St. Thomas à Becket Foundation 
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Thoughts for the Month

Our Pastoral Worker, John Bonner's regular series of though - provoking articles

click on the date of the article you wish to read
 
More Than We Can Dream Or Imagine
“It is my  desire that every individual should receive ‘Love, Joy and Peace’
That every person would leave school with some inner connectedness with their deepest being so that they can go forward on their journey towards eternal life equipped and blessed with a relationship with their ‘Everyday God’ ...		 July,2009
Recognising The Face Of God
One individual who recognized the face of God was Christopher Nolan, the poet and novelist who overcame the disability of cerebral palsy which robbed him of speech and prevented him from moving his arms and legs.		 June, 2009
Pilgrimage
Loch Derg is a famous place of pilgrimage as is Knock and Walsingham, with Lourdes being the most famous Marion Shrine in Europe.  Throughout the year thousands of people from all over the diocese will travel on pilgrimage to Lourdes.		 May, 2009
Pay It Forward
Carry out three acts of generosity, of self-sacrifice that do not ask for anything in return only that the recipient pays forward the generosity to three more people and these in turn to three more and so on in an extreme pyramid - An Act of Faith in the Goodness of People.		 March, 2009
To Walk Humbly
We acknowledge the need to look at ways of developing more opportunities to reach all those ‘hidden people’ in our Eucharistic communities so that they can bring us the joy of their presence as visible participants in our humble journey with our God.		 February, 2009
Blessed Are Those Who Dream Dreams
Dreams are part of the fabric of our tradition. Through dreams Joseph was encouraged to marry a woman he was not sure was right for him and after the birth of Jesus he warned the Magi to take a different route home.		 January. 2009
Being ‘Prayer-Active’
With the coming of Advent our preparation for the arrival of the Infant Child at Christmas has begun and as Christians we are now up to speed with the secular world where Christmas cards have been in most shops prior to All Saints Day and in many since schools re-opened following the summer holiday.		 December, 2008
Valuing Difference
Not being able to fly is solved by using the services of an airline company. People with disabilities require different services and it is only when choice over those services is removed that dependency occurs.		 November, 2008
Jubilee - Mission
The Bible speaks of ‘jubilee’ as a special time of blessing when slaves were freed, debts cancelled, and new beginnings made. 2008 is being celebrated in Lourdes as a year of Jubilee.		 October, 2008
Touching Hearts
“Touching hearts” is about acknowledging and relating with people as individuals – helping each person feel that they are noticed and matter, and are significant and special.		 September, 2008

God Is Delicious
That was the conclusion that Jamie reached when asked with his class to complete the following sentence:  ‘today I know that…’
Who Needs A Father Figure?
How would any of us cope without Our Father figure guiding, strengthening and  loving us with a tender embrace no matter what our failings or inability/disability to  be as we have been called ‘to be.'
Vive la différence!
People on the autism spectrum have problems with social communication and interaction.  They tend to be obsessive and ritualistic in their behaviour, and lack empathy and imagination – although some can have more of those characteristics than others. 
 
A Charitable Listening Ear
As we enter this month of devotion to Our Lady with prayers for ripening harvests, blossoming of life and peace throughout the world my thoughts are drawn to many women who are inspirational labourers of love.
 
The Magic of 7
 Seven is a magical and mysterious number and therefore not surprising that on the 7th of April David Heeley begins his 777 test in Port Stanley, on the Falkland Islands.
 
The Level Playing Field
 Fairness is a difficult thing to establish and measure.  What is fair for one individual is not for another; what one person considers right the other views as wrong.
 
Our Health is our Wealth
As we embrace the days of fasting and abstinence  during Lent, I share with you two stories of famous people, whose ‘life-stories’ are uplifting and an inspiration.
 
Care For All - A Resolution to live by
Each New Year, I like many others, make resolutions with varying degrees of success.  Consequently with a determined steadfastness for making at least one resolution that would last throughout the year I asked myself: What will be my Mission Statement for 2008?
 
Little Child - Get Up
‘Talitha Koum’ These were the simple Aramaic instructions that Jesus gave to Jairus’ daughter. Jesus assurance that the little girl was asleep and not dead was met with ridicule.