Dear Families,

It may not feel like it right now, but the ‘hard yards’ we are putting in now, will eventually pay off. It’s one of the natural laws – the law of impermanence aka “nothing lasts forever”. Pretty soon, the vaccinated ratios will meet the targets and we’ll see a return to something resembling normal. Well done to all of our families for staying the course.

A very healthy perspective to take when you are feeling rotten about the lockdown, is to look up and help others. It helps to do this because we take the focus off our own problems and recognise that there are people out there that are not faring as well as ourselves. This is such great timing, because October happens to be Mission Month in the Catholic calendar!

Mission Month - Socktober

Last term, I spoke of the learning we are engaging in during October called ‘Socktober’. It’s an annual Catholic Mission initiative that works to support a community in need, somewhere around the world. This year, Socktober is supporting communities in Bangkok, Thailand.

All the students at St Thomas the Apostle are learning about Catholic Social Teaching during this time. It’s the ‘why’ behind Socktober. We will be diving deep into why we help others.

Let’s look at a couple of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching:

• The Dignity of the Human Person
• The Common Good

Christians believe that every person is made in the image and likeness of God and because of this, has an innate dignity. Catholic Social Teaching also points to what is known as the Common Good – common good is reached when we work together to improve the wellbeing of our ‘neighbours’. Jesus’ Good Samaritan story is a great one to remind us who our neighbour is.