Faith Reflection and RE News

Faith Reflection 

Mark 1:40-45 - The leprosy left him and he was cured.

In this week’s Gospel, a leper comes to Jesus and pleads on his knees, asking for help. Jesus, feeling sorry for the man, stretched out his hands and touched him. The man was then cured of leprosy. The miracles of Jesus play an interesting role in his ministry. In one sense, we see Jesus as providing miracles freely and visibly in front of many people. More than this, the Bible also signals that there were many more miracles performed that were not recorded in the New Testament. So at first glance it can seem odd—why wouldn’t the writer want to record every single miracle performed? And secondly, what is the point of Jesus performing miracles knowing that his time was limited and they could not be carried forward? 

In last week’s reflection, we heard Jesus speaking with authority. For the author, Jesus’ miracles tell us of the uniqueness of Jesus and put him in context. Unlike Moses and the prophets who spoke with God and, in turn, saw God perform the miracle (it was God who sent the plagues and parted the sea, not Moses), Jesus, on the other hand, performs his own miracles. For the Hebrew people, they would have understood that this is someone who did only what God himself could do.

So what is the purpose of Jesus’ miracles? They were lessons for us today, understanding that Jesus was God, filled with compassion for the most marginalized in society, and demonstrating the power of faith. All those who were cured had one thing in common—their faith in Jesus. The writers of the Bible understood that for us, it would not be important exactly what Jesus did, but rather why he did it and how Jesus meant it to be understood.

Today, in 2024, the lessons from over 2000 years ago continue to resonate just as they did then: to have faith in Christ, to show compassion for the marginalized, to know that Jesus died for our sins, and that the Holy Spirit continues to work through us today.

Jonathan Rooney 

OPENING SCHOOL MASS

On Friday 9th February @ 9:00 we will be holding our Opening of the School Year Mass. All families are invited to attend. 

During the Mass we have the Clapping in Ceremony  for our Foundation students, and new staff / students to the St John Vianney community. The parish and school community has a tradition of giving a round of applause to welcome the students to our community as they enter the church. I encourage families with new students to attend as well. I know everyone will give them a large cheer as they start their time at SJV. 

During the Mass, we will also have the commissioning of our student leaders. While the captains were announced last year, their badges will be presented to them at this time. 

All Year 6 students are school leaders and will be presented before the parish. They will be asked to make a commitment to be good leaders for our school then be given a blessing.  

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