Divine mercy, without a doubt
Posted: Thu, 8 Apr 2021 14:12
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on God's deep love for us, seen in the Gospel for 2nd Sunday of Easter (John 20: 19-31). Image: 'Doubting Thomas', Franciszek Smuglewicz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This Sunday, we are invited to share in unconditional love of God in 'Divine Mercy Sunday' and in the gospel, we are given an example of how deep that love is.
For some reason, Thomas, the apostle,... Read More »
Sharing the Light of Easter
Posted: Sat, 3 Apr 2021 19:30
A reflection for Easter Day from Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB. Image: The Risen Lord meets Mary Magdalen, Ely. Fr Lawrence Lew OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr.
A very happy Easter Day to you!
Today we celebrate glory and life even in the middle of international pain and heartache—I pray that this day helps us to recognise the green shoots of hope. Today is the reason for our hope and needed optimism:... Read More »
Salesian students' Duke of Edinburgh Award achievements
Posted: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 12:28
Our schools are very proud of the achievements of students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Several students at St John Bosco College Battersea received their Bronze awards this week, and Salesian School Chertsey is delighted that during the lockdown period, their students have clocked up more than 1500 hours of community service volunteering towards their awards.
The Duke of Edinburgh... Read More »
Savio Salesian College thanks generous donors for laptops
Posted: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 11:30
Savio Salesian College, Bootle, was delighted this week to receive a further donation of laptops for their students from Everton in the Community, the official charity of Everton Football Club.
The pandemic has exacerbated and drawn greater attention to the inequalities in our society, one of which is the 'digital poverty' of many households, where there is little or no access to computers and internet... Read More »
Eastering COVID
Posted: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 11:07
We have been through deaths
We have felt the loss of life and of meaning.
We have remembered the senseless suffering
Of the cross on Calvary.
All this is grist to God's mill
That makes the bread of our resurrection.
All our struggles with suffering,
All our searching for meaning,
Is caught up into a deeper wisdom,
Written into a longer story
Deepening trust in a loving God.
Nothing is wasted.
And so, we struggle... Read More »
Holy Week 2021- Salesian resources and online services
Posted: Thu, 25 Mar 2021 18:45
As we approach Holy Week, the most sacred part of our year, we invite you to use some new resources prepared for your reflections and devotions, and to join the Salesians in our online services over the Sacred Triduum, if you are unable to attend church in person.
In our resources area, you can download the reflections and prayers for Holy Week which are part of the 'Camino Through Lent' written by... Read More »
Palm Sunday: Holy Week reveals God’s lavish and limitless love
Posted: Thu, 25 Mar 2021 16:52
On the threshold of Holy Week, Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, and his example of sharing God's unconditional love. Photo: Millie and Milo, at home in Mayo (Fr Gerry)
On Palm Sunday—Passion Sunday, we begin that most sacred week of Christian history; as we enter Holy Week, we enter, not with a sense of triumphalism, but in a true spirit of... Read More »
Oscar Romero
Posted: Thu, 25 Mar 2021 14:51
This week we celebrate the feast of St Oscar Romero, assassinated on 24 March 1980. Britney Garcia, a student at St John Bosco College Battersea, wrote an article on St Oscar for the latest edition of Faith Matters, the college magazine produced by students for an adult audience. We reproduce the article, which includes additional reporting by Sophia Najero Ramirez, by kind permission of the editorial... Read More »
Meeting Christ outside the Walls
Posted: Thu, 25 Mar 2021 11:18
On the threshold of Holy Week, with our thoughts turning to the Crucifixion of Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem, Catholic teacher and Deacon, Michael Bennett, looks at the symbolism of the city walls in the gospels, and what this means for Catholic education ...
Tantur Ecumenical Institute sits on the very edge of the state of Israel, on the green line that separates Israel from Palestine. It is... Read More »
Battersea community joins prayer vigil for those lost to COVID
Posted: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 19:04
On the evening of the 23rd of March, the Battersea Salesian Community gathered, in common with people across the nation, to remember the 126,000 deaths from Covid over the last year and the 2.73 million deaths worldwide in the same year. Even yesterday, London lost another 96 people through COVID.
The community gathered to pause and sing a hymn of trust in God before returning to their studies in the... Read More »