1. TEACHER’S NOTES
ADVENT ASSEMBLY WEEK TWO – Peace
This presentation lasts up to 20 minutes. Though we’d recommend you deliver the whole assembly, please feel free to use the material as time and circumstances allow.
This PowerPoint uses animations, it is advisable to run through the assembly before you present to your students.
This and corresponding Advent assemblies are prepared by Missio, the Pope’s official charity for overseas mission. Missio is the only Catholic charity which assists the 40% of the global Catholic Church too young or too poor to support itself. Missio works in over 1,000 dioceses around the world in 157 countries. Its mission is to follow Christ’s example – helping everyone in need, regardless of background or belief.
Through lived examples in this assembly, pupils can see how Missio is supporting Church-backed projects around the world that are witnessing to God’s great love for us all, especially: the poorest, the marginalised, and the most vulnerable.

2. ADVENT
ADVENT (NOUN) – a coming into place, view, or being From Latin ‘adventus’: an approach, arrival.
ADVENT WEEK TWO. You may wish to omit the following INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL ABOUT ADVENT’S DEFINITION AND ADVENT WREATHS if you have already used MISSIO’S WEEK ONE ADVENT ASSEMBLY.
Explain to students that this assembly is going to help us find out more about the season of Advent.
Question: Ask students if they know what the word ‘advent’ means and where else they might have heard it.
Click on the PowerPoint for a definition of the word ‘advent’.
ADVENT (NOUN) – a coming into place, view, or being.
From Latin ‘adventus’: an approach, arrival.
In the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we await in hope the arrival of Jesus. Through the season of Advent, the Church uses many signs and symbols to help us understand the significance of God becoming one of us, through the birth and mission of Jesus.
One of the most recognised symbols is the Advent wreath.
The Advent wreath is an ancient symbol of the Christian’s journey towards Christmas and her or his own journey of faith. Every element of the wreath communicates something special about these journeys.
Its circular shape represents God’s eternal loving presence; there is no beginning and no end to God.
The evergreen leaves, which never fade in colour, signify God’s constancy.
The candles represent hope, peace, joy, love, and the light of Christ, which shatters all darkness.
You can see that three of the candles on the wreath are purple. In the Catholic Church the colour purple symbolises new beginnings and times of change.
Indeed, the birth of Jesus was to bring about enormous change across the world, over time, and in our lives.

3. Week Two – Peace An Advent reading from the prophet Jeremiah 33:14-17
I will make a righteous Branch grow from David,
Who shall practise justice and integrity in the land…
And all those dwelling in the land shall rest in safety.
This and corresponding Missio Advent assemblies employ scriptural readings from the liturgical season. These help pupils consider how the weeks leading up to Christmas help us to prepare for the gift of God’s love to the entire world, made present in the birth of Christ at Christmas.
On the second week of Advent we light the second candle, representing peace.
In Advent, the Church has carefully selected readings from the Bible that help Catholics around the world journey towards Christmas. Today’s reading is taken from the prophet Jeremiah, who lived around 600 years before Jesus, at a time of conflict amongst the people.
Jeremiah was a gentle and just prophet who tried hard to encourage people to follow God’s loving ways. Sadly, in a time when strength and status were worshipped far more than God, Jeremiah’s efforts were often ridiculed. His hope then lay with the birth of a messiah who would successfully lead the people in the way of peace. Jeremiah’s vision of the Messiah is illustrated in today’s Advent reading. Listen carefully so as to identify how Jeremiah’s vision could be seen to predict the arrival of Jesus.
You are encouraged to read out the entire passage (see below), however on the presentation slide only the last lines are shown. Click to reveal.
An Advent reading from the Prophet Jeremiah 33:14-17
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I am going to fulfil the promise I made
to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:
‘In those days and at the right time,
I will make a righteous Branch grow from David,
Who shall practise justice and integrity in the land…
And all those dwelling in the land shall rest in safety.
The Word of the Lord.

4. What is Peace? PASA – cord or bond
SHALOM – to restore
PEACE (NOUN) – freedom from war and violence, especially when people live and work together happily without disagreements.
Jeremiah was known as a man of peace. But what does that actually mean? What does the word ‘peace’ mean?
Click to reveal one definition of ‘peace’.
Often to have a better understanding of a word, it helps to go back to its linguistic roots, to where the word came from. The study of the origin of words is called etymology and is a little like how going back to the Old Testament scriptures helps us to understand Jesus better.
Click to reveal ‘PASA’ and ‘SHALOM’
The English word peace, stems from the ancient Sanskrit word ‘pasa’ which means cord or bond. In addition our word ‘peace’ is also a translation of the Hebrew word ‘shalom’ which means to restore.
Hebrew was a language used by Jesus, so he will have known that ‘shalom’ is a verb. And what is a verb? It’s a word used to describe an action. Peace, then, for Jesus is something we create.
The best way to illustrate this is to take a rope, a rope that represents peace between people, then cut this rope.
The rope, the bond, remains broken unless we do what? Ask for suggestions.
Unless we take action, unless we tie it back together.
Click to reveal image
We create peace. We restore broken bonds.

5. Peace be upon You Mercy Listening Dialogue Practical help
SALAAM – peace, justice, health, safety, well-being.
Mercy
Listening
Shalom is also linked to the Arabic word salaam. In Arabic we hear the word salaam in the greeting ‘As-salāmu ʻalaykum’ which means peace be upon you.
As well as peace, the word salaam also has other meanings including justice, health, safety, and well-being. Thus a peaceful person isn’t just someone who seeks an end to conflict but one who also seeks justice, unity, and the good of all.
Sadly, there are many people in the world who live without peace or justice. These aren’t just people in warring countries. It can also be people living in poverty, or others very close to us whose homes might be marked by fights and arguments.
If confronted with conflict, what do you think are the best ways to restore peace?
(Five are listed on the PowerPoint. Ask if your students can identify them before they appear, in the style of ‘Family Fortunes’.)
Mercy – Asking for and granting forgiveness, and acting with compassion/empathy.
Active listening – Making a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try to understand the complete message being sent through body language and tone also. You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you, or by forming counterarguments that you'll make when the other person stops speaking.
Dialogue – An exchange of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, especially a political or religious issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement. To cooperate and discuss with mutual respect in order to resolve conflict.
Practical Help – Finding ways to relieve situations that cause stress e.g. offering to clean the house.
Prayer and Reflection – Asking God to grant you patience and wisdom, so as to understand a situation better. Turning to scripture for guidance, especially the Gospels, to discover how best to respond.
Dialogue
Practical help
Prayer & Reflection

6. Peace in Rwanda
Jesus taught clearly that all of us can be witnesses who can bring peace and help restore broken bonds. We can do this not only for those living around us but also for those living far away and who we may never meet such as the people in the African country of Rwanda, who the Pope’s charity Missio provides hope and support for
Question: Does anyone know anything about Rwanda or the events that happened there in 1994?
Answer: Rwanda is a country mostly populated by two groups of people, the Tutsi and Hutu. Although these two groups lived and worked and studied together pretty well, there was long-standing discord and mistrust between them because of injustices that happened in the past.
Whenever there is injustice and resentment that is not dealt with, whenever action is not taken to repair broken bonds, it is easy to create enemies and have people speak and act cruelly. This is what happened in Rwanda, when in 1994 over a period of just 100 days, around 800,000 Tutsis were attacked and killed by their Hutu countryfolk.
Concile and Paschal’s story illustrates this well. Click to reveal image.

7. Peace for Concile
This is Concilie (on left). Before the genocide she lived happily with her husband, a Tutsi, and their eleven children. In April 1994 Concilie’s life was changed for ever when at the start of the conflict a group of young Hutu men, all of whom were Concilie’s neighbours, attacked her family. Though Concilie’s life was spared, as she too was a Hutu, her husband and all their eleven children were killed.
Memories of this terrifying experience meant that even after the conflict and killings ended Concilie and tens of thousands like her failed to find a sense of peace. The situation became even worse when Hutus who had been sent to prison for war crimes were released and returned back to the towns in which they’d killed friends and neighbours.
The man you see in the photograph clutching Concilie’s hand is one such ex-prisoner. He is Paschal, the same Paschal who as a teenager in 1994 was involved in the killing of Concilie’s family. Over the last few years Concilie and Paschal have not only become friends, but she cares for him like a son. It’s an extraordinary image of an extraordinary story.
Question: What do you think made possible Concilie and Paschal’s extraordinary journey towards peace?

8. Peace through Faith Jesus said; ‘Love your enemies, do good to them…
Like many others in Rwanda, Concilie and Paschal have been helped in their journey to find peace and mercy through the support of the Pope’s charity Missio.
The priest in this photograph on the right is Father Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, Concile and Paschal’s parish priest. Fr Emmanuel is also a survivor of the genocide. He was eighteen when the fighting broke out and, having lost two of his own brothers, he has dedicated his life to offering emotional, practical and spiritual support to help the people of Rwanda heal their wounds the same way he was able to – through faith in a loving God and with the help of a supportive community.
Father Emmanuel and the Church offer counselling and reconciliation programmes to anyone in the community, Hutu or Tutsi. Both Concile and Paschal took part in them. These counselling and reconciliation programmes are funded by Missio, as is the building of new community centres and churches, where people such as Concile and Paschal can come together to support one another with, and through, prayer and practical help. The photograph on the right showing Fr Emmanuel also shows members of his parish, Hutu and Tutsi, working together to lay the foundations for their new church.
Question: What do you think motivates Father Emmanuel and his team of helpers in their work to restore peace and unity? (e.g. faith, prayer, sense of justice, love of the people/country)
For Father Emmanuel, it is his commitment to living Christ’s Gospel which is his greatest motivation. Challenging words such as these from Jesus – (Click to reveal) – inspire him. Could they inspire us too?
Jesus said; ‘Love your enemies, do good to them.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged.’
Jesus said;
‘Love your enemies, do good to them…
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’
Luke 6:

9. Instruments of Peace Where there is darkness, let me be light;
where there is sadness,
let me bring joy.
not seek to be understood,
but to understand;
Lord, grant that I may not seek to be comforted,
but to comfort;
Where there is doubt,
let me show faith;
where there is despair,
let me give hope.
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
where there is hurt,
let me bring mercy.
Lord, make me an instrument
of your peace.
For it is in giving
that we receive;
it is in forgiving
that we are forgiven;
it is in dying
that we are born
to eternal life.
not seek to be loved,
but to love.
Just as Jesus brought peace to those who were troubled – the sick, the poor, the mistreated – so we can too.
Question: Can you think of people who might lack peace in our world today? (Suggestions might be victims of war, refugees, the poor.)
Let’s bring these people to mind and in silence ask God to help them today. (Pause for reflection)
Perhaps there are those amongst us in our school, in our communities, amongst our friends whose lives lack peace. In silence we ask God to help them too. (Pause for reflection)
Although in our prayers we ask God to grant peace to others, it’s important to remember that God works primarily through us.
Especially at Christmas we remember how God was made man in Jesus, so we could learn through him how best to find peace and joy in our lives. One way Jesus showed us how to do this is by considering the needs of others. A message is captured in the well-known prayer of St Francis. Let’s finish by reading it together…
The prayer is revealed on the screen in stages and so requires multiple clicks.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is hurt, let me bring mercy.
Where there is doubt, let me show faith;
where there is despair, let me give hope.
Where there is darkness, let me be light;
where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may not seek to be comforted but to comfort;
not seek to be understood but to understand;
not seek to be loved but to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in forgiving that we are forgiven;
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

10. Follow up teacher’s notes – You can help restore peace in Rwanda and in other countries affected by conflict, by supporting Missio’s reconciliation projects overseas. You and your school can do this through prayer but also by raising much needed funds.
Missio is a charity that relies entirely on public donations
It receives no funding from the UK Government
Only 4% of its income is spent on administration
Missio works ‘Local Church to Local Church’, ensuring that money goes where the need is greatest
Donations go directly to the local bishops – this ensures that funds are distributed promptly
Local parish communities globally request assistance for their project from their bishop and must make a local contribution be that through practical help or financial support
Missio respects and promotes the cultures of the people with whom we work and offers our brothers and sisters both faith and development.
Missio education welcomes feedback and suggestions on this assembly and other resources. Please contact us by through: