15. The Soul

This week we have a chance to reflect more deeply on the meaning of reconciliation as we prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit dwells within every one of us inspiring the proclamation of Jesus’ message. The fruit of the Spirit is peace, reconciliation and healing among members of the community. 

In an extract from a resource featured in this edition, Mary Coloe describes the Holy Spirit:

“When you stand in an underground train station, the first sense you have of an approaching train is the wind as the train pushes the air in front of it. You cannot hear or see anything yet, but the wind announces the train is on its way. I liken this to our experience of the Spirit. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for spirit is the same as ‘wind’ or ‘breath’. Like the wind, we do not see or hear the Spirit, but we experience its effects: 

• • the urge to respond to an issue of justice 
  • the move to compassion at the sight of suffering 
  • the ongoing, subtle sense of God’s presence in our lives 
  • the ability to discern what is right from what is wrong. 

These are the signs of the Spirit in our lives”  

~ Mary Coloe May 2012, Garrett Publishing (full text in the Source and Summit below)

Thank you for your recent feedback through the Soul survey. Your affirmation and suggestions will help to focus the direction of the Soul in the coming weeks and months.

Our health and well-being remains an important priority as we progress through the stages of the pandemic and its consequences. We can be a vessel of life-giving water to others only if our vessel remains full. This article from the Sawtell Catholic Care newsletter includes a great resource from the Black Dog Institute.

• Season of Hope - Royal Melbourne Hospital sing Count on Me 

• ‘Dear God’, written by Cory Asbury (Reckless Love) is a raw, honest and vulnerable prayer of hope in these times of uncertainty. 

• ‘Come Holy Spirit’ is one of the most prayed prayers in our faith. Enter into prayer with this hymn composed by Martin Smith and Matt Maher.

•  Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life: is a 10-week video study program and book. Anchored in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, this study explores the entirety of Jesus’ life— who He is, what He is really like, what He taught, what He did for our salvation, and what all of this means for us as Catholics today.

Here you will find a selection of featured resources that may be useful in the delivery of blended learning. These resources will also be stored on the Home Learning Site under the Learning Tab.

General

• Learning from Home - Special Religious Education (SRE) curriculum-support resources provided by the Catholic Conference of Educators in State Schools (CCRESS) has been made available for general access. With lessons for both secondary and primary students this site will be a welcome addition to the RE teacher’s resource list.

• Michael Mangan sings 'Hearts on Fire' and teaches you the actions for his most famous and loved song.

• Primary Pentecost Prayer Kit for Staff

• Deep listening (dadirri) - Deep listening, sometimes known as ‘dadiri’ to Aboriginal people, "is an inner quiet, still awareness, and waiting". This link provides an explanation of Dadirri and a guide to its practice.

Primary

ES1/ Stage 1 - Make your own stained glass window to celebrate Pentecost.

Stage 2 - Listen to the story and complete some thinking tasks in The Story of Pentecost

Stage 3 - Something different: An online jigsaw puzzle. Give it a try! Share it with your teacher.

Secondary

• Magnificat by Steve Angrisano. A beautiful composition of Mary’s prayer. This resource could be used for reflection, prayer or worship.

• Online at 7pm Friday nights. Join Ignite Youth Live on Friday night for worship, speaker and connections. We'll see you there! Live on Facebook and Youtube.

Click the image above to submit your prayer intentions. These will be included in the weekly Divine Mercy Chaplet

Stay in touch through social media.

Proclaim Lismore Staff 

Proclaim Lismore Students

Contributions and suggestions to The Soul can be emailed to School Evangelisation Consultant, Matt de Dassel, matt.dedassel@lism.catholic.edu.au or shared into this form.

All staff in Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Lismore receive The Soul by email. The link in these emails can be forwarded and shared with family and friends. Alternatively, use this form to subscribe as an additional reader to The Soul mailing list.