De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

This week I decided to base my weekly Wednesday assembly here in school around the video to Switchfoot's uplifting, inspiring classic, "Dare You To Move" and a favourite passage of mine from St. Paul quickly came to mind: " Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me... All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upward to receive in Christ Jesus." (Ph 3:12-14) Here's the video (can't embed it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyMsT2zzJM The video to the song reflects this idea very well with a young man running against a tide of people coming the other way. He gets smacked and buffeted, knocked to the ground, yet he continually picks himself back up and carries on running. I think the following idea from the song is also very Pauline: The te...

Great new song + video from one of my favourite bands: Crowded House, led by the wonderful Neil Finn. Good to have you back, guys!

Here's another clip I've put together (with the same music! I know, I'm lazy but it fits so well, plus it is a song that got to No. 5 in the Top 40 in England over Easter thanks to a concerted Facebook campaign to try and get a Christian song No. 1 for Easter = a re-release of Delirious' 1997 song "History Maker"). This time the clip is made up of just photos from our Senegal trip. For a high def version go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7b9iQbhYSU and click on "360p", then select "720p".

Here's a little presentation I was asked to put together for a De La Mennais Brothers dvd to commemorate the 150th anniversary of our Founder, Jean-Marie De La Mennais's death. The theme of the whole dvd is "Sow abundantly", the idea relating to the actions of the sower in the Parable of the Sower, who, in throwing his seed in all directions, gives as much chance as possible for the seed to take root. This parallels the actions of the Christian educator in that we are called to sow God's love in the hearts of young people, and to help them to grow in every aspect of their nature, offering a variety of activties and experiences to this end. The young people will respond differently to such experiences, but hopefully all will, in some way, be touched by the love of God that we desire to share with them. The bulk of the clip is made up of photos from the life of our schools and communities here in England (Liverpool + Southampton), highlighting some of the activities...

I love this over at one of my sister Mo's 3 (yes, 3) blogs... and that really is Jude Law with her and my other sister, Helen. Mo lives in New Orleans, the home of Jazz. Helen was over from England visiting her at the time. JAZZ FEST Listening to international and local stars of music for a whole day — $50.00 Eating incredible New Orleans food — $30.00 Meeting Jude Law — Priceless Ah…memories! I didn’t make it this year, but there’s always next year. Last Year at Jazz Fest (2009) « Only good things

More details will follow, but here for now is a little heads-up about my next adventure: Sponsored cycle to help rebuild our 11 schools in Haiti = Southampton to Berlin - 8 days, 850 miles (May 29th - June 5th). On my way to Lourdes in 2004 I'm not doing a JustGiving.com page this time (various reasons), so if anyone out there does wish to sponsor me they can post a cheque made out to "Brothers Of Christian Instruction": Bro. James Hayes St. Mary's Community 57, Midanbury Lane, Bitterne Park, Southampton SO18 4DJ ALL money will go straight to our global ASSIFIC charity fund and from there to our Haiti Province for the rebuilding program. Thank you + God bless.