Religious Dimension
St Mary of the Cross
Mary MacKillop is Australia's only saint. She has special significance to St John's School as she was the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph and the Josephite nuns ran St John's school for many years. Our main gathering space in named after Mary MacKillop and her quote, "never see a need without doing something about it," hopefully inspires all members of our community. Here is a brief summary of her life:
When Alexander and Flora MacKillop welcomed their first baby, Mary Helen, into the world in the bedroom of their little house in Melbourne they must have thought she was very special. They could not have guessed in a million years how many people would agree – all over the country and around the whole world. We know her today as St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
Mary MacKillop was born in 1842. She was a fine teacher, the founder of schools and a religious order. She devoted her whole life to following Jesus and helping others, especially poor children. Many people who knew her could tell she was extraordinary. Mother Mary radiated God’s love and energy to everyone she met
Mary and her companion Fr Julian Tenison Woods dreamed of a new kind of school, open to anyone whether their family was rich or poor. Children from poorer families would be provided with clothing and school supplies for very little cost or for free. They could learn enough reading, writing and maths so they could get out of poverty and have a better life.
When Mary wrote the lessons and timetable for her schools, she made sure there was time for prayers and hymns, which in those days were not written in English, but Latin. But she made sure these weren’t too long so that the children wouldn’t find prayer time too difficult or too boring. Her pupils must have been grateful for that!
Her life wasn’t always easy and she encountered many problems but she was happy because she firmly believed in God and that her true home was not here on earth but with God in heaven. She was known to be very cheerful and didn’t want her sisters going around with frowns on their faces.
Loving God,
Mary MacKillop spread the message of your love to all those she met.
May we try to follow her example.
We make our prayer through Jesus the Lord.
Amen.
Vinnies Sleep Out at St John's
The Social Justice Team will be hosting a Vinnies Sleep Out on Friday 27 August for all interested students in Year 4 - 6. Students will be participating in a range activities before sleeping rough. They will need to bring along a piece of cardboard to sleep on with a sleeping bag. Students will need to have dinner at home before they are dropped at school and will need to be collected at approximately 8:00am on Saturday morning. The aim of the evening is to raise awareness and deepen their understanding of the issue of homelessness.
Confirmation
The Confirmation Ceremonies have had to be rescheduled to Saturday 11 September, due to the present restrictions on public gatherings. The Confirmation Reflection Day will take place this Friday 6 August. We keep all candidates in our thoughts and prayers as they continue their preparation in celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation.
Important Dates to Remember:
August
4 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Children's Day
6 Confirmation Reflection Day for Year Six students (8:45am)
8 Feast of Mary MacKillop
17 Feast of the Assumption
22 Year Two Level Mass (9:45am)
27 Vinnies Winter Sleep Out
September
11 Confirmation Ceremony
Monica O'Shannassy
moshannassy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au