Message - Religious Education Leader
MISSION STATEMENT
In the spirit of St Thomas the Apostle, who was one of the first Christian missionaries and is the patron saint of builders, the community of St Thomas will endeavour to build a community of prayer, thanksgiving, service, and reconciliation and provide opportunities for all its students to experience a collaborative and reflective learning environment that educates, engages and challenges.
Dear Families,
My family has just been blessed with a new puppy. Wow, have things changed for us! Everyone who has ever experienced a new puppy coming home for the first time will know the joy and also the chaos that comes with this. It’s very similar to having a baby in many ways.
One of the things we have taken on (and you get so much advice on raising a new puppy) is going out of your way to hand feed your pup. Not because they don’t know how to consume food on their own, but because you are teaching them that “all good things come from you”. It’s a beautiful way to build relationship with your new family member. We began doing this straight away and we have enjoyed the eye-contact and the closeness associated with hand feeding. It’s a little bit gross but who cares really! It’s a great bonding experience.
Last Sunday, with the Gospel reading at Mass, we had the wonderful miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes or sometimes known as the ‘Feeding the Five Thousand’. John the author, has a brilliant message in it for us. In fact, there are five weeks of John spelling out to us that Jesus is the ‘Bread of Life’. The essence of the ‘Feeding the Five Thousand’ story is that “all good things come from Jesus”. Even more, there is an abundance of goodness when you are nourished by Jesus, as we know from John’s gospel that there were twelve baskets left over! There is an abundance of goodness from His Word and by the Eucharist.
Speaking of Eucharist, I would like to encourage and pray for our newly enrolled candidates for First Holy Communion (from our Year 5 cohort). They begin their preparation this week and will celebrate this beautiful sacrament at the end term. They will be learning about the relationship they began with Baptism but are invited into a whole new level when they receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion.
Just a reminder at this point that the Year 4s will have the opportunity to enrol for First Holy Communion next term.
Please pray for me and my family as we try our best to keep our slippers from being destroyed and keep our home intact during this time of upheaval.
Sincerely,
Andrew McDermott
Religious Education Leader
