Religious Education   

Today is the Feast of St Oscar Romero. It is fitting that his Feast Day falls in Lent as one of his best known sayings was:

 "We should not aspire to have more, but to BE more"

 St Oscar Romero lived in El Salvador, and became a saint not long ago in 2018. He came from a poor family. Oscar’s parents could not afford to send him to school after the age of twelve, so he went to work as an apprentice carpenter. He quickly showed great skills, but Oscar was already determined to become a priest. He entered the seminary at the age of fourteen and was ordained a priest when he was 25 in 1942. In 1974 he became Bishop of Santiago de Maria. At the time in his country there was a lot of poverty, injustice, crime and violence. Many people were being abused and killed by the government and paramilitary groups.

At first, Bishop Oscar did not speak out at all and never challenged what was going on. But when he became Archbishop he became more aware of people’s suffering and the good work of priests who lived in solidarity with the poor.

Archbishop Oscar used his position and the media to speak out more and more against the injustice, abuse and deaths. He realised that the only Christian response was to stand with the suffering and be a voice for the voiceless.

This got him into big trouble with the military. One day, in the middle of celebrating Mass, Archbishop Oscar was shot by a paid assassin.

He was killed, but his message of peace and justice lived on. The people saw him as a saint and a symbol of hope for those who suffer poverty, injustice and violence.

Oscar Romero was canonised as a Saint by Pope Francis on October 14, 2018. His dedication to social justice and Catholic social teaching, particularly the preferential option of the poor, has since earned him the title of Patron Saint of Caritas Internationalis.

May we too, this Lenten Season, follow St Oscar Romero's example and be a a symbol of hope for those who suffer poverty and injustice.

We are called to be companions to those who are in vulnerable circumstances and are called to mobilise our resources, our networks and our prayers in support of those who are vulnerable in our community.

Let us pray  in the words of St Oscar Romero:

Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world. Let us not tire of preaching love. Though we see that waves of violence succeed in drowning the fire of Christian love, love must win out; it is the only thing that can. Amen.

Just a reminder that we will be collecting Project Compassion  Boxes in the last week of Term. So hopefully our contribution to those more needy can be a symbol of our love and support.

On another note, I would just like to share this beautiful photo of some of our Year 6 Leaders with the Archbishop of Melbourne, The Most Reverend Peter Comensoli, which was taken when we attended the St Patrick's Day Mass last Friday.  The students were amazing representatives for our school.