When I apply to colleges, allow me the chance to show the “real me” to those who make decisions.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Allow me to appreciate my friends.
Give me a moment to see their goodness.
Help me to be always faithful to these dear people I have grown up with since childhood.
Always give me the opportunity to stay close to my friends,
whether we are physically near or far apart.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Continue to inspire my teachers, counselors, and coaches who have inspired me.
In these last days of high school, give me the courage to truly follow their lessons.
Allow me the inspiration to thank them for their gifts with sincere appreciation.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Bless my parents and family.
They are everything to me.
They have modeled for me your life and love.
Keep them healthy and happy for many more years.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Help me find my way to my loving Father through his Son.
Share with me a sign of my calling.
Give me good ears to listen to your voice.
Give me the strength to follow your lead.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Slowly and prayerfully read the following Gospel passage from John 14:15-21. How is God with you now? How will you stay close to God after you graduate from high school? Listen carefully to Jesus’ words.
A reading from the Gospel of John.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection Questions for High School Seniors
Read through the entire list of questions. Then go back and choose one question to spend time with in greater detail. Listen to what God is saying to you. Take notes in a notebook or prayer journal. Choose another question on a different occasion. Form your own questions having to do with your transition from high school. As your answers change, write your new answers.
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What are my goals for my senior year in high school?
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How can I better express my true self to my family and friends?
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To whom do I need to say I am sorry?
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Where do I see myself in five years?
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What are my God-given talents?
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How might I use my talents in a career?
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How can I show my family I appreciate their love and care?
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What do I need to do to learn to be more independent?
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How can I improve my faith-life?
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What can I do to be more active in the Church?
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What kind of Catholic will I be when I get out of high school?
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Who do I want to become?
Act of Hope
Pray an Act of Hope for your future life in college using these traditional words.
O God,
I hope with complete trust that you will give me,
through the merits of Jesus Christ, all necessary graces in this world
and everlasting life in the world to come,
for this is what you have promised
and you always keep your promises.
Amen.
