By Anthony Barich
The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways, and last Monday there was no doubting its presence at St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School in Ardross.
The day before was the feast of Pentecost, the day widely known as the birthday of the Church, when the Holy Spirit descended on Christ’s Apostles, as He promised just before He ascended to the Father.
After a few housekeeping items, the first thing the students did that Monday morning during the weekly school assembly was celebrate the Church’s birthday, singing “Happy Birthday to the Church” after a short but cute Liturgy of the Word by the Year Four students, reading out the Scripture from the Acts of the Apostles.
“Kids are visual learners,” said St Benedict’s school principal Mark Powell, who also happens to be a deacon of the Archdiocese.
“We’ve been trying to mark each feast of the Church in a memorable way that the kids will understand, so they can see that we’re on about as a Catholic school.
“All these things makes the Church real and alive for them.”
It continues the trend after students went to great lengths to bring other feasts to life.
The year one class brought a donkey in to recreate the Palm Sunday feast, during which teacher David Hayden acted as Jesus overturning the tables in the synagogue. All furniture is in tact…
The year sevens did Good Friday and the year fours did the Easter Liturgy in the adjacent parish church, fulfilling the desire to link the school with the parish community.
The service included the blessing of the water and the institution of the Eucharist.
For last Monday’s celebration of Pentecost, Beck Gliosca, a mother of one of the students, made over 200 cupcakes so the students could celebrate the Catholic Church’s birthday.
They went down a treat, and everyone was happy, not least of which, no doubt, was the Holy Spirit. Two thousand years later, its work hasn’t stopped.