Pope Francis has written a letter to everyone, asking us to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need, whoever they are, wherever they may come from. We are all challenged to think of ourselves as a single global family living in a common home, and neighbours to all.
The Pope’s message is asking us to turn the world upside down and putting humanity at the centre.
Fratelli Tutti – brothers and sisters all
Strangers are neighbours – Pope Francis invites us to consider each fellow human being as a neighbour, someone to be encountered and loved for their own sake—despite physical or cultural differences. Basically we are neighbours locally and globally – and as neighbours we care for each other
Difference should not be feared – differences in race, social status, ethnicity, gender and political thought should not be feared. Pope Francis imagines “a love capable of transcending borders” and a commitment to serving the vulnerable, the poor, the disabled, the elderly and the migrant.
The best gifts cannot be bought – friendship, faith, honesty, loyalty etc —the Pope reminds us to resist “throwaway culture” life is not about getting rich or how many likes we get, he appeals to our deepest core, with the richness of our gifts and areas of growth, and as sisters and brothers striving toward something greater than us.
Serving others requires us to listen to those we serve. Listening is essential to create and live out dignity. He promotes concepts of encounter, love and social friendship.
Everything and everyone is connected. He invites us all to dream together and to have hope for a future of greater peace, love and justice.
Everything we do for each other connects to God as we are all made in the image of Him
At St. Therese of Lisieux we follow and live out the work of Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti – All brothers and sisters. Pope Francis asks us to reach out to help our sisters and brothers in need , whoever they are and wherever they come from. We don’t see our school as simply being our school family – we belong to a global family and we strive to look after our brothers and sisters wherever they are as they are part of our global family. We strive to help others in our school family, our parish family and in the wider global family as we are brothers and sisters.
We work for the common good. We are here to be part of a global family, where we treat all as our sisters and brothers. Inspired by the story of the Good Samaritan we don’t ask who is my neighbour, but we strive to become neighbours to all where we seek to Approach, Speak, Know, Listen and Understand one another.
We know we are part of a bigger family, and as a school family, we take our role very seriously in developing links in the parish and local community. We also look for ways to become involved in national and international projects and charity work as we are called to serve others so that we develop an understanding of our place in the world, and how we can make a difference. The charities we raise money for are chosen by our children, staff and governors. We only ever ask for small donations but are always overwhelmed by the generosity of our families. We are very grateful that they share our commitment in supporting those in need.
We are called to serve overseas development. As a school we are committed to the work of CAFOD and support them every year. We talk about the work of CAFOD and how our fundraising makes such a difference to people’s lives.
We are called to serve our global neighbours. On the request of our Bishop, Terence Patrick, we support the work of Mission Together, a charity that helps children all over the world.
We are called to serve the poor and vulnerable. We try to support local charities, including Thornaby Food Bank. Also, school staff join many other schools and charities by making up Christmas hampers of gifts and treats for families in Thornaby.
We are called to serve those who are sick. Our School Council supports coffee mornings at our church to show kindness to those who are unwell and to spend time with them each year.
As a school we support the Butterwick Hospice as believe in trying give dignity and support to those who are unwell and to bring comfort to their families.
Our support for these charities helps us as a school community to be living witnesses to the Gospel, following in the footsteps of Jesus in showing care and compassion to all.
The generosity of our community is endless.
“How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams on the other hand, are built together. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travellers, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice. Brothers and sisters all.”
Pope Francis
