“Education cannot be neutral. It is either positive or negative; either it enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens, even corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of many ingredients. This is why there are so many subjects — because development is the results of different elements that act together and stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on.”  Pope Francis message May 10, 2014 

This Week Let us include in our prayers….. 

• Those who work in and support Catholic Education. May we give thanks and blessings to all staff, volunteers, parents and friends who are workers in the field of God’s garden. 
• Those living in uncertainty as a result of Coid-19: those in lock down; the vulnerable in aged-care; those on the streets; those who are unemployed. May we, where we are able, be a pillar of support for those who are wavering.  

Sunday’s Gospel- 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Please find shared in this week’s newsletter: the Sunday prayer at home which has some wonderful resources to unpack this week’s readings in a family friendly way.   

This week’s Gospel is another Parable and shows how God, who is totally heedful of us, knows that we can live a half-life, worried about ourselves, our families, the futures, a pandemic, this constant worry can so consume us that there is no more time to actually just sit back, live, and enjoy all the blessings that we actually have.  

We know that when we have a bowl of soup and a piece of fresh bread shared with friends it is better, richer fare than a four course meal, eating when our hearts are disturbed or if we have no one to share it with.  Food is a metaphor for life. How we live depends on our nourishment. Should we also be looking at how we nourish our spirit? Where do we find food for our soul?   

As God so generously feeds us, so to must we in turn share this food with others, as the disciples did in this week’s reading. What has been given to us freely so we must in turn give freely to others. Let us set the challenge to ourselves this week to turn towards others in our lives and see how we can show mercy, compassion, kindness, and peace.  Reading Reflections 

Week 4 Whole School Liturgy 

We are very excited that Fr Dariusz will be available to join us for a liturgy of the word this Friday at 9am. We will be focusing this week on both our patron Saint St Mary of the Cross Mackillop and Catholic Education Week.  The students will be reflecting on how they can be the hands of Mary, and make pledges about what need they are going to do something about, to reflect Mary’s pledge to ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’.  It will be wonderful to see these pledges on display at our liturgy on Friday.  As Mary is our first Australian born canonised saint, who took bold new directions in education and care of children, we pray this week that many young people in our communities may embrace her spirit. 

With the Feast of Mary of the Cross MacKillop, it is timely to listen deeply to her wisdom as it reverberates through our current context.  Mary was a woman of tremendous strength as those who knew her attest.  

“Mother Mary was a noble woman, blessed with rare vision and holiness. Where the glory to God and duty to others were concerned she was full of moral courage, fearing no human opinion, always acting according to the dictates of conscience.” (Sister M Helena McCarthy, Tokaanu, NZ. 1 December 1925 p. 71. Excerpts taken from Memories of Mary by those who knew her, Sisters of St Joseph 1925-1926.)  

May St Joseph smile on you,  

Meg Newell 

APRE/CST