NEWSLETTER INSERTS FOR SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

“Catholic schools accompany young people as they grow, helping them to see that holiness is not about being perfect or extraordinary, but about kindness, courage, prayer and service in daily life…In classrooms, playgrounds and homes, Catholic education seeks to show that faith is lived one ordinary moment at a time.”

Alan Hynes, Chief Executive of the Catholic Education Partnership

“Unity is a divine mandate at the core of our Christian identity, more than  simply an ideal.  It represents the essence of the Church’s calling –a call to reflect the harmonious oneness of our life in Christ amidst our diversity. This divine unity is central to our mission and is sustained by the profound love of Jesus Christ, who has set before us a unified purpose. As the Apostle Paul asserts in his letter to the Ephesians, “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (4:4).

Resources from https://www.christianunity.va/

“Your own personal vocation does not consist only in the work you do, though that is an expression of it. Your vocation is something more: it is a path guiding your many efforts and actions towards service to others. So in discerning your vocation, it is important to determine if you see in yourself the abilities needed to perform that specific service to society”.

Pope Francis, Christus Vivit, 255

“In this Sunday’s Gospel, John asks us to ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ - to look at him, over and over again. See him, contemplate his cross, his sacrifice and his wounds he bore for you and me. In the words of the prophet Zechariah: ‘They shall look on the One they have pierced’ (12:10). This is what we do every Mass we celebrate where the sacrifice of Christ is re-presented and our sin is once again taken away. That is why we are indeed among the ‘blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb’.

Fr Billy Swan