How strong are we? The early Christians were disheartened to find that they often met opposition not only from their community but from non-Christian family members when committing to Jesus and to living the Gospel values. In Sunday’s Gospel, Luke 12:49-53, Jesus tells his disciples that there would be division among people including families. It takes courage to make choices that follow God’s commandments and live the Gospel values in all we say and do. It takes courage for our students to go against peer pressure and make good choices in their behaviour.

This week at Holy Spirit we value generosity. Generosity is the act of being kind, selfless and giving to others. Despite being an act that is done to benefit others' well-being, generosity also increases our well-being. Being generous is a fantastic way to improve our mental health and well-being. Some studies have found that people are happier when spending money on others rather than on themselves and it is this happiness that motivates them to be generous in the future. Even small acts of kindness, like picking up something someone else has dropped, make people feel happy. This week, we pray for our students to follow the good example that Jesus asks us to be by being generous to those in need.

Monday, 15th August, was the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared as a dogma revealed by God that ‘Mary, the Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven’. Likewise, the Second Vatican Council taught in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium that ‘the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things (n. 59)’.

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary: On Sunday 22nd of August, the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This
celebration was also established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 and was celebrated on the 31st of May. Since 1969, it has been observed on August 22nd to stress its relationship to the Assumption (15th August) when taken up into glory,

God Bless.

Caroline Fuller