I expect that if I asked students at Shalom, or their parents, to summarise what Christianity is about, I would get back statements like,

“‘Jesus was kind and wants us to be kind’
‘Love one another’
‘Treat others as you would like to be treated’"

These beliefs are a part of the fabric of Christian faith, but they are not the whole story. We were reminded by yesterday’s Gospel from Matthew that Jesus calls us to more than this. In that reading, Jesus reminded his followers, us, that ‘anyone who wants to save his life, may lose it..take up your cross and follow me..what will it gain a man if he wins the whole world but ruins his life?’

Being an authentic Christian is a lot harder than most people want to buy into. I was reminded of a story that came out of the Dachau concentration camp in 1942.

“Six prisoners were found to have escaped. Retribution was swift and brutal. Randomly selected, 12 people were hanged. As the other prisoners watched their twelve fellow inmates gasp for breath, someone in the crowd cried out, “Where is God?” silence descended on the yard. The twelve bodies were now in spasm, jerking and struggling for breath. As everyone watched, the voice came again, this time more urgently, “Where is God now?”
“My God,” another voice yelled back, “My God is hanging there.”

School TV is a wonderful resource for parents paid for by our P & F. There is a link on our website. It has an amazing range of content designed to help parents do their job well. One of the more recent ones is on the issue of ‘Consent’. There are others on Bullying, Raising Boys & Raising Girls. Excellent resources on dangerous substances and mental wellbeing. Please check it out. As parents, we need all the help we can get.

https://shalomcollege.schooltv.me/

Dance Night, not surprisingly, was fabulous again. I keep getting blown away by the level of talent we have at Shalom. This wouldn’t happen without amazing Shalom staff who are prepared to give of their time, far over and above what they are paid for. Our performing Arts staff are just out of this world.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
mcmahond@shalomcollege.com