R.E. News
Religious Education News - Week 2 Term 4
Religious Education Dates for 2025
Eucharist
- Friday 17th October - Eucharist Reflection Day
- Thursday 23rd October - Reconciliation at 11:40am and practise
- Saturday 25th October - Sacrament of First Eucharist mass at 5pm
- Sunday 26th October - Sacrament of First Eucharist mass at 9:30am
Whole School Mass/Events
- Friday 7th November - St Francis Blessing of the animals service from 9am to 9:15am
- Tuesday 11th November - Remembrance Day service at 10:55am
- Thursday 11th December - Year 6 Graduation at 6pm
- Monday 15th December - End of School Mass at 9am
First Eucharist
On Saturday 25th October and Sunday 26th October the following children in Year 4 will be making their First Eucharist. Please keep them in your prayers and thoughts.
Alex, Ella, Ethan, Christopher, Nathan, Henry, Jacob, Jacqueline, Lyliana, G’zelle, Archer, Angus, Lewis, Alannah, Sienna, Zoe, Juliana, Cristian, Toby, Lennox, Louis, Ellarose, Naomi, Joseph, Campbel, Joshua, Luka, Sophia, Isla, Lachlan, Hamish, Ryan, Victoria, Kiarah, Jermey, Kayla, Jayden, Kendrick and Danica.
Gospel Reflection by Dianne Bergant CSA
The leprosy of Naaman and the ten men in the gospel serves as a metaphor for sinfulness, the condition that makes us unfit for the presence of God and despicable in the eyes of others. Separated from God and alienated from society, we are truly in a deplorable state, a state out of which we are unable to extricate ourselves. Into these seemingly hopeless conditions step the prophet Elisha and Jesus. Each in his own way brings the healing power of God, the saving grace of God. Paul is such a mediator as well. He brings the gospel to those who are in need of salvation. When people are open to his preaching, they are transformed and made ready to receive eternal glory.
After healing comes gratitude and praise. Both Naaman and the lone Samaritan are so filled with gratitude that they return to the one responsible for their healing. They are not so preoccupied with their good fortune as to forget that it came to them as a gift. Their response is the kind of thanks and praise that is proclaimed in the psalm and that is also celebrated at each Sunday Eucharist. We have been saved from our alienation from God and from each other so let us give thanks to the Lord.
Those who know that they have been healed, who realize that this was a gift freely given to them, and who return to give thanks have, by these acts of devotion, stepped over a threshold into a new way of living. Their thanks and praise usher them into a new age, the age of eschatological promise.
A quote from Pope Francis
The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
Children’s Liturgy
The reintroduction of Children's Liturgy at St Mark's Church is up and running and looking for more volunteers!
The Children's Liturgy provides a great opportunity for primary aged children to engage with the gospel in a way that is accessible and meaningful to them. It runs every Sunday at the St Mark's 9:30am mass during school terms. At the start of mass the Children’s Liturgy adult leaders take the primary school age children into the hall for a small lesson and activity about the gospel of the day. Parents are welcome to join the session if they would like. If any parents are interested in volunteering to help with the Sunday sessions, please email Andrew Davies - andrew@smdingley.catholic.edu.au