Jesus said, “My Father’s house is a house of prayer.”  Jesus was angry when he came to the temple to find his Father’s house had become a market place, filled with people buying and selling, instead of being a place of prayer and respect.  When we visit friends or someone else’s house we are friendly and respect their property.  In the same way, we encourage our students to be friendly and respect other’s feeling so that our school is a peaceful place to grow and learn. 

This week at Holy Spirit, we value stewardship.  The earth and all life on it are part of God’s creation and we are called to respect this gift.  We are responsible for taking care of the world we live in and for sharing all the wonders and resources the earth gives us.  Our changing environment prompts us to stop and think about how we live on our planet.  As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to respond and to adopt new ways of living as Pope Francis highlights in his encyclical, ‘Laudato Si':  On the Care of our Common Home’.  Project Compassion is Caritas Australia's annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal.  Millions of Australians come together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.  

This week our Project Compassion feature story is Oliva from Tanzania.  Twenty-two-year-old Oliva lives in Tanzania with her farmer husband, two young sons and an adopted niece and nephew.

She didn’t have the opportunity to go to school growing up - and was embarrassed that she couldn’t read, write or count. Around 25 percent of Tanzanian girls and women over 15 years cannot read or write, with many families unable to afford school fees or uniforms.  Now, as an adult, Oliva runs a kiosk and works as a farm labourer - but her business was losing money because she couldn’t add up.  Then Oliva enrolled in Caritas Australia-supported literacy and numeracy classes. She also set up a classroom at home to teach her neighbours, for free, because they were too shy to attend larger classes.  Oliva has now graduated, as have some of her students. Attendance at her classes is growing, her kiosk is thriving and she can help her children with their homework. She aims to become a pastor and run for leadership in the next local election.  Oliva aspires to “Be More’ and wants to help her community to achieve its vision of a better life for all.  “I am proud to be a teacher who helps others to achieve their dream,” Oliva says.  For more information on Oliva, please visit https://lent.caritas.org.au/week-3 

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social,

economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.  The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.  IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people.  Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.  The UN Women announced the theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021 (IWD 2021) as, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”  The theme celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Have a great week.

God bless

Caroline Fuller