40. The Soul
The last week of the school year! As our students finish their 2020 studies and we prepare for the Christmas season, we look back on a year marked by the unprecedented use of the term ‘unprecedented’.
The Soul was created to provide Spiritual Communion for our staff community at a time when the celebration of Mass was suspended for the general public and shares in Zoom spiked as we moved with haste into the online world of communication. Mindful of the stress and anxiety that rapid change may bring, The Soul has also provided resources for the pastoral care of staff.
The Soul will return in 2021with more prayer, formation, music and resources. May all of our readers have a blessed, holy and happy Christmas and a restful break over the Christmas season. The theme for the fourth week of Advent is love.
While the use of the word love in our modern world may be linked to our favourite sport, a tasty food source or even the infatuation of early romance, Advent calls us to a different concept of love.
As an example, for the parents reading this, our love for our children is a faint echo of how deeply God loves us. He loves all of humanity with that love. Even when we turn our backs on Him, He continues to love us. He loves us so much that He sent His Son into our world to die for us. This is where we find the heart of love: sacrifice.
Affection, care, concern, attraction, and intrigue can all ignite a relationship, but it is self-sacrifice that is at the core of love. A parent who gives up sleep to change and feed a baby shows love. A spouse who makes dinner even when he/she is exhausted shows love. A child who spends their allowance on their sibling’s Christmas present shows love. And this week is all about love.
With Christmas only a week away, it could seem like the focus is on presents, food and celebrations, but it’s really about love. It’s about giving up something that we want, whether sleep or time or objects, so that others can be better off.
Saint Thomas Aquinas gave us a great place to start when he said: “To love is to will the good of the other.”
So, let’s do it!
Adapted from Themes of Advent: Love
- Christmas Family Prayer from the NCEC
- Light of the World
Continue to celebrate Mass with Bishop Greg during the Advent and Christmas Seasons.
- Add these great worship hymns, which remind us that hope is alive and love has arrived, to your Christmas Day playlist.
- Today is the Saviour’s Day (by Rend Collective)
- All Glory (Planetshakers)
- Here is a fun throwback to help celebrate all the ups and downs of this year; for God’s love endures forever - Steadfast Love (Proclaim Lismore Wildfire).
- We finish the year with the original version of The Blessing as God continues to bless us and protect us over the holidays.
- The Bridge - A resource from the Australian Catholic Bishops' National Centre for Evangelisation.
- To mark the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis has proclaimed a “Year of St Joseph”, running from Dec 8, 2020 to Dec 8, 2021. Access the message here, with more resources coming soon: catholic.org.au/yearofstjoseph
- This recent Infancy Narratives Virtual Seminar was held by Garratt Publishing. The videos are now available to view online at the following link:
Click the image above to submit your prayer intentions. Each week the prayer intentions are passed onto the Carmelite Sister's at the Carmelite Convent in Goonellabah.
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Proclaim Lismore Staff
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.