Guardian Angels .........
Bouquets and Flowers For Every Event...
This information is intended for parents of school-age children and teachers who are imparting Religious Education within a Catholic school environment.
PASTORAL NOTES FOR OCTOBER
The contents of these documents are related to the present day teaching of the Catholic Church in relation to Doctrine, Liturgy and Catholic practices. There are also special sections on Catholic Marriage and arranging a funeral in the Catholic Church.
For More Information Contact : tjc.chambers@gmail.com
Dates to remember:
2nd October: Guardian Angels
4th October: St. Francis of Assisi
5th October: International World Teachers' Day
7th October: Our Lady of the Rosary
11th October: 2nd Vatican Council convened in 1962
28th October: Sts. Simon & Jude
ROSARY SUNDAY (October 4th or nearest Sunday)
The Rosary is a retelling and recapturing of the events that secured our salvation and it gathers our individual histories into one. As a devotional sacramental, the Rosary prepares us to receive grace and disposes us to co-operate with the Holy Spirit. Those who pray the Rosary regularly discover that their spiritual imagination and their moral awareness are awakened: they are able to make connections between their personal circumstances, both mundane and momentous, with the great mysteries that tell the story of God's redeeming work.
What we meditate on shapes us. By what we mediate on, we are transformed. And if it is the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of God's definitive breaking into human history that we meditate upon, we will find that we have opened ourselves to truths beyond our narrow understanding and confining existence, while deepening the graced reality that already exists within.
In other words, the gospel is a great living story, and it makes us whole and holy as we let the Holy Spirit weave our own little stories into that unfolding grand tapestry we call salvation history.
WORLD TEACHERS DAY (October 5th)
(UNESCO inaugurated October 5th as World Teachers' Day in 1994)
Blessing of Students and Teachers
Lord our God, in your wisdom and love you surround us with the mysteries of the universe. In times long past you sent us your prophets to teach your laws and to bear witness to your undying love. You sent us your Son to teach us by word and example that true wisdom comes from you alone.
Send your Spirit upon these students and their teachers and fill them with your wisdom and blessings. Grant that during this academic year they may devote themselves to their studies and share what they have learned from others. Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SIMON AND JUDE (October 28th)
St Simon is usually called the "Zealot", probably because he belonged to the Jewish party of those "Zealous for the Law". Jude, also called Thaddeus or "Courageous", is the disputed author of a short epistle in the New Testament. Tradition has it that they preached in Mesopotamia and Persia and were martyred there. Their names appear in the Roman Canon.
THE LORD'S PRAYER - a reflection
Our Father, who art in heaven…
Calling God "Father" is a revolutionary thing. At the time of Jesus people addressed God as "king", "lord", "master" and other such titles. Yet Jesus teaches us that the bond between God and us is intimate, like that of a loving parent with a child. "Father" is the basis of the trust, hope and closeness that we claim in our relationship with God. God really cares about us and all fear is absent from this friendship.
We naturally think of "heaven" as up there. In fact, Jewish people often interchanged the word "God" and "heaven", hence the phrase the "kingdom of heaven". The vast blue skies do not imply that God is in a distant place, but that his presence is limitless.
…hallowed be thy name…
Because God is really the only person to be holy, (in fact God is holiness itself), we ask that his name be held holy (hallowed) by all those who call upon it. Making God's name holy means seeing that to it that there is nothing in our lives that is not a credit to God, nothing that God cannot put his name to. It means recognising that our actions should display the holiness of the God whom we reverence. God deserves his good name and his children should reflect him well.
…thy kingdom come…
The territory of God's kingdom is people's hearts. It is a reign rather than a realm. If all the hearts of men and women grow in the way that God intends, then it will affect the shape of society. The rule of God (living according to God's plan) will hold sway and this will alter the world in which we live by putting forward values that are God-filled rather than those that are Godless and motivated by self-interest. God's kingdom is already here in germ, because of the teachings of Jesus, but those who are baptised have to engage in promoting it by co-operating with the Holy Spirit in the way they live. In this way God builds up the kingdom by building us into it.
…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
God's will or plan for the world is that we should all be one. To pray for God's will to be done is to ask for the strength to be used in God's service whatever the cost and whatever our own wishes might be. It means bending ourselves, becoming supple to the call of God and being prepared for suffering and even death. The will of God is that the attitudes and motives of those who are in heaven may be replicated among those of us here on earth. When we see the obedience that won heaven for the saints, our prayer is "So be it with us".
…Give us this day our daily bread…
Bread refers to all that sustains us, not only food but clothing, shelter, companionship and the security of life itself. To pray this phrase means to acknowledge that although we live off the fruits of the earth and the sweat of our brow, nevertheless it is God who is the ultimate provider. As we bring before God all our daily cares and concerns, our hopes and our fears, we recognise that we are dependent upon him and that just because we buy bread from the supermarket does not make it any less God's gift.
…and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…
Christians are baptised primarily so that they can be forgiven and forgive. It is part of God's nature to forgive since God does not wish to see anything he has created go to waste. God's forgiveness is never partial or provisional; it completely blots out the past and wipes the slate clean. But there is one condition to it: we are forgiven to the degree that we are prepared to forgive others…forgive us "AS" we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Ultimately we have no power to forgive but only to forego our right to redress, since all forgiveness is God's. As a result we pray that we may make that forgiveness visible to all those in our remit, so that we too may enjoy pardon and reconciliation with God.
…and lead us not into temptation…
God would never actively lead us into an occasion of sin. Yet such things do exist and we know that unless God himself steers our path through the dangers of this world, we shall stumble and fall into ruin. It may take the form of over-confidence in my own strengths, presumption about my spiritual status or sheer ignorance of what I am getting myself into. But we need to ask God to make us aware of the dangers that can threaten us and not allow us to be led into areas that would test us, perhaps beyond our limits.
…but deliver us from evil.
In our heart of hearts we each know that there is the potential within us to commit an act that would tear our lives apart, drag us down and ruin us. It may be a sin, it may be meanness of spirit or it may be simply giving up. In whatever form, evil can take hold of us and transform the way we think and behave. Only a person who is truly aware of this possibility can really pray to be delivered from evil. We need to be aware of our own vulnerability, whatever it may be, and to pray that God will give us the strength to steer clear of areas that ultimately might weaken our faith and resolve to serve him with the fullness of our lives.
Do you see yourself
as others see you?
In Greek theatre, actors who played the parts of the different characters had a special name. They were called hypocrites. Hypocrite did not imply any lack of sincerity on their behalf. It was simply the Greek word for the job they did on stage.
And they never needed to spend hours in the make-up room. Instead of getting themselves into character with greasepaint they wore a mask instead. This mask could be tied on or it might be held in front of the face on a short stick, like participants at a masked ball. So the mask told you if they were a hero or a villain.
Jesus uses the word hypocrite to describe the Scribes and Pharisees because they do not practise what they preach. They are the leading lights in a movement to teach the religious Law and regulate how people live their life. Yet Jesus says they appear to be offering help when in fact they are only making life more burdensome for people. What's more, they are quite fond of being given honour for what they do when they should really be the servants of the people.
Religious people are prone to hypocrisy. In fact, that's the criticism that's often levelled against those who go to church by those who don't. It's easy to think that we must automatically be better than those who do not outwardly seem to be living the life that God asks of us. Of course, there's always room for a few more hypocrites in church, since those who complain about us often display a similar hypocrisy in their lack of commitment.
At the heart of this hypocrisy is a lack of humility. We do not practise our religion as a result of being good. We practise it because we know how needy we are and how much we depend on God even for the little about us that is of value. Humility means acting with our real faces on view, with no mask. It means accepting that all of our achievements, all of our skills and our tendencies to goodness are first and foremost the result of God's initiative and grace. So as we settle into our bench today we are reminded that all we have comes from God and we cannot claim to be better than anyone else due to our own merits. Only if we have this humility will we be exalted in God's eyes. Otherwise we are simply holding up a mask against reality and waiting for the hypocrites' curtain call.
THE EDGE OF LIFE
There is much discussion today about the treatment of people who have become seriously affected by illness, whether they are young or old. Statutes seek to legislate, among other things, for what level of treatment should be afforded to people when they reach the stage where they can no longer speak for themselves.
Christians believe that no one has the right to deprive people of treatment when this implies the deliberate deprivation of human life through starvation or direct action. Perhaps it was most elegantly summed up by Pope John Paul II both in his final weeks of illness and in his forceful defence of the vulnerable when he said:
"Human life is a precious gift to be loved and defended in each of its stages. The Commandment 'You shall not kill' always requires respecting and promoting human life, from its beginning to its natural end. It is a command that applies even in the presence of illness and when physical weakness reduces the person's ability to be self-reliant."
RESENTMENT
A natural reaction that we have is to resent or resist whatever it is that confronts us. Sometimes we can even deny that there is a problem. We hobble along trying to ignore what is happening to us. We can feel numb. We end up complaining, "Why me?" "What have I done to deserve this?" Resentment, particularly when we feel betrayed, only serves to destroy us from the inside by creating bitterness. It diminishes us. We become lesser people, less open and more defensive.
We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate; it oppresses. (Jung)
RESIGNATION
After a while people become resigned to what has happened to them. This can be good or bad. It's good if it means that they accept the situation and no longer carry around anger and bitterness. But sometimes we can turn ourselves into walking victims. "There's nothing I can do about it; I might as well just give in." This can make us passive, uninvolved and with a sense of worthlessness. Such a feeling is far from the gospel and the value we know that God attaches to every person. God is able to draw a straight line even with the crookedness of our lives. Yet we also know that unless we "get real" about the truth of our situation we cannot move on.
For those who love God, who are called in his plan, everything works out for good. And God himself chose them to bear the likeness of his Son, that he might be the first of many brothers. (Enrico Garzilli, hymn text based on Romans.)
