Religious Dimension
Our Gospel Challenge this week is to ......
"never see a need without doing something about it."
In Sunday's Gospel (Matthew 14:13–21) the death of the Baptist left Jesus saddened, and he withdraws to be alone with the disciples. But even his personal sorrow is overwhelmed by compassion for the people who had followed him and he cures their sick. The crowd stays with him, even into the evening. When the disciples ask Jesus to send them away to eat, Jesus’ response is a challenge to the disciples: feed them yourselves. He is training them to take the initiative, to be confident leaders of the community after he has gone. Jesus employs the ritual of the daily Jewish meal in blessing, breaking and giving, but this ritual now points to the actions of the Last Supper. All are fed; all are satisfied.
Jesus never met a crowd he couldn’t satisfy. If they were ignorant, he taught them. If they were sinners, he forgave them. If they brought their sick, he healed them. If they were hungry, he fed them. No one who yearned and brought their yearning to him was unanswered, not even the women and their children. But Jesus didn’t come to open a school, hospital, counselling practice, or bakery. He comes to bring abundant life to people. The hungry child experiences God through bread. Jesus brings life to the world to match its need. That’s why the miracle of feeding a crowd of five thousand, as grand as it is, is dwarfed by the generations of people who’ve been fed by Jesus since.
What form would Jesus take, in order to come into your life and fill your need today?
Mary MacKillop
A person who was inspired by Jesus' life was Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, St Mary of the Cross. She is special to us here at St John’s, not only because she is Australia’s first saint but also because St John’s was a Josephite school. Mary MacKillop founded the Josephite order of nuns. Our main gathering space is named after her and her well known quote, “Never see a need without doing something about it” is highly visible on the front wall. Mary MacKillop, like Jesus, was a compassionate woman with a strong sense of justice and trust in God. She lived an extraordinary life helping children by running schools, assisting others such as homeless women and children, poor, elderly, orphans and people in jail.
The feast day of St Mary of the Cross is this coming Saturday, 8 August.
We remember, celebrate and pray to be more like her.
Socktober
We can see the need for justice in the world and stop poverty and do something about it by participating in Socktober 2020. We need your help! We’ll be kicking off our activities soon, so we invite all parents to register their children as Socktober Stars at the link below so they can be part of it: http://www.socktober.org.au/fundraising/schools/st-johns-primary-school-mitcham
Should you choose, please consider helping your child set a target and fundraise, for vulnerable children, to fulfil their basic needs. Once registered, students can ask their friends and families to sponsor them in tackling each week’s activities and kicking goals for kids around the world.
Prayer
Each week I will be placing a family prayer on the Learning from Home Site for you to download and use with your family. It will be on the weekly readings from each Sunday. I hope praying at this time will provide you with comfort and strength.
St John's Parish Website
Please remember that Fr Dispin is recording his Sunday masses and they are on the parish website. So too are many other resources that may assist you Spiritually during this time of isolation. https://stjohnsmitcham.com.au/
Monica O'Shannassy
moshannassy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au