A new school term ¡V a new goal to achieve. Every year, our goals are centred around our school theme and the theme for this scholastic year is ¡¥Excelling in Work'. To start with, the word ¡¥Work¡¦ in this context encompasses our personal growth, academic pursuit and social commitment.
- Love of knowledge ¡V read a book or two and broaden your horizons;
- Love of self-improvement ¡V learn a new skill and discover your talents;
- Care and compassion for people in need ¡Vengage in community service and develop your social responsibility;
- Strong faith in God: Pray to God every day and strengthen your relation with the Lord.
In your pursuit of wisdom, it is necessary is to continue to grow in faith in God and to discover the many learning opportunities that lie ahead. Our relationship with God will be strengthened if we are prepared to accept the need to grow and engage in lifelong learning experiences .
Life is so unpredictable and this was evident in the recent two days. One day it was Mother's Day ¡V when children around the world got together and spent time with their parents, and the next day ¡V the Sichuan earthquake, which left lots of families broken and in despair.
There are times when we take our family for granted but the recent tragedy is a reminder for us to be thankful to God for giving us a family with loving parents and siblings. Every minute counts and we should cherish every moment spent with our loved ones and do something to strengthen the bond between us.
Let's pray in particular for the thousands who died in the Sichuan earthquake and hope that our mighty God with grant the broken families peace and restored courage to continue their lives.
Two hundred years ago, a faithful follower of Jesus Christ believed in the power of education. She was convinced that society could be changed from within even through the commitment of one person and she was that ONE person who made progress in the education for the poor. Her commitment towards education still runs true today and that person is no other than our Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa.
To be true Canossians, we should develop in ourselves the values of humility and charity. In other words, we should follow the footsteps of our Foundress in serving others with an open heart and with utmost modesty as this is the foundation and support of all other virtues.
Count Your Blessings
Whatever you do, always remember God is watching you as you are all children of God. Try to live up to the expectations that others have of you and only do the things that God has planned for you. Let God take you by His hand and follow Him in whatever you do. The Gospel tells us that: Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is only through your fearful respect for God can you receive God's blessings on you.
Your serious self-motivated learning attitude is what we believe God wants you to have. You are all challenged to show your skill and strength to take up responsibilities and to accept both defeat and victory with grace, self-respect and humility. So guided by the Holy Spirit, fill your life with God's love and blessings and have faith in God to carry your troubles and sorrows.
God is our Shepherd
The 13th of April is known as the fourth Sunday of Easter. According to the church, it is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday, reminding us to pray for vocations. The Canossian Sisters, our former Principal, Sr. Cynthia Chan, for example, have their specific role and spirituality, and they provide good examples for our young Holy Familians to follow. The glamour of this materialistic world and lifestyle might have dimmed the hearts of our young people to respond to the call of the Good Shepherd to be the lambs of God, following His Staff and be courageous and contended to take up religious life. Would you dare to take up the vocation for religious life? Would you care to follow the footsteps of our Canossian Sisters to ponder the richness of their religious life?
My dear girls, as we reflect on the great wonders of our Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, in her 200 years of Canossian education mission, we must recognize the fact that we are all the outcomes of the Canossian Sisters' vocations to the call of Jesus on the Cross. Let us all remember to recognize the many voices of our Good Shepherd, calling upon us to respond to Him. Do remember to open our hearts to hear the calls of the Good Shepherd to see to the selfless devotion of our Foundress and the Canossian sisters.
Let me conclude by encouraging you to understand and appreciate that Christ is the Good Shepherd who carries a staff and a lamb on his shoulders. If we follow the footsteps of Jesus, we may easily come to the realization that Jesus will carry us through difficulties, like the religious poster we see with pairs of footprints on the beach. So my dear girls, be prepared to hear the call of the Good Shepherd and at the same time be proactive and persevering in your studies.
Be a Canossian Torchbearer
Have you ever thought of being an Olympic Torchbearer? Do you have a dream of becoming a Torchbearer? Here comes the chance ¡V You can be a Canossian Torchbearer by passing on the Canossian spirit to the young girls of the Canossian family.
Miss Winnie Ng, who is one of the first batch of our school's graduates in 1977 came back and talked to our Secondary 5 students. Her coming back was a vivid proof of being a Canossian Torch bearer and passing on the Canossian spirit of charity, humility, ingenuity and self-awareness to our Secondary 5 graduates. Miss Ng graduated with a degree in Social Work and spent 16 years working successfully as a social worker and then became a trainee working at the airport transports logistics. But in a few years' time she was promoted to be the General Manager of the Logistics Co. Now after 8 years being the General Manager, she started her own consultancy firm, helping to train leaders and develop team spirit. Her conviction to her Alma mater is good example for us all.
My dear girls, whether you want to be like your Alumna to achieve success depends on YOU yourself. Miss Winnie Ng reminded our S5 graduates the importance of having a DREAM. We often say ¡§If there is a will, there is a way.¡¨ Working hard is the best possible way to make your dream come true. Your determination to work hard and try your best in your studies and whatever you undertake is the first step to make your dream come true.
So my main message is to ask you all to be Canossian Torchbearers who live up the 4 corner stones of Canossian spirit ¡V they are charity, humility, ingenuity and self-awareness.? In short, have a dream to become a Canossian Torchbearer.
One useful practice to cleanse our inward self is to pray to God. Find a quiet time every day to sit down and open up your heart to Jesus and speak with Him. Tell Him what you have done during the day. This pleasing and quiet time is not hard to find. You can pray to God while you are on the bus back home, before you turn on the TV or the computer, and even while you are having your shower. As you say your prayer, you know in the core of your being that He loves you and cares for you. Don't forget, though, you need also to be able to listen to Jesus speaking to you. You having a listening heart will help you give thanks, give praise and tender to the needs of people around you.
We should follow Jesus and become the inspiration that leads people to live their lives. We might not be very outstanding individuals in the school, nevertheless, we are important to the school, family and the community at large. In our prayers, let us ask Jesus for His light to guide us for self-revelation and self-interest as every one of us is unique and a precious gift of God.
In these 40 days of Lent, we ask you to pray to God, to have almsgiving to help the poor, for self-sacrifice and for self-renewal. Try to leave behind your old self and work hard toward your road to self-renewal.
During Lent, as children of our dear Lord, let us all remember to read the Bible more regularly. We need to go on retreats and confess our sins. We need to be kind and more forgiving in our relationships with others. During this holy season, God's grace gives us a special sense of freedom and power. We have the freedom to be away from our usual laziness and lack of interest, but we also have the power to change many of the mistakes that prevent us from experiencing true joy of Jesus' love.
If we spend these 40 days in earnest prayer, in charity and in self-renewal, we can expect to receive many graces and blessings from the Risen Christ!
The focus of our school is to enable Holy Familians to be children of God who learn how to pray, how to give, how to work and how to love. And by the cross of Jesus, we ask our almighty and everlasting God to teach us how to live. Let's all have the resurrection, the rebirth to rely on our Father in heaven, to be with us, guide us, and give us strength and courage to overcome our suffering, pain and fear. Be proud to live up to be a Holy Familian and follow Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and Life.
Be thankful to God
This year the weather has been extremely cold and it was estimated that about 100 million people in mainland China were affected by the snowstorm and cold weather crisis. In Hong Kong, the cold weather was bearable as we could still enjoy the comfort of hot water shower and hot pot for dinner.
The Power of Prayer
Every day, we ask the Lord for blessings through our prayers. But have you reflected on the importance of prayer?
Prayer shows our trust and faith in God. He does not need our prayers, but we do. They are a source of grace. Frequent prayer will strengthen our faith and trust and lead us to heaven, and that is God's goal.
Like any good parent, God always answers our prayers, but He will say no when to grant our requests would not be in our ultimate best interest. To God, our "best interest" means only our salvation. If the best way to lead us to salvation is a hard, painful life in which He has to say "no" to all of our requests for worldly happiness, then He will say no to all. He will say "yes" to whatever is good for us.
The Art of Being God's Child - Let God be our Guide
It is very easy for us to say that we are God's children but a true child is one who is willing to let God be his or her guide. The art of being God's child lies in following God and entrusting Him to carry our heavy load at the front. With God in front of us, we need to follow His footsteps closely and lay our trust in Him that he will guide us along the right path.
With God as our guide, we should be honoured to be children of God, be faithful witnesses of God's love and not be afraid to meet challenges but rather gather our strength through our prayers to our Lord.
Every day in our prayers at school, we call upon the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to bless us. But being members of Holy Family Canossian College, have we reflected on what exactly we learn from the Holy Family
According to the Gospel, the Holy Family reminds us the relevance of a three dimensional relationship in the family. Apart from the 2-way relationship with our family members, we should have the third dimension where God, our Lord, is the centre, the head of the family. With this new dimension in the family relationship, we should set aside time in saying our prayers together in our family. Through praying together, not only will we have the strength and wisdom to overcome difficulties, but we will also find the presence of God, who is constantly helping us to solve problems.
The presence of God can be felt within our family and it is only through our faith in God for His Love and blessing that we can fully enjoy our family life.
Communication plays an essential role in building relationships and taking out time to talk to siblings and family members should not be overlooked. Alternatively, writing short messages and notes of care and thankfulness to family members can help in showing our appreciation towards them.
At this Advent season, we should learn to recollect ourselves, call to our heart and mind, and celebrate the gift that we have received by thanking God for His son, by being very kind and loving to one another and by sharing our love with others.
Let's prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus in the school's Holy Nativity.
An all-rounder is not confined to just doing well both academically and in extra-curricular activities but being faithful, loving and dutiful both to oneself, others and most importantly, God. At HFCC, students are provided with an all-round education of Christian virtues, whereby every Holy Familian is nurtured to develop her full potential and become a caring, motivated individual. In the school song, the three words ¡V faith, love and duty best help us to realize what it takes to be an all-rounder.
To be an all-rounder, an HFCC student needs to develop her faith in God, her love for the school, her parents, teachers and one another. As a Chinese, she needs to learn to respect the law and observe it for the benefit of the whole community and the peace of world. With regard to duty, an all-rounder needs to fulfill the role and responsibility of a global citizen, knowing the world around her, learning how the world is changing and in short, be in touch with the world through the media and the daily reading of the newspaper which covers not only about HK but also about different parts of the world.
1. Thank you ¡V to express gratitude.
2. Please forgive me. I am sorry ¡Vto admit we are wrong and to ask for pardon.
3. Maybe you are right ¡V to accept others' points of view and be modest about it.
4. Let me help ¡V to take the initiative to offer help.
5. I love you ¡V to show others that we care about them.
Saying these phrases when the opportunity calls for it allows us to show our respect, love and humility towards others and our Lord.
We need a quiet moment every day to enable us to look into ourselves, open our hearts, talk to God and ask Him for his guidance, love and care.
The time we give to our school, family and the society is also important as it allows us to make a difference to our future and that of our school.
Those who work hard do so because of a reward awaiting them. This reward not only demands their dedication and hard work but also justifies one important factor and that is self-interest. Self-interest is the most significant factor in shaping one's dedication and satisfaction towards work.
As personal motivation accounts for 75% of your accomplishment, you should learn to develop an interest in your studies and work hard towards it.
To be self-reflective, a learner should incorporate the 6 wh-question words in the learning process, as these can allow the learner to be more focused.
Apart from that, learning could be made better if one attempts to think outside the box and reflects on the learning process that has just taken place.
The PE Department is preparing for the Swimming Gala in full swing and the cheering teams are expected to demonstrate their full strength in the events.
At the Mid-Autumn Festival, people admire the full moon and try to make the occasion full of happiness.
Based on the above examples, it is important to recognize the interest of language when used in different contexts.
The incident has led to unlawful violence and bloodshed. Nothing will get better unless efforts are made to restore world peace and that can be done if people learn to forgive and forget.
In St. Francis' prayer, we are asked to be an instrument of God's peace and if we are to follow His footsteps, we should forgive others, because it is in forgiving that we are forgiven.
Actually, it is not difficult to achieve one's best. To do so, it is very important to plan well for the future. Through planning, we set standards for us to achieve and once that is done, we work hard towards it.
If you follow this simple method of planning your work, you will soon find yourselves more focused in your work.