In St Bernadette’s we are looking forward to celebrating Catholic Education Week. As a community of faith and learning we are confident that the week of reflection and focus on the Joy of the Gospel will be an enriching experience.
The theme of Catholic Education Week is “Proclaiming the Joy of the Gospel”, based on the teachings of Pope Francis who recognises our humanity and call to Christ. We know that it isn’t easy at times to show our faith in the world. Sometimes it can be really challenging and it can take a lot of effort. But Pope Francis has reminded us that our faith in Jesus should be joyful – a source of great happiness, not a cause of embarrassment or anxiety. “Jesus understands our weaknesses and sins; and he forgives us if we allow ourselves to be forgiven.”
He encourages us to recall how, in the Gospels, those who meet Jesus are filled with joy in their hearts because of the love he shows them. The Holy Father assures us that no one is excluded from the joy brought by Jesus and that no one can take this joy from us. He invites us to be “missionary disciples” who follow Jesus and “Spirit-filled evangelisers” who proclaim the Gospel through our lives.
So, our mission during this Catholic Education Week is to consider this question:
How do we show the JOY of knowing Jesus Christ in St Bernadette’s?
In St Bernadette’s the children are encouraged to live their Faith every day and to be proud of their Faith in all they do. Our day to day living should reflect our values of Love, Faith, Forgiveness, Self-Discipline and Integrity. Our classes have been reflecting on how they can put their faith into action. Our current Primary 7 pupils have been working towards the Pope Francis Faith award over the past year. This has been a very rewarding experience for them and it is wonderful to see and hear their discussions and witness to the gospel on a daily basis in school. Mrs McIntyre the P7 teacher has commented that the children are the most knowledgeable and spiritually mature class she has worked with in P7. We are also delighted that we now have all our P6 pupils signed up to participate in the award this year. The work the children do in school reflects the ongoing Confirmation preparation work. Our children in P6 & P7 have been preparing well to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday 6th March 2015. I am sure it will be a wonderful night. We are also working with the children and parents of P3 and P4 who are preparing for Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. These events are always filled with joy and we remember that the joy comes from knowing and becoming closer to Jesus through the sacraments.
We can also reflect with pride on the very positive work we have done this year in developing our partnership with Namulenga Girls’ School in Malawi. Mrs McIntyre and I were privileged to visit in October 2014 and our overriding memory of the visit was witnessing the joy and hope of the people we met. It was very evident that whilst we could share our resources with Namulenga, we could also benefit from their spirituality and joy which was borne out of their strong faith. Our children are now able to identify much more readily with their friends in Namulenga through seeing photos, videos, letters and listening to the stories we shared. In St Bernadette’s our children can recognise that to be rich does not just mean to have material goods. We are looking forward to welcoming Mr Lameck and Mr Wales from Namulenga when they visit our school in August this year and we hope that they will return to Malawi with equally good memories and experiences.
Pope Francis has stated that faith, hope and charity are the driving force of the Christian life. Our ongoing commitment to helping others is evident once again in the very generous donations we have made to charities over the past year –
St Andrew’s Hospice £631.10
SCIAF £500.00
MISSIO £245.00
Mary’s Meals £300.00
Classrooms for Malawi £1535.00 (Namulenga Girls’ School)
Let the Children Live £100.00
British Heart Foundation £150.00
Our thanks go to all families and friends of St Bernadette’s who are so generous in their support of our charitable work.
We are very grateful for the support we receive from our parents, our Parent Council, Fr Reilly and Our Lady’s High School. We appreciate their efforts and thank them for their continuing commitment to us as we grow in faith and love within our school community.
