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Patience, Poverty & Long-Suffering
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42)
A reflection on the Gospel from the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi (Year C)
Written by Mr Casimir Douglas
“But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing!” (Luke 10:41-42)
On Tuesday 4th October we celebrate the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the eponymous namesake of our current Pontiff, Francis I. Whilst Pope Francis trained for the Priesthood as a Jesuit (with the Society of Jesus) in his native Argentina, his Papal name evokes the Franciscan charism. But both orders share in the passion for social justice, missionary zeal, the focus on engaging the entire world, preference for the poor, and choosing collaboration over peremptory action.
An analysis was conducted of all of St Francis’ writings which revealed that his three most frequently used terms were: patience, poverty, and long-suffering. Not exactly the normal wording of a battle cry to inspire and motivate the troops! Whilst such an examination of his texts removes those three words from their context, it does reveal the themes at the heart of the Franciscan charism: humility, service, asceticism, hardship, sacrifice, resilience, hope, and presence. Key among the virtues of St Francis were stillness and contemplation. But such quiet and meditation does not suggest detachment; indeed the art of contemplation is to be utterly awake, aware, and alert to the present moment, to the naked now, to be radically open to the Sacrament of the Present. To be radically open to ourselves, each other, and to the presence of God.
After all, life is only experienced in the here and now. Life is only lived in the present. All the most important moments that have happened in our lives, happened in the present. Every choice, every moment of love, every moment of hope, every moment of hurt, every moment of struggle, every embrace, every fall, every dream, and every joy; all happened in the present.
Why, then, as a society are we so distracted? The sources of distraction are endless; attentiveness and addiction to our devices; our worries, anxieties and concerns about the future; the pressures of work in a digital world; the 24-hour news cycle; fear of financial, medical, and environmental insecurity; and our incessant reviewing and ruminating in our minds of past conversations, events, and relationships. These all draw our attention away from the present.
St Francis of Assisi was raised in a life of luxury and wealth. Resultantly, St Francis knew many distractions; and St Francis recognised that distractions only served to separate him from his family, his peers, the living creation, God, and the present moment. St Francis chose a life of being awake to the world, being alive to creation, and engaging in the Sacrament of the Present. St Francis was well and truly ‘woke’, long before those trapped in our zombified, somnambulist society would start using the word.
In the Gospel reading for the Mass on the Feast Day of St Francis, we hear the story of sisters, Mary and Martha. They welcome Jesus into their home as a guest, and whilst Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, completely present to Him, Martha is ‘distracted by her many tasks’ (Luke 10:40) as she attends to serving Jesus as was the custom of the time. Martha, then, grew frustrated with her sister Mary for not contributing to the serving and asked Jesus to demand that Mary help. But Jesus rebukes her: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing! (Luke 10:42)”. That one thing? To be present and to put Christ first.
For the St Thomas More’s Catholic School community, may the words of Christ, the example of St Francis, and the power of contemplation and action serve to orient us to that which is most important; to be present to those that we love. Every moment of creation is sacred. The passage in Luke’s Gospel isn’t suggesting that we simply just sit around all day, every day, and ignore our tasks and duties - we have to pay our bills just as much as the Ancient Hebrew people of First Century Palestine. Jesus isn’t saying that service, work, custom and hospitality aren’t important. Only that they are secondary. Our faith is first. Why?
There are 10,000 things we have to know and do. But what we believe, our faith, is not just one amongst these 10,000 things; it is that which sees the 10,000 things. It is the lens through which we see and understand the whole of creation and our role in it. And when we look through that lens, what do we see? The Sacrament of the Present.
Friday 30th September, 2022
St Francis in the Desert
Giovanni Bellini, Italy, 1480 CE
Dear Parents and Carers,
SALUTATION
Grace to you and peace.
STM TV: EPISODE 10
STM TV is our school's weekly episodic YouTube show designed to share the key learning experiences of nominated students each week to engage our parents and the broader community in the learning journey of our school.
Please find below the episode for Term 3 - Week 10, 2022, which explores excursions to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, writing poetry, Yayoi Kusama's polka dots, and walking the track through the Gorge to the Duck Reach Power Station! We hope you enjoy it!
PRINCIPAL'S MORNING TEA
At our Friday afternoon Assembly last week, several students received a Gospel Value Award for demonstrating the value of INTEGRITY. These students attended a special Principal’s Morning Tea in Josephite Hall this Tuesday (27th September).
Myself and the students were treated to a smorgasbord of fruit, muffins, and sweet pastries, and we each shared what we are grateful for in our lives, which for this group of award nominees included family, friends, school, God, sport, phones, and Playstations! They also shared their hobbies, interests and dreams, including dancing, soccer, basketball, drawing, and watching the Cats win the Grand Final (and no it wasn't me that mentioned it!).
TERM 3 - THANK YOU
The advent of the Term 3 School Holidays has been heralded by the warming up of the weather, the appearance of cricket bats, bats and balls on the School Oval, and the chatter of travel plans in the new normal of the post-pandemic world.
This has been a busy term for St Thomas More's Catholic School whch included a range of marquee events that celebrate our identity as a community, and brings together all key stakeholders in the life of school, not just for learning and business, but for relationships, joy, connection and fraternity. This has included events such as the Feast Day of St Mary MacKillop of the Cross, the Catholic Education Week Mass and Awards, the Faith & Fun Day, the Tournament of Minds, the Father's Day Breakfast, the School Disco, the Tasmania Futsal Schools Championship Tournament, the Deloraine Drama Festival, the First Eucharist Mass & Supper, the Athletics Carnival, and every new moment of learning and growth in which our students participated and flourished.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all members of the school community who contributed to the task of learning and teaching in Term 3; be it staff, student, parent, priest, visitor or friend. Thank you for putting your strengths, gifts, talents, and energy at the disposal of our school - it is this that breaths life into our community!
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
During Term 4, whilst at recess or lunch we will hold an unannounced emergency practice with staff & students, to test our response to a potential scenario that staff identify a threat warranting the school go into lockdown (opposite to evacuation).
Like for fire evacuation drills, we recognised the worth to test this process.
We have plans in place to make this practice as least disruptive as able.
If you have queries please call our Safety Officer, Simon Natoli on 0400 105 476
Inside Out 4 Kids - Expression of Interest
The Change, Grief and Loss Program is an engaging small group program that will run over 7 weeks at STM and focuses on understanding the emotions associated with change, grief and loss. Each session will be 2-5 students and for 45mins.
Your privacy and dignity is important to us, and therefore what is discussed would remain between the students and their facilitator. The emphasis is on strategies and understanding emotions, not on the cause of the grief.
If you are unsure if this program is suitable for your child, please indicate so on the form and we can contact you with more information early Term 4. More information about the program can be found here:
https://www.citymission.org.au/find-a-service/insideout4kids
In order to begin Week 2 of Term 4, we require EOI no later than Friday 21st October. Thank you.
Expressions of Interest Google Form: https://forms.gle/mKHoKRJNbMrq8V3N8
Congratulations to Ronan Rae and Grace Stephens for reaching 25 stickers in their Student acknowledgement booklet.
Following the amazing Pass The Baton Challenge, it is so wonderful to see our school community embracing the movement to move more and more often!
Athletics Australia and Weetbix have contacted our school to tell us we have one of the highest rates of activity of any school in the country ... well done.
Almost half of the school has registered their Active Bands.
Keep up the great work.
Try and log at least one activity every day during these school holidays! Have a wonderful break, and we'll see you next term.
On Wednesday night our some of our students participated in the Strings Soiree at St Patrick's College. Below are some photos of our budding musicians.
Scarecrow Competition at Launceston Show
STM has entered a number of Scarecrows into the Royal Launceston Show 2022 Scarecrow Competition held at Quercus Park, 415 Oaks Road, Carrick. The following will be entered:
- ATSI
- Conservation Club
- 1/2T
- 5/6 have multiple entries
Exhibits can be found from 623 to 636.
Grade 1/2 T Scarecrows
Grade 5/6 entries
Conversation Club entries
'PlaSTeMma' is created by our Conservation Club students - PlaSTeMma is a softie at heart! She makes us think about our use of soft plastics.
Don’t forget to take advantage of the AMAZING online portal that is included with our fundraiser!
The School P&F is holding a competition to find the first class in each year level to have all students register for our online fundraiser and we will shout the class Icy poles in Term 4
Visit www.australianfundraising.com.au to get started!
#schoolrun4fun #funrun #australianfundraising #fundraising #colourexplosion