As we live through an unprecedented time of challenge and uncertainty, our faith and our resilience can be tested. We can ask questions like ‘Will things ever be the same again?’, ‘When can we get back to normality?’, ‘Where is God in all of this?’ In response to this, we reflect upon how Catholic schools are communities of faith and resilience. In Catholic schools, we are called to support each other and to have faith in the promise of the Good News. Catholic schools are inspired by the belief that God has created each one of us with a capacity to give love and receive love. This love is bound in faith and is more resilient than any virus. While each Catholic school is such a community, every Catholic school fosters the holistic development of its students, promotes their wellbeing and offers them cultivation of a deeper, loving relationship with God. Jesus teaches us to love one another as he has loved us. During Catholic Schools Week we celebrate the gifts and talents we have in following Jesus’ teaching.

This year we celebrate how we are called to be communities of faith and resilience, through our thoughts, words and actions. In doing so, we live out the meaning of the beautiful hymn ‘Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est’ – ‘Where charity and love are, God is there.’

As we are living in such difficult times – we are working remotely and our children are now studying and learning remotely with the help of parents, guardians, grandparents or even siblings and childminders. There is nothing easy about Homeschooling and on most parents lips or thoughts at this present time is…..”I’m not an educator, I’m not cut out for this, I can’t do this and my own work, This is so so difficult”. We are all struggling at the moment and finding the days difficult with little or no motivation, it is hard to stay focused on the brighter days that are only around the corner for us – days when our children will go back to school, days when we won’t have to struggle with our work and the work of our children and days when the Covid virus will be truly behind us. We just need to focus a little longer, hold tight and follow guidelines and respect restrictions that are there to keep us all safe, AND REMEMBER YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB!   (www.bandonparish.ie)