With Sharee Thomas 

All Saints Sunday

Saints are sometimes regarded as ‘Catholic superheroes’. Stories of miraculous and remarkable deeds abound, though more in the vein of conversions and cures than speeding bullets and tall buildings. But to get caught up on the Saints of the stained glass windows is to overlook the vast majority of saints. You see, a saint is anybody whose soul is in heaven. The Church celebrates a certain number of Saints whose lives provide a glimpse of God for the rest of the Church. But there are many, many more saints whose glimpse of God was only ever experienced by their family, friends and those with whom they worked. The feast of ALL Saints is an opportunity to remember and reflect on the lives of those saints who’ve been known and loved by just a few and whose sphere of influence was such that they will never be recognised as Saints by the universal Church.

This Sunday's gospel, the Beatitudes, from the Sermon on the Mount describes perfectly those ‘lower case s’ saints we celebrate in this feast day. The Beatitudes are sometimes referred to in parallel with the Ten Commandments. However, the Beatitudes are not ‘rules’ or ‘instructions’ for life as the Commandments are. They are more in line with a strategy that today we would call ‘positive reinforcement’. They celebrate those who respond to God’s call through particular attitudes towards life and towards others. Jesus presents them to the disciples and the crowd as images to inspire imitation. They’re not hard and fast rules for life, but attitudes for life; the Be-Attitudes, so to speak. Those who live with these attitudes in this life are to be celebrated – ‘Happy are you’ – for they will be saints. They will be welcomed into communion with God in heaven.

 (Gospel Reflection by Greg Sunter)

MISSION MONTH- SIDE SHOW ALLEY

October every year is World Mission Month. During this time we are asked by the Church, and in conjunction with Catholic Mission, to  ‘Sock it to Poverty’ and reach out to give life.

This year our focus is Cambodia and The Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, in Northwest Cambodia, who have been assisting people with disabilities for over 20 years. Bishop Enrique “Kike” Figaredo founded initiatives like the Arrupe Centre in 2001 to specifically help children with disabilities to access education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.

On Wednesday in the afternoon, our Year 6 students will be running our annual ‘Side Show Alley’ with lots of stalls and fun things to do in order to raise some much needed funds for the people of Cambodia.

Please remind your children to bring in their loose change (5c, 10c, 20c and 50c pieces) so they can participate in the fun.

Have a great week!