College Chaplain
Friends,
The last term has commenced for a week. The last battle for HSC students is taking
place. Let us support and pray for our friends who are trying their best to finish well
their exams. May the Holy Spirit guide them and help them to do well with their final
exams.
Congratulations to our new team of College Captains and Vice Captains. May the
Lord bless them and grant them his Spirit to be courageous to show good examples
in their new roles and to support other students in their academic and spiritual
journey.
I am privileged to travel with you and support you on the journey of faith. Let us ask
our Blessed Mother Mary to pray for us and our community and also lead us to her
Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, especially through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and
Eucharist.
Pope France encourages us to pray for peace by joining an event on this Sunday, 18 October, called “One million children praying the Rosary”.
He said, “I encourage this beautiful initiative which involves children throughout the world, who will pray especially for difficult situation caused by the pandemic.”
Friends, I have a great news to tell you that last Saturday, 10 October, Blessed Carlo Acutis was beatified in the Italian town of Assisi. Pope Francis recalled the 15-year-old Italian teenager as “a young man in love with the Eucharist” and invited young people to look to the late Italian teenager as a model of holiness.
Carlo Acutis: Millennial generation has a Blessed
He was only 15 years old when he died in a hospital in Monza, Italy, in 2006, offering all his sufferings for the Church and for the Pope.
He was a normal, handsome and popular boy. A natural jokester who enjoyed making his classmates and teachers laugh.
He loved playing soccer, video games, and had a sweet tooth. Carlo couldn't say "no" to Nutella or to ice cream. Putting on weight made him understand the need for self-control. It was one of the many struggles Carlo had to overcome – to learn how to master the art of self-control, to master the virtue of temperance, starting by the simple things. He used to say, “What’s the use of winning 1,000 battles if you can't beat your own passions?”
Carlo’s true passion is the Eucharist, the highway to Heaven. His dedication led to the conversion of his mother who had only gone three times to Mass in her life.
Why did the Church beautify this teenager? Can you be beautified?
I invite you all to read this brief biography of Bless Carlo Acutis via this link.
Fr Paul