Prayer for the Feast of St Mary of the Cross 2021

Gospel

Matt 6:25-34

Jesus said to his disciples: I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin: yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wildflowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you have so little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?” It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 What words or phrases struck you in Sunday’s Gospel reading? (Pause)

 What might God be saying to you in and through the Gospel? (Pause)

 What do you worry about? (Pause)

Reflection

What we worry about most, spend our time and money on, can reveal, not only our most important values, but our life’s essential orientation, indeed what we have our hearts set on. In the film ‘Mr Holland’s Opus,’ Principal Jacobs challenges the young music teacher Mr Holland, “A teacher has two jobs; fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important, give those minds a compass so that that knowledge doesn’t go to waste. I don’t know what you’re doing with the knowledge, but as a compass, you’re stuck.” What and who we worry about and have our hearts set on, matters precisely because those we lead, serve, teach, and parent look to the vision of life and values that our lives embody. They look to where and to whom our compass points. Reflecting on the vocation of teaching, Parker Palmer asserts, ‘We teach who we are.’ We also lead, minister and parent who we are. What and who does your compass point to as you navigate the currents of your own heart? Is your compass needle “stuck” or spinning erratically without a true north?

The Gospel invites us, like St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, to orientate our whole lives, to set our whole heart on God’s Kingdom. Like Mary, let our true north be God’s justice and let us “Never see a need without doing something about it.”

Do this, we are promised, and tomorrow will look after itself.

Please keep Fr Lolesio in your prayers. He has been unwell. Father is always a smiling, friendly face on our playground and in our classrooms.

Early Stage 1 Reflection Day

On Wednesday 18/8 Early Stage 1 will celebrate their first ever reflection day. The students will participate in a day full of playing game, doing craft and praying based on the theme of We all belong to God’s family.