Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,

Last week our Year 6 students celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation. The ceremonies were such a sacred time where the students had the opportunity to feel the fullness of the Spirit, and come to acknowledge the work of the Spirit in their lives.

By preparing our children for the sacraments and allowing them to celebrate their faith through the reception of the sacrament, we are giving them a lifetime of opportunity to come to know their faith and to develop a deep and personal relationship with God. At the moment, the children are very much maturing into their faith by developing a level of simple theological understanding as to what it all means. As adults, we can better understand how to recognise the Spirit at work in our own lives - if we allow the Spirit to show itself.

Confirmation reminds me of an old hymn that has the lyrics: 

Spirit in my life I see, 

You are God who walks with me

You hold my life in your hands

Close beside you I will stand

I give all my life to You

Help me Spirit to be true

The Holy Spirit dwells within each of us and around each of us. Recognising where the Spirit is at work is the hard part. When we trust that the Spirit is at work we can name where God is walking with us. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk and theologian, has written a Litany that imagines the many names and movements of the Spirit as divine healer and comforter to awaken the presence of the Spirit within and around us. Some of these may speak to you or you might be able to name some of your own…

Pure Gift of God; Promise of the Father; Life of Jesus; Peacemaker; Always Already Awareness; Compassionate Observer; Inner Breath; Seething Desire; Truth Speaker; Flowing Stream; Sacred Wounding; Will of God; Great Compassion….

John’s Gospel helps when he says: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter and Helper to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. . . . You know this Spirit, for it abides with you and will be in you. (Jn 14:16-17)

As we renew our Confirmation commitment thinking alongside our Year 6 students, may we come to understand and identify the work of the Spirit in our lives. May I also pray with thanks for you, the parents, who continue to treasure the sacraments. 

As we journey together with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal