This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ). The feast celebrates the Real Presence (not a symbol) of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. It is for this reason that Catholics venerate the Eucharist with such reverence.
Last year on Sunday 19 June 2022, Pope Francis celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, with Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The Feast of Corpus Christi is a time for Christians to remember that God will meet their basic needs to eat and to be filled with the joy and amazement of receiving loving nourishment from Jesus Christ, Pope Francis said.
At the same time, the Pope emphasized, the Eucharist must also move Christians to action. “We can evaluate our Eucharistic Adoration when we take care of our neighbor like Jesus does,” the Pope said before the recitation of the Angelus at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
“There is hunger for food around us, but also for companionship; there is hunger for consolation, friendship, good humour; there is hunger for attention, there is hunger to be evangelized. We find this in the Eucharistic Bread — the attention of Christ to our needs and the invitation to do the same toward those who are beside us. We need to eat and feed others.”
The Pope’s remarks last year reflect on the importance of the Eucharist as the source and summit of our Catholic faith where he states:
“This is the Lord present in the Eucharist. He calls us to be citizens of Heaven, but at the same time he takes into account the journey we have to face here on earth. Jesus Christ’s self-giving presence is key to understanding the Eucharist” he said. “We certainly need to nourish ourselves, but we also need to be satisfied, to know that the nourishment is given to us out of love. In the Body and Blood of Christ, we find his presence, his life given for each of us. He not only gives us help to go forward, but he gives us himself — he makes himself our traveling companion, he enters into our affairs, he visits us when we are lonely, giving us back a sense of enthusiasm.”
“This satisfies us, when the Lord gives meaning to our life, our obscurities, our doubts; he sees the meaning, and this meaning that the Lord gives satisfies us,” the Pope explained. Everyone is looking for the presence of the Lord, because “in the warmth of his presence, our lives change,” the Pope added.
“Without him, everything would truly be grey,” he said. “Adoring the Body and Blood of Christ, let us ask him with our heart: ‘Lord, give me that daily bread to go forward, Lord, satisfy me with your presence!’”
We also pray on the Feast of Corpus Christi that the Virgin Mary may teach us “how to adore Jesus, living in the Eucharist and to share him with our brothers and sisters.”
Semester One Examinations
At Thomas Carr College we are committed to fostering a culture of excellence and our expectations are high in our approach to student learning and improving student outcomes. This extends to providing opportunities for students to consolidate and demonstrate their learning through a combination of set assessment tasks and semester-based examinations. The Semester One examinations have been designed to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their level of progress and achievement based on the key content covered throughout this semester.
As the Term Two break approaches, it is important to reflect upon the significance of the Semester One examinations. Although the examination scores do not go towards the students ATAR, they do however provide an excellent tool to measure and evaluate the students’ academic achievements and knowledge.
The Semester One examinations provide the students with a valuable opportunity to become comfortable working in exam conditions and allow students to familiarise themselves with the pressure and time restrictions of the exam environment.
We wish all students the very best for their final assessment tasks for the semester and upcoming examinations.
King’s Birthday Public Holiday
Please note that Monday 12 June is the King’s Birthday public holiday. Students will return to school on Tuesday 13 June. Please place this return to school date in your calendars.
Mr Jamie Madigan
Principal