Parent Letter Faith Reflection
This past Sunday’s Gospel saw the intersection of misery and mercy. Trying to trap Jesus the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery to test him, hoping his response would give them some “charge to bring against him.” Instead of stooping to their level he went above and beyond, as our 7th grader will talk about in her essay on radical community care. He reached down and embraced misery (the sins of all who were present) and offered mercy (radical compassion and forgiveness of their sins). Jesus ends our hunger for the good, nourishing hope not despair, something else our 7th grader’s essay will touch upon. Lent is a good time to reflect upon this, even go to confession and experience our Lord’s mercy firsthand.
Radical Community Care: How Can We Help
by Lauren
What is radical community care? Radical community care is the act of doing something bigger to help your community. There are many ways that anyone in the community can go about doing this. For example, you could have a can drive. This is considered radical community care because instead of just bringing cans to Mass you are going above and beyond, collecting hundreds of cans instead of just contributing one.
Anyone in the community can hold a food drive. All that is needed for a can drive are flyers, a drop-off location, and large containers to hold the cans. If a child wants to do it they can ask their parents to help them with it and an adult can easily do it with the help of their parish. A can drive is thought to be an easier form of radical community care, but a can drive is a helpful form of community care because it helps to end hunger and nourishes hope that one day everyone in the world can be provided with food.
Lent as a journey is a time to help us grow closer to God so we can respond to what he wants to do in our lives. Last week the 7th graders listened to the song, At Your Dawn (Joseph’s Journey), composed by Mr. Turner and our School of Rock band before Christmas. Though the time of the song puts the focus on Advent it’s speaking of a journey and we do well to reflect on it during Lent also. It’s a beautiful song that moved me as their song really brought to light how Joseph trusted in God and responded with his “Yes” just like our Blessed Mother had with her “Yes.”
There’s not a link for the School of Rock’s song because it’s not something I’m pulling from the Internet, but below one of the 7th graders highlights one of the lines that struck a cord with me in particular, and hopefully will with you also. Our School of Rock is awesome.: “Joseph responds to God when the angel appears to him. Joseph is accepting of God just as we should be.”; “How God gives us great things to help him spread his faith and the message of God.”; “The song told the story of Joseph and how he said yes to God, even when it might have been hard.”; “Joseph listened to God as we should. God guides us in all things and we should allow him to.”; “Lent is a journey just like Advent. It says in the song “send me with strength and open eyes.”; “In Lent we need that strength. It is a journey for everyone, and Lent can be quite a struggle sometimes.”
God Bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
5th Grade / Jr. High Teacher’s Aide