Religious Education   

This weekend brings us to the first Sunday of Advent, which is also the first Sunday of a new liturgical year for the Church. The Advent season includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas. Themes for each week are: 1.HOPE, 2.PEACE, 3.JOY, 4.LOVE.

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. 

Advent is a time of waiting, preparation and a time of prayer. It is a time of hope, peace, joy and love. Advent is a time of preparing our hearts to ‘receive’ Jesus into the world each year. 

By the time the Church begins to celebrate Advent as a period of preparation towards Christmas, the stores have been filling with Christmas paraphernalia for weeks. It starts out small with a few decorations and wrapping paper and eventually takes over every retail outlet. In the midst of this excess of Christmas consumerism, it is often difficult to draw attention to the season of Advent and the need to prepare spiritually for the celebration of Christmas. It is important to stay awake, as we are cautioned in this week’s gospel. Awake to what is happening around us in the world and awake to what is happening within us.

So how do we do that?  Very simply:  We keep in touch with our God and those around us by each day doing our best to live lives of love, of compassion, of forgiveness, of honesty, of integrity and of service. 

So, as we watch and we wait,  we call upon our good God, and thus we get ourselves ready to meet the Lord at the same time. To be aware of the active presence of God permeating every single moment of every single day we pray:  “O Lord, help us to recognise you and respond to you in love through every person and every experience of this day.”

Nicole Dobrohotoff, one of our wonderful parents, works for Caritas and shared a fabulous resource that families can use in order to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ throughout Advent.

Advent Calendar for Primary Schools 

Take it one day at a time with our new Advent Calendar!  

This interactive resource is designed especially with primary school students and families in mind. Starting from the 3rd December (the first day of Advent), the Caritas Australia 2023 Advent Calendar uses the See-Judge-Act-Pray rhythm to guide daily reflection on Scripture, Advent themes and Caritas stories, along with ideas for action and prayer.  

Caritas Australia’s 2023 Advent Calendar is a great way to help your family members   prepare for the season of celebration ahead.  

Please click on the link below to access the virtual Caritas Advent Calendar.

Another huge thank you to everyone for their donations towards our Back Pack Drive, special mention to the Elias Family for their very generous donations. 

The Faith and Social Justice Team will be packing the backpacks on Wednesday so any further donations will be gratefully accepted before then.