Religious Education

Welcome to all our new and  returning students and parents, especially our new Prep children and their parents, all of whom bring new energy and life to our school community. And welcome to this year of Jubilee.

We will be celebrating the Year of Jubilee at our Beginning of School Year Mass on Tuesday 4th Feb at 9.15am in the school Hall. All families are welcome.

I read an insightful article written by Rebecca Ruiz about the Jubilee which I would like to share with you.

"Pope Francis invites us to be “Pilgrims of Hope” this Jubilee Year. I’ve been reflecting on what this means to me and to the world by looking at three key words: jubilee, pilgrims, and hope.

Jubilee

A Jubilee is a special time. Historically, it was a time when prisoners and slaves were freed, and debts were forgiven. Right relationships were re-established—between oneself and God and oneself and others. It was also a fallow period, during which farmers allowed the fields to recover from the strain of constant planting. The Jubilee Year is a time of renewal for the whole world. Essentially, it’s a hard reset.

Pilgrims

The call to pilgrimage goes out to everyone, both the spiritual athletes and the walking wounded. We are called to action this year—to put on our boots and go forth into the world. We are asked to be the Bearers of Hope for those who are longing for meaning and love in the world and we are asked to be upset with things that are wrong and have to courage to do something about it!

While pilgrimage is a journey forward into the world, it also involves going inward in silence. It’s a time to prayerfully sort out things.

Finally, pilgrims aren’t just on a long walk, they’re on a mission. What is our mission this year? First, we need to be refilled and reinvigorated by the Spirit. In this epidemic of loneliness, we need physical connectedness and community. Pilgrims come together, a convocation of all who have been called. This year is a special time of community building, camaraderie, and renewal on a shared journey embracing the hope of the Risen Christ.

Hope

Hope is a central theme of Francis’s pontificate, and the hope of which Pope Francis speaks is that profound, life-changing hope rooted in faith. It’s the kind of hope that springs forth when all hope seems lost, the hope of the Resurrection. It is this hope that is so desperately needed today in a world racked by war and natural disasters, poverty, illness, and suffering.

And so, this Jubilee Year, we are invited to come together as “pilgrims of hope”—establishing and renewing right relationships with God, our brothers and sisters, and the planet God has gifted to us, freeing the oppressed, welcoming the stranger, caring for the widow and orphan, and spreading the Good News.

I am excited for this year. We need community. We need renewal. We need healing.

And, surely, we need some Good News. The whole planet is yearning for it."