John XXIII College Newsletter

Liturgy

Community Mass

Thank you very much to students in Year 9 who prepared this morning’s liturgy, as we look ahead to the 6th World Day of the Poor this Sunday, 13 November. 

 

November is the month the Church especially dedicates to remembering loved ones who have died, and the Christian hope that ‘life is changed, not ended’. At the Community Mass next Friday we will especially remember former members of the John XXIII, Loreto and St Louis communities who have gone before us. Alumni, friends and families are warmly welcome to the Mass and to coffee in the Circle of Friends Café afterwards.

 

Community Mass details

  • College Chapel
  • Fridays in term time
  • Starts: 8:00am and concludes 8:30am

World Day of …

Just in case you missed it, umbrella day this year took place on February 10.[1] It celebrated everything from the enormous umbrellas you see in sidewalk cafes to those pesky little paper ones that sit in cocktails.  Not long after, on February 13, it was International Radio Day. World Chess Day was on July 10, Checkers Day was on September 23 and, for those who prefer cards, World Bridge Day will be on December 12. In fact, practically every day is dedicated to something or other. International Crochet Day is on September 13. This is not to be confused with world knitting day on June 10. Nor with World Doll Day which is the second Saturday in June. World Bonsai Day is May 8. Origami Day is Nov 11, which coincides with armistice day. Are you marking these in your calendar?
 
Sadly, by the time we get to November, we are worn out with so much celebrating and commemorating. This is a pity because one day that really should stand out is the World Day of the Poor which, this year, is marked on Sunday, 13 November. It deserves special attention because, as we all know, the rich get 364 days. There is just one for the poor.

 

Pope Francis established the commemoration of the World Day of the Poor in 2017. In 2022, it will be marked this Sunday, November 13.[1]

 

The theme for Pope Francis’ World Day of the Poor message for 2022 is ‘For your sakes Christ became poor’ (2 Cor 8:9). The Pope’s message begins: With these words, the Apostle Paul addresses the first Christians of Corinth in order to encourage their efforts to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters in need. The World Day of the Poor comes this year as a healthy challenge, helping us to reflect on our style of life and on the many forms of poverty all around us. 

 

 

The full text of the Pope’s message can be found here.  An extract from the Pope’s message is below.

 

Extracted from Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Sixth World Day of the Poor – sections 7-8.

 

For your sakes Christ became poor. It is not a question of approaching the poor with a ‘welfare mentality’, as often happens, but of ensuring that no one lacks what is necessary. It is not activism that saves, but sincere and generous concern that makes us approach a poor person as a brother or sister, who lends a hand ... There is an urgent need to find new solutions that can go beyond the approach of those social policies conceived as ‘a policy for the poor, but never with the poor and never of the poor, much less part of a project that brings people together’ (Fratelli Tutti, 169). We need instead to imitate the attitude of the Apostle, who could write to the Corinthians: ‘I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance’ (2 Cor 8:13).

 

There is a paradox we find hard to accept … that there exists a form of poverty that can make us rich. By appealing to the ‘grace’ of Jesus Christ, Paul wants to confirm the message that he himself preached. It is the message that true wealth does not consist in storing up ‘treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal’ (Mt 6:19), but rather in a reciprocal love that leads us to bear one another’s burdens in such a way that no one is left behind or excluded. The sense of weakness and limitation that we have experienced in these recent years, and now the tragedy of the war with its global repercussions, must teach us one crucial thing: we are not in this world merely to survive, but to live a dignified and happy life. 

 

The message of Jesus shows us the way and makes us realise that there is a poverty that humiliates and kills, and another poverty, Christ’s own poverty, that sets us free and brings us peace. The poverty that kills is squalor, exploitation, violence and the unjust distribution of resources. It is a hopeless and implacable poverty, imposed by the throwaway culture … The poverty that sets us free, on the other hand, is one that results from a responsible decision to cast off all dead weight and concentrate on what is essential. Encountering the poor enables us to put an end to many of our anxieties and empty fears, and to arrive at what truly matters in life, the treasure that no one can steal from us: true and gratuitous love. The poor, before being the object of our almsgiving, are people, who can help set us free from the snares of anxiety and superficiality.

 

May this 2022 World Day of the Poor be for us a moment of grace. May it enable us to make a personal and communal examination of conscience and to ask ourselves whether the poverty of Jesus Christ is our faithful companion in life.

[1] Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. (n.d.) World Day of the Poor 2022. Catholic Australia. https://www.catholic.au/s/article/World-Day-of-the-Poor-2022