Diocese of Paisley

Dear parents and guardians, once again it is back to school time and we have to say this always led to a big sigh of relief from us!  We know our Catholic schools have wonderful and dedicated teachers, but you are fundamental and irreplaceable as your children’s first teachers, especially in faith and love.  Whether our children accept our faith themselves depends, most of all, on our example and encouragement; this is clearly shown in recent studies, but it may sound a bit scary!  It is a big responsibility but is definitely mission possible! Most of our teaching is done by example, but it is also important that we talk about our faith and pray together as a family.  Every small effort we make here will be well rewarded, and although we will often make mistakes or be less than perfect in this mission, we can always ask God for help, and He will make up for our failures.  We hope this newsletter will let you know how our Catholic faith is being taught and practised in school and provide help as you teach your children to grow in faith at home.

September: The Season of Creation
The Season of Creation is a month-long season of prayer, reflection and action by Christians of all denominations around the world, aiming to increase gratitude and care for our common home, created by God for our common good. The season begins on 1 September with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and continues until 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, who is closely linked with care for creation.
The theme of this year’s Season of Creation is ‘A Home for All’.  Click here to find out more .                                 
Our own SCIAF also produces great resources on the importance of environmental protection for the poorest people; you can access these resources here. 

October - Month of The Holy Rosary
October is a month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, linked to the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on the 7th of October.  Our Lady, the Immaculate Mother of God, is the most perfect, purely human being who has ever lived, and has been raised up by God to be Mother of the Church and Queen of Heaven. God has given Mary a unique role in His plan of salvation for the whole world, which continues through her appearances to urge the whole world to turn to Jesus Christ her Son for peace and salvation.  A powerful way of dedicating our family life to God is by praying the rosary together.   If this seems too long, saying a decade or even one Hail Mary is great!
Bishop John is leading the UK mission Rosary throughout October.  Many families found that saying the rosary together with Bishop John during lockdown at the start of 2021 was a really positive experience, maybe you could join with him and other families in this prayer. Information from Missio Scotland.

Year of St Joseph
This year has been dedicated to St Joseph by Pope Francis. St Joseph never speaks in the Gospels but is still a great example of faith, hope and love. He listened to God’s word and obeyed His call to accept Mary and Jesus as his family, to escape with them to Egypt and return back to Israel. He led, protected, and loved them through social disapproval, persecution, perilous journeys and living as refugees in a foreign country. He provided for their needs by his manual labour, but could never make them well off. He was a father to Jesus as He grew up, helping Him to develop His identity and His relationship with His heavenly Father. Following God’s will did not make life easy for St. Joseph, but God gave him strength and provided what he could not. Often our family life involves difficulties and we can feel inadequate; if we turn to God as St. Joseph did, we can be confident that He will help us. We can ask St. Joseph for help as well.  The official prayer for the year of St. Joseph is below. You can pray it together as a family or as Pope Francis has asked for the month of October, add it to the end of the rosary.

 

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
w​​​​ith you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil.
Amen. 

We hope you found something to encourage you in your mission as first teachers of your children in this newsletter, and that it is helpful to know how our faith is being taught in school. May our good Lord God protect and bless all our families as we journey towards Him this term.
Diocese of Paisley | Marriage & Family | Paisley, UK (rcdop.org.uk)