Advent at the Sacred Heart 2019
Advent at The Sacred Heart
Advent is a time of hope, peace, love and joy; a time for us to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. Cardinal Nichols has dedicated this year to ‘The God Who Speaks: A Year of the Word.’ During this special year we will have the opportunity to celebrate, live and share in the joy of scripture, and in particular the gospel of Matthew which we started reading in Mass in Advent. Scripture is at the centre of everything the Church does. The word of God shapes our prayer and worship. The Bible shows us how to understand the world, how we are called to live and relate to each other. We will continue to engage in activities to develop our knowledge of the Bible and the Gospel in the coming year.
St Matthew says: ‘Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them.’ The Word must be followed by action and again our pupils and parents have excelled themselves in showing love by contributing generously to the Christmas Hamper Appeal for the Catholic Children’s Society who distribute to families in need throughout the year.
Our school was founded by Euphrasie Barbier, who at this time is being considered by the Vatican for canonisation! We support the Sisters who work with women and children in the most deprived areas of the world. Sister RoseMary Harbison, gave an Assembly to Year 10 pupils informing them about projects and the pupils are fundraising to support these projects. For more information about RNDM and the opportunity to contribute see https://www.rndm.org/
A group of our talented singers shared their musical talents to bring joy to the residents of St Vincent’s Nursing Home.
A group of pupils represented the school and joined the catholic schools at the Denary Schools Carol Service in St George’s Church. It is always an inspiring evening listening to beautiful voices sing traditional carols; hearing the familiar readings and the Nativity re-enacted.
Year 9 and Year 10 pupils participated in Retreats lead by SPEC at Waxwell Farm in Pinner. It was very well received by them and they appreciated the time to reflect. The theme of the Retreat was ‘Fresh Start’ examining: What is our faith? Why do we believe what we believe? What does having a firm foundation in Christ look like? From there we can learn to re-build and turn our focus towards Jesus, who brings us new life and puts a new spirit in us through His mercy. Equipped with a firm foundation and knowledge of God’s great love for us, it is then time to take a leap of faith and say ‘YES’ to Him by standing up for our faith and living our everyday lives as authentic witnesses.