THE CHURCH IS FROM GOD

“If their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them.” —Acts 5:38-39

The apostles had been arrested for teaching the people of Jerusalem about Jesus. They were brought to trial before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish “Supreme Court.” The apostles stood their ground and declared they would continue teaching about Jesus, and would obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). “When the Sanhedrin heard this, they were stung to fury and wanted to kill them. Then a member of the Sanhedrin stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law highly regarded by all the people. He had the accused ordered out of court for a few minutes, and then said to the assembly, ‘…Have nothing to do with these men. Let them alone. If their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them without fighting God Himself’ ” (Acts 5:33-35, 38-39).

We who live in the twenty-first century should stop and think about the origins of Christianity. We are asked to give our lives to a Man condemned to death, the equivalent of being put to death today in the electric chair. His main followers were a group of uneducated fishermen. Yet we moderners still continue to follow this Man two thousand years later. This is a great testament to the truth that Jesus is God and His Church is led by the Holy Spirit.

Gamaliel’s words echo strongly today, just as they did to the Sanhedrin. Gamaliel and St. Luke are telling us that the Church comes from God. Pour your heart and your life into God’s Church.

PRAYER:               “Lord, remember Your church throughout the world; make us grow in love together with” our Pope, bishops, and clergy.

PROMISE:            “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.” –Ps 27:13

PRAISE:                 St. Fidelis, a priest and martyr, prayed that he be completely faithful to God and not give in to lukewarmness or apathy.

The ADT department wanted to have some fun with the students  so they devised a Fun Activity Sheet for the students to do over the Easter holidays.  We had several entries which we thought were fantastic and showed that the students at St Edmund’s are creative.We would like to thank Grace,Autumn,Gloria,Patrick and Ewan for their entries.

THE MEAL OF LOVE

“Taste and see how good the Lord is.” —Psalm 34:9

At each Mass, Jesus offers us His Body and Blood in the Eucharistic feast. The Church, through the voice of the psalmist, invites us to taste and see how good the Eucharistic Lord is (Ps 34:9). At the first Eucharist, the Last Supper, Jesus told His apostles and each of us: “I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Lk 22:15). The Mass is a marriage between heaven and earth, and the Eucharist is our wedding banquet (see Rv 19:7).

We approach the altar of the Lord as His spouse. In a very real sense, the Eucharist is a kiss from the Lord’s lips to ours. The opening verse of the biblical book of the Song of Songs reads: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” (Sg 1:2). Have you ever approached the Eucharist with that verse on your lips? The Song of Songs is a book about the passionate love shared between the bride and groom. Jesus is the Groom, and we, the members of the Church, are His bride (see Mk 2:19; Eph 5:25; Rv 19:7). Too many times in my own life, my attention has been elsewhere as I receive the Body and Blood of my Spouse, the Lord Jesus, Who loves me with the deepest desire.

Jesus “greatly desires” to give each one of us a Eucharistic kiss. Let us receive Him with devotion and committed love, and return the kiss by our complete devotion, gratitude, trust, and obedience.

PRAYER:	Father, may my love for Your Son always exceed the love of any newlywed for their spouse on their wedding day.
PROMISE:	God “does not ration His gift of the Spirit.” –Jn 3:34
PRAISE:	As bishop of Prague, St. Adalbert instituted clerical reforms. Those who resisted his efforts were successful in exiling him — twice. After his second exile he won a martyr’s crown.

The power of Facebook and the joining of old friends happened this morning! Our Lay Chaplain saw a message on Facebook from an old friend she used to work with over 25 years ago, asking for donations of elastic, as she was making ‘facemasks’ for a Care Home.
Mrs Ferris sent an appeal out and today travelled to Northfield, Great Barr and West Bromwich to collect and deliver the much-needed elastic – meeting another old friend, she had not seen for 15 years. Good deed done, friendships re-established and smiles all round.

ONLY THE HUNGRY HAVE LIFE
“Look there! Those men you put in jail are standing over there in the temple, teaching the people.” —Acts 5:25
An angel freed the apostles from jail and told them to teach about “this new life” (Acts 5:20). Christianity is new life, but Christians must be taught to live this life, thus, the great importance of teaching in the Christian life and regarding this life.

On the day Jesus rose from the dead, He spent hours in the afternoon and evening interpreting the Scriptures (Lk 24:27) and opening the apostles’ minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45). At the first Christian Pentecost, Peter was preaching and teaching. Thereupon, the newborn Church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). After an angel freed the apostles from jail and told them to keep teaching, they devoted themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4) by resisting temptations to lose their focus on teaching God’s Word. They even filled Jerusalem with their teaching (Acts 5:28). Jesus was frequently called “Rabbi,” meaning “Teacher” (see Jn 20:16), and the Church founded by Jesus is therefore a teaching Church.

PRAYER: Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me everything (Jn 14:26) and guide me to all truth (Jn 16:13).
PROMISE: “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” –Jn 3:17
PRAISE: Every day, try and read s Bible verse, reflects on how this Word applies to your life, and then says “Lord, Your will be done.”

OUR ONLY NEED
“The place where they were gathered shook as they prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit.” —Acts 4:31
When Peter and John were released from jail, they did not ask for:

• .future safety,
• protection from their enemies,
• .justice after being wrongly arrested, or
•  an easier mission.
  Rather, they asked to be filled again with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 4:31) and thereby receive “complete assurance,” that is, holy boldness in witnessing for the risen Christ (Acts 4:29).

Let’s not focus on the immensity of our problems and the human impossibility of dealing with them. It doesn’t make that much difference whether we have to move a mountain or a mountain range. It’s irrelevant whether we face thousands of enemies or only a few. Even if Satan himself is pulling out his heavy artillery, it isn’t important. We must turn to the Spirit dwelling within us (see 1 Cor 3:16), Who can handle any degree of difficulty. We need only stir into flame the gift of the Spirit in our lives, for “the Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather One That makes us strong, loving, and wise” (2 Tm 1:6, 7).

Come, Holy Spirit! Give us Easter.

PRAYER: Father, may I be baptized in and preoccupied with the Holy Spirit.
PROMISE: “The wind blows where it will. You hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes. So it is with everyone begotten of the Spirit.” –Jn 3:8
PRAISE: Pray regularly for discernment to know what comes from the Holy Spirit and what comes from the evil one.

St Edmund’s Catholic Academy is proud to follow its CARE values and donates Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the NHS front line.

Earlier this week Mrs Sehera, Art & Design Technology Technician, delivered a supply of  PPE to Russells Hall Hospital.

Hospital staff expressed their sincere gratitude for the much needed overalls and thanked staff at St Edmund’s for their generosity and support during this challenging time.

The Art, Design and Technology Department have put together some fun and engaging ideas, for students and families to enjoy over the Easter holiday.

Why not take a photo and send it by email to adtfun@stedmunds.org

Photos received will be used to create internal display boards of our favourite images.

Enjoy.

Click on the link below to see to see the poster of activities:

https://bit.ly/3aH8aX8