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The Resurrection Body (1 Cor 15:45-49)
A reflection on the Second Reading from the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)
Written by Mr Casimir Douglas
“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Cor 15:49)
The Pauline Epistles have been, and continue to be, the foundation of Christian theology and ethics. His letters provided advice, answered questions, and delivered guidance for the early Church community on what it meant to be ‘Christian’; a person of Christ. He covers all aspects of community life: social, theological, ecclesial, and educational.
The Second Reading from this Sunday’s Mass, taken from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, forms part of his response to queries from members of the early Christian community about the nature of the resurrection of the body. In the passage quoted above, St Paul teaches that we must move beyond the limited thinking of the corporeal nature of our person, and understand the essential and inherent spiritual nature of our person. The physical and the spiritual inseparably connected, ‘sown’ and ‘raised’.
My use of the word ‘person’ above is quite deliberate. The word is derived from the Latin ‘persono’; meaning ‘to sound through’. Thinking of the ‘person’ in these terms shifts our understanding of the fundamental nature of our being. The spiritual sounds through and moves through our physical being, our person. In and out. God is present here and now, active and acting, sustaining, enlivening and sounding through all creation.
St Paul’s message: everything is spiritual.
Indeed, the sacred is present in the mundane. Bread is so common as to be ubiquitous; yet it forms the most holy of Eucharistic symbols. The name of God as given to Moses in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew language is written as YHVH. The letters are pronounced yud, hey, vav, hey. In many Hebrew traditions the name isn’t even spoken as it is considered so sacred, so mysterious, so holy. Indeed, they understood the nature of the words themselves to be breathing sounds. The name of God as an incantation of the sacred, uttered in every human breath. In and out. The most mundane, monotonous and involuntary of human actions reveals the spiritual.
And even as Moses encounters the burning bush, alive and alight with the presence of God, he removes his sandals. For the thought of tarnishing this holy ground with his profane footwear was an unconscionable act. But what St Paul is calling us to in our journey of faith is to understand that the ground wasn’t just sacred in that moment. It was always sacred. The ground didn’t change. It was Moses that changed, his eyes opened to the spirituality of all creation. It was not just this bush that was on fire with the presence of God. Every bush is on fire with the presence of God.
For us to recognise and see the presence of God alive in creation, it is not the bush that must change, it is we that must change and open our eyes to see the sacredness in everything. If we were to truly embrace this way of being, how might it affect our connection to the world, to each other, and to ourselves? Might we be more loving, more compassionate, more patient, more forgiving, more present, more connected, more open, more vulnerable, more alive?
I pray that we may open our persons to the sounding through of the spirit present in all creation; in every bush, in our daily bread, in the hug of a loved one, a delicious meal, a shared laugh, and in every single breath of life.
Friday 18th February, 2022
Paul Writing His Epistles
Valentin De Boulonge, French, 17th Century AD
Dear Parents and Carers,
SALUTATION
Grace to you and peace.
GOSPEL VALUE AWARDS & PRINCIPAL'S MORNING TEA
Each fortnight, for presentation at the Friday afternoon School Assembly, the teachers of each class will be asked to nominate just one student from their class to receive a Gospel Value Award. These awards celebrate and acknowledge students who demonstrate behaviours consistent with the school’s Gospel values: respect, empathy, justice, dignity and integrity. The Gospel value focus will rotate each month and nominations will need to include an example of how the student demonstrated that month’s specific Gospel value.
The students who receive the award at the assembly, will then attend the Principal's Morning Tea in Josephite Hall on the following Tuesday morning during first break at 10:50am with Mr Douglas and Fr Chathura Silva.
The Gospel Value of the month for February is RESPECT. I discussed with all students of the school at Morning Prayer Assembly this week how we can demonstrate respect at school and how St Thomas More himself embodied the quality and Gospel value of respect.
The following students received a Gospel Value Award during the School Assembly (held via Zoom) on Friday 18th February for an act of respect captured by their teacher this week:
Maggie Taylor | Prep More |
Oliver Coppleman | Prep Thomas |
Jack Taylor | Grade 1/2 More |
Douglas Anderson | Grade 1/2 Saint |
Rosie Fankhauser | Grade 1/2 Thomas |
Max Bertram | Grade 3/4 More |
Arthur Williams | Grade 3/4 Saint |
Dex Cassidy | Grade 3/4 Thomas |
Dylan Johns | Grade 3/4 Thomas |
Shine (Ashinevir) Vangian | Grade 3/4 Thomas |
Satya Sompalli | Grade 5/6 More |
Cooper Lacco | Grade 5/6 More |
Ella Spiteri | Grade 5/6 Saint |
Vinton Hanson | Grade 5/6 Thomas |
I look forward to enjoying morning tea with these students on Tuesday (22nd February) next week!
ANNUAL PRIORITIES 2022
Each year, every school in Catholic Education Tasmania identifies its key priorities for the flourishing of its students in the learning environment and the betterment of the entire school community and culture.
St Thomas More’s Catholic School Annual Priorities for 2022 have been developed through a thorough process of collaborating with staff and analysing and interrogating data relating to student learning outcomes. The priorities themselves are informed by, derived from and categorised by the Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools, and our own School Improvement Plan (2020-2024).
The Annual Priorities for 2022 are organised into four key domains reflecting the four domains of the Archbishop’s Charter: Catholic Identity, Learning, Leadership & Mission.
Whilst there is significant documentation that supports and outlines the logistical and operational achievement of the annual priorities, please find below the key statements articulating the goals of St Thomas More’s Catholic School for the 2022 school year:
Catholic Identity:
- Give a central place to the teaching and assessment of the Archdiocesan ‘Good News for Living’ Religious Education curriculum.
- Establish and promote the five Gospel values of respect, empathy, dignity, justice, and integrity into the cultural norms and life of the school.
- Encourage participation and connection with the Parish.
Learning:
- Implement the Catholic Education Tasmania literacy initiative and ensure that staff build a strong foundation in their understanding of the pedagogy and delivery of the Multilit Program.
- Engagement of all teaching staff in a trial of providing an online feedback model in the assessment and feedback of student learning and achievement.
- Utilising data on student numeracy achievement and developing staff data literacy to inform collaborative planning for improved student learning outcomes in Mathematics.
Leadership:
- Provide opportunities for our Grade 6 students to develop their leadership capacity, knowledge and skills.
- Embed structures in the life of the school to cater for staff leadership development through engagement in both formal and informal positions of responsibility, collaborative reflective practice, professional learning, and participation in broader networks of educational leaders.
Mission:
- Utilise our environmental, local and financial resources in a responsible, ethical, and sustainable manner to improve the broad educational experience for the community.
- Implement the RULER approach to improve the quality of classroom practice through professional development and classroom curricula to integrate emotional literacy instruction into teaching-learning interactions.
- Promote student engagement in Junior Joeys and Vinnies programs to enhance student participation in social justice activities both in the school and broader communities.
- Promote awareness and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) culture, wisdom and practises in the staff, student and broader community.
There are key strategies and examples of evidence of achievement assigned to each individual priority listed above. The school’s Leadership Team will hold regular review meetings through the school year to analyse progress toward the achievement of these priorities. If you have any questions, or wish to discuss further the minutia of these priorities, please do not hesitate to contact me.
SWIMMING CARNIVAL
The Swimming Carnival is always the one of the most eagerly anticipated dates on the school calendar. It is an opportunity for our students to build House spirit, form relationships, and enjoy a summer day at the pool with their peers in a climate of fun and competition.
This Thursday 17th February we were blessed to have a glorious summer day, and also blessed to have our parent community able to attend at Riverside Pool.
Congratulations to MacKillop House on winning the Swimming Carnival. It was well deserved for their outstanding aquatic performance, but also for their high level of participation, encouragement of their peers, and sportmanship.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Mr Nick Stacey for his organisation and coordination of the carnival, to the teachers for their supervision and support of the students, to the volunteers for their service and commitment to the event, and to our parent community for turning out in droves whilst braving the current health climate and ensuring to follow all COVID-Safe practises as outlined by the school and the Riverside Swimming Pool.
VINNIES HAMPERS
Justice and empathy form two of the five Gospel values that St Thomas More's Catholic School both proclaims to express and bring to life in our community. This lived expression of our values also moves beyond the confines of our community and seeks social justice for those in our community who are in need. The school received a letter from Vyvyan Allchin, the Regional Manager of St Vincent de Paul Society expressing their gratitude for the contributions to our school community their Christmas Hamper Program.
Our conbtributions were combined with all the other donations to St Vincent de Paul Society enabling the organisation to provide 250 Christmas hampers to 190 families in Northern Tasmania. The total value of these hampers amounted to $41,000 and reached over 500 people, making their Christmas day both special and memorable.
I too wish to express my gratitude not only for your contribution to the Christmas Hampers Program, but also for your commitments to truly live the school's gospel values of justice and empathy.
FINAL GREETING
May the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
God bless,
Mr Casimir Douglas
Principal
Case management
When a member of a particular class tests positive for COVID-19 that person (a confirmed case) is required to isolate at home. When we become aware of the confirmed case we will contact the parents / carers of the other students in the class to inform them of the situation and to request that they monitor their children for symptoms. If the child is symptom free they can continue to attend school.
Should the number of confirmed cases in a class reach five over a seven-day period we will notify Public Health of the situation. We will also contact the parents / carers of the other students in the class and request that they test their child using rapid antigen tests (that we will supply) on the day of us making contact with them, then again two days later, followed by a third test three days after the second test. The classmates of the confirmed case can continue to attend school provided they return negative test results and are symptom free.
Should we have three or more classes over a seven-day period with five or more confirmed cases in them we will notify Public Health. We will also apply the three tests per classmate approach described above in the classes with five or more confirmed cases. In addition to this we will liaise with Public Health regarding any required additional testing. Additional testing requirements will be communicated to parents / carers and the necessary rapid antigen tests will be supplied. Children who participate in additional testing, and who test negative and are symptom free, can continue to attend school.
Advice for confirmed cases
Should your child test positive for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test:
- They must not come to school.
- You must register the result with Public Health using their online declaration formor phone the Public Health Hotline 1800 671 738.
- Your child must isolate from other persons including family members for a minimum of seven days. If your child still has symptoms on day seven then they must continue their isolation for a further three days.
- Family members living in the same house are deemed to be close contacts.
- Close contacts need to quarantine for seven days and to maintain isolation integrity between themselves and the confirmed case.
- The seven days of isolation starts the day after your child tested positive. The seven days of quarantine for close contacts starts on the same day as the isolation period provided there has been no close contact between the confirmed case and other family members after receipt of the positive test result. If the confirmed case and other family members can maintain isolation integrity for the seven days of isolation then quarantine will also end when isolation ends.
- Having completed isolation, should your child come into contact with someone with COVID-19 in the four weeks following completion of isolation and your child is not immunocompromised or symptomatic, they will not need to quarantine or isolate.
Maintaining isolation integrity
Generally the infectious period of a confirmed case starts two days prior to developing symptoms or two days prior to when they tested positive if they did not have symptoms.
Thus, by default, all other residents of the confirmed case’s household will be close contacts.
The seven-day quarantine period for a household close contact starts the day after the date of their last contact with a confirmed case.
Thus where there is isolation integrity, the seven day quarantine period for a close contact finishes the day the confirmed case leaves isolation.
Where there is not isolation integrity, and noting a confirmed case is a confirmed case for a minimum of seven days, the quarantine period for a close contact starts the day after the confirmed case leaves isolation.
Hence, in order for close contacts to avoid a '14-day home lockdown' it is important that all family members (the confirmed case and their close contacts) support the maintenance of isolation integrity by:
- Sleeping in a separate room/area - the confirmed case must have their own room or sleeping area away from others.
- Making sure the home has good airflow (open the windows to increase air circulation).
- Avoiding physical / close contact with the case – if contact is unavoidable then the duration of contact should be minimised and all parties should wear a face mask.
- Not sharing household items – such as cutlery, plates, towels, bedding. The items used by the confirmed case must be washed thoroughly.
- Not sharing food and drinks.
- Cleaning frequently touched surfaces (like door handles, sink taps and benches) in shared areas at least daily, using normal household detergent or disinfectant. If there is only one bathroom, the bathroom will need to be wiped down with disinfectant after every use. Any windows in the bathroom should remain open, fans on, and the toilet flushed with the lid closed.
Congratulations to those students who received awards at assembly today:
Due to significant WHS concerns, and to ameliorate the potential risks, starting this coming Monday (21st February), the gate from the Campbell St (staff) car park into the school grounds will be locked. A sign has been affixed to the gate notifying members of the community: "No pedestrian access. Staff only".
Please instead use the gate provided on Campbell St to enter the school grounds via the pedestrian access ramp. This will ensure that all students, parents and staff may enter the grounds safely without encountering potential hazards.
This decision is commensurate with the school's commitment to the Love 40 initiative.
Please direct any queries to stm@catholic.tas.edu.au. We thank you for your support.
We had a wonderful day at Riverside pool yesterday with our Grade 3-6 students competing in our swimming carnival. Please enjoy some photo's taken from the day:
Grade 3/4 are focusing on Australian Geography and famous landmarks both natural and manmade. One of the icons which we thought would be fun to draw was the Brighton Beach Huts. Hope you Enjoy.