Two events come together this week – on Saturday morning there is Mass with Confirmation at St Brigid’s, and on Wednesday a Mass of Thanksgiving at Corpus Christi (see page 2 of our newsletter this week). The one is all about our young people embarking on the journey through teenage years and towards adulthood, the other is about those people of tremendous significance in their lives; their teachers in school.
Our twenty or so confirmandi are great people, and God thinks so too! “Respect” is a big word nowadays, and God respects them so much He wants to share his own Spirit with them in this wonderful sacrament. They must reach out to receive this gift and then ask God to help them use the gifts of the Spirit to be the people God wants them to be.
Then, we are very blessed in our 3 Churches area to have Catholic education from 3 – 18 or 19 on our doorstep. Christ the King Primary School, Corpus Christi High School and St David’s are three jewels in our Catholic crown here in Cardiff, and all of them lie within our boundaries. So it’s excellent to celebrate those women and men who devote their working lives to the education of our young people, such as those for whom we give thanks on Wednesday. Teachers like Mrs Pat Pavlovic and Mrs Ann Geen have given extraordinary service to the children who have passed through their hands, to their families and to the Church and wider community. They are truly “vocational” teachers, very much with a calling.
So let us honour and pray for both groups – our young people due to be confirmed by Archbishop George Stack on Saturday, and all those who work in our Catholic schools on Wednesday – especially those who will now enjoy a well-earned rest!
Fr Matthew
