Reflection

As human beings we are given, by God, the gift of our life and the gift of time. The start of the year often causes us to look back on the holidays and ask the questions, where did the time go?  The Church on 2 February celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and marks forty days since Christmas. It is amazing to think that more than forty days ago we were celebrating Christmas.

Birthdays, new years, anniversaries, celebrations etc remind us that our life is within a time frame. We have been gifted by God with life and as we remember things gone by or start new things, our faith points us to God who is the constant in our life in a world that is always changing. We are called to be grateful to God for the gift of holidays, people we have been blessed to have in our lives, family, friends, role models etc and indeed just the blessing of this moment, this conversation, this sunny day, the rain, the clouds, the new discovery, the love in our heart etc. 

God is not only the giver of life, but the giver of all good gifts. As we begin this new year, we invite God to come more deeply into out hearts and lives. Our College theme for 2021 is based on the scripture quote from St Peter ‘…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:18). Each year, each day, each moment is a gift given to us by God and an invitation to come closer to God and to grow in the knowledge of Our Lord. Saint Paul tells us 'I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord' (Phil 3:8). We pray that this year, after such an unique 2020, may be a year where we all come to grow closer to Jesus, come to know and love Him more. There is nothing greater we can wish for.

We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to regularly make time this year to be with Jesus in prayer, to meditate on His life in the scriptures, to be with Him before the Blessed Sacrament, to receive Him in the Eucharist and to love and serve Him for those in need, so as when 2021 ends we can say it truly has been a year of growth in the grace and knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Holy Family of Nazareth – Be our inspiration and our guide.

Jesus of Nazareth – Help us to grow in faith, wisdom and knowledge.