We pray for all our past St Joseph’s students as they prepare to commence their Yr 12 exams. It has been a particularly challenging time for these students as they have navigated their learning and preparation during the pandemic. We also include Luke Botterill, Ellie Buckley, Ella Stutterd and Sean Kelliher in our prayers.

At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November, the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted allied terms that amounted to unconditional surrender.

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.

NAIDOC WEEK

Always Was, Always Will Be.

Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

We are spiritually and culturally connected to this country. This country was criss-crossed by generations of brilliant Nations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were Australia’s first explorers, first navigators, first engineers, first farmers, first botanists, first scientists, first diplomats, first astronomers and first artists. Australia has the world’s oldest oral stories. The First Peoples engraved the world’s first maps, made the earliest paintings of ceremony and invented unique technologies. We built and engineered structures - structures on Earth - predating well-known sites such as the Egyptian Pyramids and Stonehenge.

Our adaptation and intimate knowledge of Country enabled us to endure climate change, catastrophic droughts and rising sea levels.

Always Was, Always Will Be. acknowledges that hundreds of Nations and our cultures covered this continent. All were managing the land - the biggest estate on earth - to sustainably provide for their future.

Through ingenious land management systems like fire stick farming we transformed the harshest habitable continent into a land of bounty.

NAIDOC Week 2020 acknowledges and celebrates that our nation’s story didn’t begin with documented European contact whether in 1770 or 1606 - with the arrival of the Dutch on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula. The very first footprints on this continent were those belonging to First Nations peoples.

Our coastal nations watched and interacted with at least 36 contacts made by Europeans prior to 1770. Many of them resulting in the charting of the northern, western and southern coastlines – of our lands and our waters.

For us, this nation’s story began at the dawn of time.

NAIDOC 2020 invites all Australians to embrace the true history of this country – a history which dates back thousands of generations.

It’s about seeing, hearing and learning the First Nations’ 65,000+ year history of this country - which is Australian history. We want all Australians to celebrate that we have the oldest continuing cultures on the planet and to recognise that our sovereignty was never ceded.

Always Was, Always Will Be.

StVincent de Paul

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOUP VAN HAMPERS

Christmas is fast approaching and our Parish is once again aiming to prepare 500 Christmas hampers (usually we prepare 250 but the need is far greater this year due to COVID) for boarding house residents in North Melbourne and Fitzroy who are visited by the St Vincent de Paul Soup Van. Michele McNamara has again organized a special collection. This is the 16th year of preparing Christmas hampers and we look forward to your support again this year.

*Percentage is 80% men and 20% women.

Donations: Foundation – socks (particular in need for rough sleepers)

Yrs 1 /2 - shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap (packaged, not loose),

Yrs 3 /4 – packaged food items such as biscuits, teabags, coffee, chocolates, shortbread

Yr 5 - nice Christmas gift e.g. notebook, pen, sudoku puzzle, crossword puzzle

Yr 6 - face washer, hand towel, bath towel, pillowcase

Packing will be Saturday 12th December in the Multi–Purpose Room at Stella Maris (children in Yr 5 and above welcome to help) and delivery of the hampers will be Sunday 13th December.

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