Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

It has been said that the Feast of the Sacred Heart is the one celebration that clearly distinguishes Christianity from other religions. This is because in the heart of Christ there is the flowering of every human virtue: tenderness and compassion, certainty, strength, endurance. There is a goodness that communicates itself to others in forgiveness, reconciliation and friendship. The poet, James McCauley expresses it this way:

“Jesus in Your Heart we find Love of the Father and mankind. These two loves to us impart Divine love, in a human heart.”

The heart is regarded as the centre of a person where sentiments and intuitions dwell. John Venard’s book “In the Arms of a Battler’s God” provokes us to be more heartfelt in our thinking when he writes: “A young Indian student on crutches was easily the brightest and friendliest boy in the class. He was admired and respected by both the teachers and his fellow students. One day a friend asked him about the cause of his injury; when the young student answered, ‘Infantile Paralysis’, the friend questioned further. With such a misfortune how could he face life with such a happy and positive attitude? ‘Oh,’ replied the young boy, ‘the disease never touched my heart’. We would do well to learn from the student’s wisdom, because we often neglect our heart, our inner life, the essence of our ‘being’. We are so busy with life out there, with acquiring knowledge and skills, chasing wealth, enjoying ourselves, trying to live up to the expectations of others, that the heart never gets a look in. ”The Feast of the Sacred Heart reflects the Church’s emphasis on the importance of love and, of course, the love that Jesus personified, “There is no greater love that a man give up his life for his friends.” 

On this feast day each year there is celebrated, “World Day for the sanctification of Priests” and Pope Benedict XVI deemed it “... an opportunity to pray that priests will put nothing before love of Christ.” Perhaps the Feast of the Sacred Heart could be a time for us parents to look at the love that forms the basis of our marriage. Ann Lindbergh has these thoughts to offer us.

“Marriage, which is spoken of as a bond is really many bonds, many strands of different texture and strength, making up a web that is taut and firm. The web is fashioned of love, but many kinds of love: romantic love first, then a slow growing devotion and, playing through these, a constantly rippling companionship. It is made of loyalties and interdependencies, and shared experiences. It is woven of memories of meetings and conflicts, of triumphs and disappointments. It is a web of communication, a common language, and the acceptance of lack of language too; a knowledge of likes and dislikes, of habit, and reactions both physical and mental. It is a web of instincts and intuitions, of known and unknown exchanges. The web of marriage is made in the day-to-day living side-by-side, looking outward in the same direction. It is woven of the substance of life itself.” There is no doubt that when two people love one another in a selfless “woven” manner, they are loving in the manner in which God’s love, through Jesus, is given to us in the Spirit. 

“They sat around and talked of God in one another, in nature, in music that moves you to your soul, in stories of courage and tenacious love.  God is where you let love be.” (Noel Davis.)

 

“Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in You. By our lives, may the Heart of Jesus be known and loved. Amen.”

Peace and best wishes

Leonie Burfield

PRINCIPAL