Our Benedictine values focus for this year is Communio through the lens of Compassion and Stewardship, with an emphasis on Stewardship. In our honouring of St Patrick, we acknowledge him as one who had the gift of bringing people together and building amongst them a strong sense of community. Stewardship is essential in making communities safe and caring. Stewardship is fundamentally an act of love, stewardship is love in action. We are exercising stewardship when we are attentive to the needs of others and the needs of our world. We are being good stewards when we look after what has been entrusted to us. Beyond that, stewardship calls us to make things better. Our Lenten catchcry this year is: “Make the world a better place.”

In his homily, Bishop Brian spoke about being a follower of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus requires, above all else, faith and love. On one occasion, Jesus saw his Apostles trying to catch fish but they were not having much success. Jesus came to their aid and their catch of fish was so great that their boats were almost sinking. The Apostles became afraid of the power Jesus could demonstrate. Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”  When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we can achieve far more than we could ever imagine. Bishop Brian compared this to a song from “The Greatest Showman” movie. The song’s title is “Come Alive” and a key verse of the song states, “you're more than you could ever be because you're dreaming with your eyes wide open.” With Jesus as our guide and by placing our faith in him, we can be more than we could ever imagine. We thank Bishop Brian for his inspiring words and prayerfulness.

Our St Patrick’s Day Mass also marked the opening of the school year. We asked for God’s blessing upon our community so that we may be guided in our efforts to create a vibrant learning environment in which “the strong have something to strive for and the weak have nothing to run from.” St Patrick was a tireless builder of communities. He knew how to draw people together and how to create a place where everyone felt they were comfortable and belonged. St Patrick was also a proclaimer of God’s Word. He spread the Good News of God’s love for all people. This is what we celebrate each St Patrick’s Day, St Patrick’s call to be a welcoming community of faith founded on the person of Jesus who is our light.

HOLY WEEK

The St Patrick’s community extends a prayer of blessing to all our families and friends for a blessed and special Easter. Christianity’s most sacred days will be upon us very soon, Holy Thursday and the Last Supper; Good Friday and the Crucifixion of Jesus; Easter Sunday and the Resurrection of Jesus. These are the key events of Holy Week. May our celebration of these mysteries of the life of Jesus fill us all with hope, joy, and fullness of life.

Living and True God,
we thank you for the gift of the Last Supper—
the eternal presence of your Son, Jesus,
in the form of Eucharistic Bread and Wine.
Just as Jesus surrendered his life on the Cross,
we, too, join our lives in the same rhythm of dying to self
and rising to newness of life as we are formed into the image of Jesus, your Son.

We praise you, Lord, for the gift of life
and we are filled with hope and trust in the Resurrection of Jesus
which has gained for us the gift of eternal life.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, we go forward
sustained in our daily journey by you, our Living and True God.

Amen.

A happy and blessed Easter to all members of the St Patrick’s community.

Angelo Gattone - Mission Coordinator