The parish office will be closed from Thursday 28th March at 12.30pm until Thursday, 4th April at 8.30am. The next parish bulletin will be over the weekend of 13th/14th April.
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What a marvellous evening of music and song we had on Thursday night at the St. Leonard’s concert in St. Joseph’s. From Jazz to Classical, each musical turn was ably introduced by one of the students. Well done to Mr. GrehanBradley and the music department. What added to the evening was that this was achieved in such difficult circumstances with the music department being particularly hit because of RAAC. “Whilst many parents are familiar with the mood-enhancing benefits of music, thy may not know that music has developmental benefits. According to Don Campbell, internationally known educator and author of The Mozart Effect for Children, music enhances intelligence, co-ordination, emotional expression, creativity and socialisation skills. Studies have suggested that music and movement affect all areas of development. Music can bolster listening skills, improve motor skills, assist with problem-solving and promote better reasoning. Many others say that music can calm and focus the mind, which is why it is so often used by therapists. In addition, singing sharpens children’s ability to communicate. Learning a piece of information attached to a tune will reinforce it to the memory cells of the brain.”
Thank you to all the various groups in the parish for their Lenten contributions for the Friday soups and Stations of the Cross. All excellent. Holy Week has very special significance this year because of the daily horrors unfolding in the Land of Jesus. It’s appalling, and there are no two ways about this. It should and must be stopped. Sadly, too many seem to be washing their hands of the Palestinian plight? (Matthew 27:24). Our prayers are with the people of Palestine, especially our besieged fellow Christians at this perilous time. 80,000 Catholics in Jerusalem and Palestinian lands. One Catholic Parish in Gaza has been heavily targeted by the IDF. And on it goes.
“If I Must Die”
By Refaat Alareer
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze
and bid no-one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself –
sees the kite, my kite you made,
flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love.
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been slain in just over two months. One of them is writer and professor Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military on 6th December, along with his brother, his brother’s son, his sister and her three children. Refaat shared countless narratives about the horrors of the Israeli occupation and system of apartheid, and he mentored so many Palestinian writers, including Yousef Aljamal, whose essay about Gaza appears in a forthcoming issue of “In These Times.” Yousef describes his friend as “the giant of the Palestinian narrative coming out of
Gaza.”
Refaat’s poem “If I Must Die” has been shared widely since he was killed. On social media, an impromptu effort translated it into dozens of languages: Spanish, Italian, Tamil, Tagalog, Greek, Japanese, Yiddish and more. Here, we offer it in English and Arabic. Ari Bloomekatz
St Joseph's School chaplains will be leading Stations of the Cross on Thursday 21st March at 9:30am in St Joseph's Church. All are welcome.
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