Catechetical Sunday
Theme - Jesus the teacher

Gospel - The Beatitudes
(The Sermon on the Mount)

This weekend Jesus our brother and great teacher gives each of us a blue print for good living in his Beatitudes. He tells us we should be poor in spirit, living a humble life, gentle in our dealings with Gods people, supportive to those who are mourning a death, up hold the laws of God, showing love and forgiveness, not following the evil one, not causing trouble between families and friends, to help people who are unjustly wronged and not to gossip and spread rumours about people.

On this Catechetical Sunday may we embrace the Beatitudes and introduce them into our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday provides each family in the parish with an opportunity to renew the great Irish tradition of family prayer in the home because in the Baptismal ceremony we are told that parents are the first teachers of their children in the ways of the faith and also the best of teachers bearing witness to the faith by what they say and do in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
The teachers and priests in our Primary and Post- Primary schools can only do so much in the education of our young people in the Religion classes. Parents must get involved in order that the message of God is taught, lived and prayed in the lives of their children.
The Beatitudes provide us with such great renewal, prayerful and good living material. Let us not waste what God gave us, but accept it with open arms because "The family that prays together stays together"

Family Prayer
After eating together, the family might stay at the table and pray using a candle, a Bible, a crucifix or a statue. A child might light the candle, which represents Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. An adult might lead the prayer using the following or similar words:
Jesus said to his friends "Wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them" Jesus is here with us today. He is the Light of the World.
Then recite the Rosary.

Communion Reflection
We teach by the way we live;
By forgiveness and understanding offered in times of hurt, by compassion to another in any sort of trouble, by daily care for the child and the elderly, by visiting the prisoner and the lonely, by praying with sincerity and by doing the best we can to live as Jesus lived.
He is the best of teachers of forgiveness, compassion, care and prayer for all by his words, life and death. May we our teaching be from the life of Jesus and our living reflect his teachings. May all of us teach the word of Jesus by the way we live.