Each Friday Lunchtime in School we would gather at 12.20pm for Eucharistic Adoration and to recite the Rosary. We may not be able to gather in our Oratory but we can gather with our family in in unity with other members of our School Community to recite the Rosary. On the First of May, the beginning of the Month of Mary, you are invited to recite the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary for our intentions and the needs of our World.

The Fist of May is also the Feast of St Joseph the Worker and in our prayers on Friday we will also ask for his intercession and to join with us.

This link gives the prayers of the Rosary and a short reflection for each Decade. It starts with the Novena to the Sacred Heart and the Novena of Mary Undoer of Knots.

Friday Rosary 01 May 2020

On Friday 1st May we celebrate the Feast of St Joseph the Worker.

Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. The Feast builds on a long tradition linking St Joseph, dignity of work and the causes of workers. In the Book of Genesis, God commands humanity to care for his creation and they are to be stewards of the Earth. Through work humanity both fulfills the command found in Genesis to care for the earth (Gn 2:15) and to be productive in their labours.

In tradition, Joseph, the Carpenter is seen as being the best role model of conscientious work, being the first teacher of Jesus to whom he taught the trade of carpentry.

In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”

Saint Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Saviour of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”

Today, we pray for all workers and for those denied their right to work.

If you spent time researching information on the Shroud of Turin you will enjoy this fairly straightforward in balance video on the Shroud.

On Easter Morning, the three women visited the Tomb of Jesus to complete the burial rituals but were astounded to find that the tomb was empty except for the linen used to wrap the body of Jesus. We are not told what happened to this linen – we are told the great news that Jesus is risen from the dead.

However, the intriguing story of the Shroud of Turin gives us much to consider and perhaps tells us what happened to the linen from the tomb. The Shroud is a piece of linen kept in Turin Cathedral in Italy and is what we would expect a body in First Century Jerusalem to be wrapped in for burial.

The Shroud has been kept in Turin since the 14th Century. Where it was before then is uncertain though through the previous centuries, there are a number of reports of a miraculous cloth which would match the Turin Shroud.

The Shroud has an unexplained image of a man with wounds on his body which match those of someone crucified by the Romans but more specifically the wounds of Jesus as described in the Gospels. The most amazing discovery about the Shroud was made by an Italian photographer, Secondo Pia who in 1898 was allowed to photograph the Shroud and discovered that the image of the man was far clearer in his negatives of his photographs. As yet there is no accepted explanation of how these images were formed on the Shroud.

However, a 1998 carbon dating of the Shroud suggested that its origin was in the 14th Century. Many people have some concern over the validity of this carbon dating.

For many people the Turin Shroud gives a devotional insight to the Passion of Jesus. The image marks out his wounds and suffering. All accepted to save each one of us from sin.

Your task is to research and take notes about :
1. The history of the Shroud.
2. Links to First Century Palestine including the material and pollen.
3. The origin of the image.
4. The wounds on the image particularly the nail marks on the wrist and not the palm of the hands.
5. Carbon Dating.
6. What the Shroud tell us.

As Easter is the greatest Feast in the Christian Year, it is fitting that the Easter Season – Eastertide – is the longest season. This week we begin the Third Week of Easter and the emphasis remains on the Resurrection Stories. The last task we looked at examined the Empty Tomb and asked the question why was the tomb empty.

The traditional Christian Teaching is that Jesus rose physically and spiritually from the dead.

The followers of Jesus would not have taken his body as this would have been so disrespectful and they would not have considered such an act. Futhermore, access to the tomb was guarded by Roman Soldiers. The Romans and the Jewish Authorities saw Jesus as a threat and wanted his him literally dead and buried so that his followers could not make any claims. Neither would take the body.

History tells us that the tomb of Jesus was empty except for the shroud in which his body was wrapped.

The Catholic Church has a great tradition of relics of saints and many people use relics in their prayers and to support their faith. These relics can be very varied and can include small portions of materials with which the saint had contact. The term ‘first class relic’ can include the saint’s body of a portion of the body. In Rome, in the Church of San Sylvestre, you can view the skull of John the Baptist. A church in Motherwell which serves the local Polish Community treasures drops of the blood of St Pope John Paul II.

Devotion involving relics might not seem attractive to all but the concept is not that strange. Many of us will have some of the belongings to people who we love and who have died. These articles will have special meaning. Some of us may have, away in a drawer, the first tooth of the a lock of hair from our children’s first hair cut.
Such have meaning because they belong to a person we love.

Throughout the World in the Catholic Tradition there are so many relics – you may even have a small relic of your favourite saint, most likely a small article associated with them. Yet, in over 2000 years there has never been a claim worth considering about a relic from the body of Jesus. There are many relics associated with Jesus but none from the his body. He was resurrected and ascended body and soul into heaven.

Your task today.

1. Do you have a relic of a saint in your house or do your grandparents. Ask them…

2. Find out information about a relic of a saint and write a short paragraph.

Usually, some members of our School Community will gather at 12.20pm each Friday for Eucharistic Adoration and to recite the Rosary. You may like to gather as a family at 12.20pm tomorrow and recite the Rosary and hopefully other members of the School Community will also be doing this.

This link gives you the prayers of the Rosary and a short reflection for each Decade of the Glorious Mysteries. On our usual Fridays, we would start with Prayers to the Sacred Heart and say the Novena of Mary the Untier of Knots.
These are included.

Friday Rosary 24 April 2020

Work Task on The Empty Tomb.

Early on Easter Morning, three women went to finish the burial services of Jesus. As Jesus had died just before the start of the Passover on Friday Evening there was not time to complete this solemn task. As the Passover continued until sundown on the Saturday,the first opportuity was early on the Sunday. All sources and texts tell us that the tomb was empty. Why was the tomb empty when Jesus had been placed in it just a few days before?

The traditional Christian view on the Resurrection of Jesus is that Jesus rose again physically and spiritually on the Third Day. Some people will dispute this and suggest other explanations. This powerpoint and worksheet from Twinkle takes us through some of these ideas. Tommorow, our task will be to examine the traditional Christian Teaching on the Resurrection.

Tasks.

1. View the powerpoint.

2. Complete the tasks on the worksheet.

3. Check the tradional Christian Teaching on tomorrow’s post.

1 Resurrection Powerpoint

1 What Could Have Happened To Jesus’ Body Activity Sheet

Fr Paul Denny who is Curate in the Cathedral Parish of Motherwell Diocese has recommended an online course on St Thomas of Aquinas. Aquinas has always been and continues to be considered a major theologian in in the history of the Church. Staff and pupils will know Fr Denny from the talks he gave at Glasgow Faith Forum and on our recent In-Service Day for Staff.

This online course will be of value to many of our teaching staff and parents. It is also a good resource for our Senior Pupils inlcuding those who will be officially leaving our school in a few short weeks and going on to work or further studies. Mr Bradshaw recommends that the pupils who will be starting their study of Higher RMPS will find this online course invaluable.

Enrollment for the course can be found at the following link.

https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/

‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’