On the solemnity of All Saints, Marg Gobius, Leader of School Evangelisation at MacKillop College, reads from the Gospel of Matthew (5: 1-12) in which Jesus goes up on the hillside with his disciples and teaches them The Beatitudes beginning ‘Happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. Before reflecting on today’s Gospel Marg explains that the solemnity of All Saints is a feast day that celebrates all those who have entered heaven, including saints who are recognized by the Church and those who are not yet. A saint is said to be a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and regarded in the Catholic Church as being in heaven after death. The canonized saints are held up by the Church as wonderful examples of living a Christian life. The Catholic Church invites us to reflect on their lives and to follow in their footsteps. All of the saints who we celebrate today are people who have inspired those around them to be a little more Christian; a little more compassionate and, maybe, a little more humble. In the Gospel today, Marg notes, Jesus shares with his disciples ways that each of them could find joy in their lives, and to become better people. These are known as the Beatitudes and, often, as we reflect on the lives of the Saints, we see that they demonstrated some of these attitudes and actions in their lives. Marg says MacKillop College Year 9 students, in their Religious Education classes, complete a lovely activity that explores how someone they know and love demonstrates the Beatitudes in their lives. She says she often shares an example with them of how her Dad, who was inspired by St Francis of Assisi, lived out the Beatitudes by being a peacemaker. Marg says, she saw this in how he took the time to really get to know people, by listening to their story. He believed that all people are equal and that he could always learn from others how to be a better person. While, he was a very strong Catholic, he loved to learn about Christian spirituality from Christians from all denominations. This was quite inspiring since he came from a time where Catholics and Protestant Christians were very negative about each other and often judged each other harshly. His attitude and actions in ecumenism helped others to be less judgmental. On this All Saints Day, Marg invites us to think about someone, maybe a canonized Saint or someone we personally know and love, who inspires us to be a better Christian, by living the Beatitudes in our daily lives. In closing Marg also notes that the Gospel Reflections for the rest of this week will be presented by Troy Baker, Principal of St Joseph’s Primary School