Our school is a community that promotes social justice and opportunity for all. Pope Francis said in January 2018 that education should –
“Train young people to be open and interested in the reality that surrounds them, capable of care and tenderness, free from the widespread prejudice where you must be competitive, aggressive, and hard towards others, especially towards those who are different.”
The theme for Education Sunday is “Catholic Schools: Serving The Common Good”. This newsletter highlights some examples of the ways in which our school puts into practice Catholic Social Teaching and how our pupils “Serve the Common Good”.
Human Dignity
Through the mission and aims of our school, we are challenged to not simply think about ourselves all of the time, but to put others first. We are taught to do as Jesus asked and “love our neighbour as ourselves”. In our classrooms, through our charity work, and during our school prayers and liturgies, our pupils are developing into young adults who are discovering their vocation and learning what it means to be at the service of others.
The Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award encourages young people in the final years of secondary school to respond to God’s call of love (“Caritas”) through serving others. It celebrates the faith witness which young people can give within their homes, schools, parishes and local communities.
Inspired by the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI, and dedicated to him, the Caritas Award is an initiative which builds on his conviction that “the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism can offer new hope to the world”. Those who are presented with their awards will be able to take pride that they have responded well to the words of the Holy Father:
“Do not be afraid to make a commitment, to face hard work and sacrifice, to choose the paths that demand fidelity and constancy, humility and dedication.”
This year our 23 S6 participants have been involved in a whole range of activities where they can pray and reflect on their faith journey while serving their ‘neighbours’. These include leading prayer services in our newly refurbished Oratory and fully participating in parish life.
At the beginning of May we prepare for our exams by celebrating Mass together to allow us to praise God and keep close relationship with him during our stressful times of exams. This enables us to focus and keep calm in order to perform as best we can under exam conditions. In June each year we welcome our new P7 pupils with a full programme in school including the celebration of Holy Mass.
Our staff Pastoral group meet regularly to discuss and plan both liturgical and charitable events throughout the school year. This supports the underlying Catholic values across the curriculum.
At the end of our inservice day on Ash Wednesday, the wider cluster will gather in Sacred Heart Church for the celebration of Mass and the distribution of ashes. This cluster approach allows us to come together to praise God and begin our Lenten journey as a wider community of Catholic teachers. Also during the season of Lent and Advent staff participate in an afterschool reflection in the school Oratory to allow time to reflect on the season, scripture and their own lives.
A group of pupils proudly represented the school at the annual High Schools Mass in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow. This wonderful celebration of the Eucharist allowed us to join the wider Catholic Community to praise God, in celebration of our unique identity as Catholic Schools and 100 years of Catholic Education with state governance. Pupils enjoyed some pizza together before leaving the school at 6pm and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful Mass.
Care for God’s creation is an important part of our school life. We show this by our many practices that promote global environmental awareness throughout many parts of the curriculum in RE we pay particular attention at times to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si which has the subtitle “On Care for Our Common Home.” Our Catholic ethos exhibits a care for God’s creation as we strive to treat one another as we would treat Christ. Kindness, fairness and respect underpin our everyday interactions.
S4 enjoyed a series of talks delivered by The Scottish Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) relating to the sanctity of life and abortion.
2018/19 also is the 50th anniversary of OLHS. Our school Oratory has been refurbished with a new fresh colour scheme radiating the colour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our recently installed projector adds a dynamic that will allow a fuller use and more flexibility in our reflections using 21st century mediums.
Full liturgical use of the Oratory is embedded in our school year with each class visiting during Advent, Lent, the month of May (month of Our Lady), the month of October (month of the Holy Rosary) and November (month of the Holy Souls). Through our RE curriculum we are promoting the Oratory as the heart of the school where pupils can seek peace and reflection whenever possible during their busy days. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was offered during Advent and Lent and pupils speak positively about restoring their relationships with God.
The Salesian Sisters in their school programme ‘URspace’ will deliver S3 retreats during the season of Lent 2018. The theme for these retreats will be reconciliation, and we are delighted to welcome the Salesian order to our school for this.
Solidarity
Over the course of the year our pupils engage willingly and actively in many charitable events to show solidarity with their neighbour. From August – December we managed to raise over £2000. £300 has been sent to both Breast Cancer Care and Everyman to support female & male cancer charities. £250 has been sent to SCIAF from the staff v pupils football match.
During the seasons of Advent and Lent we hone our activities to benefit many charities. From our Advent fundraising £1000 (5 x £200) has been sent to the SVDP to each of our 5 associated parishes and £250 has been sent to the St Nicholas Care Fund (Glasgow Archdiocese Christmas Charity). Our associated SVDP branches received a collection of food parcels to brighten Christmas for some of the local community. Our pupils donated items of food during Advent to support this fantastic cause.
