Sending Joy to Westmead Residential Care Home

Our wonderful Pupil Chaplaincy Team have expressed their concerns about people in care homes this Christmas and so we have sent home-made Christmas cards to the residents and carers of Westmead Residential Care Home. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we cannot sing carols to them like we usually do every year but we are pleased we could hopefully spread some joy with our thoughtful Christmas cards.

As Catholics, we always think of ways to look after others and we are guided by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Human Dignity and Respect for all humans, including the elderly is one of the key principles.  We know that every person has a fundamental right to those things required for human decency. An essential part of the Catholic faith, the key values of Catholic Social Teaching are found at the core of the Gospel. 

 

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is a set of guidance from Popes, bishops and theologians, who reflecting on Scripture, tradition, and the reality of the world, offering a set of principles to help us think about how we should interact with others, the choices we make, and how we treat creation.

The Pupil Chaplaincy Team will be meeting regularly to look for ways we can See, Judge, Act:

See: What is really happening in our local, national, and global communities .

Judge: Reflect, analyse what is happening through a lens of faith, using Catholic Social Teaching principles as a guide .

Act: as a result of the issue we see.

We know that this is a lonely time for a lot of people who do not have or cannot see their families for Christmas. We know that this is especially even more lonely for some people this year because of the global pandemic. Loneliness is what we feel when we’re isolated from others.

Loneliness sometimes has less to do with others’ physical absence and more to do with feeling disconnected or alienated from them. Or misunderstood by them. Sometimes this type of loneliness makes us feel isolated, despised and rejected.

Jesus was certainly very lonely sometimes. He experienced both the absence of his Father and human rejection at levels we can scarcely begin to imagine. There were moments in the desert,  Gethsemane and on Calvary which were uniquely and terribly lonely. Can you think of another time when he might have been lonely? Tell us in the comments below.

Jesus understands this feeling of loneliness because he experienced it.

We pray for all those who are lonely and in despair this Christmas…

 

Dear God,

We come before you to humbly ask that you comfort us in our moments of loneliness.

Be our shelter in the midst of the storm.

Walk beside us every step of the way.

Remind us that you are always there, right at our side, whenever we call.

No matter the time, the hour, the situation, Oh Lord, you have promised to never leave us nor forsake us.

Please take care of the elderly and all those who are lonely this Christmas,

And while it may be heartbreaking, comfort families as they decide to keep their distance from elderly or other high-risk family members.

Amen