This weekend is the 19^th Sunday in Ordinary time. Ordinary time is the time in the Church’s liturgical calendar that is outside the special times like Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. Your child’s classroom will have a green prayer cloth as a symbol of the time in the Church’s calendar. This prayer cloth will change colours as the seasons change. Each family was given a Liturgical calendar in the Family Prayer Bags that were handed out at the beginning of remote learning. You could use this to talk about the special seasons throughout the year.

The Gospel reading this weekend is from Matthew chapter 14:22-33 Jesus walks on water

In this account, we read that Peter takes a big risk and hops out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus. But when a big wind blows by, Peter is frightened and begins to sink. When Pete calls out to Jesus to save him, Jesus reaches out his hand.

When reading this reading with your family, discuss what it means to have faith when taking risks. The risks could be when learning something new, for example trying a new math’s strategy for the first time, trying out a new sport skill in a game situation, or presenting a speech when you are nervous. But Jesus is always there for us! He will encourage us to stay strong, reaching out his hand. All we have to do is call out.

Who else is there for you? Who will reach out and encourage you to be remain strong in faith? St Monica’s is a community that grows together, reaching out to those in need, encouraging everyone to remain courageous during difficult times and celebrating times of success and happiness!