Easter Liturgy and Bonnet Parade:

A big thank you to our wonderful St. Mary's community for joining us in this year's Easter Liturgy and Bonnet Parade inviting us to reflect on the events of Holy Week through story, song and dance.

Thank you to Mr Anderson, Mrs. Whatmore and our St. Mary's staff for supporting our students in their performances. Thank you to Fr. Martin for leading us in prayer and to our Year 5 teachers and students for leading the liturgy as Storytellers, Narrators and Actors and Prop Support; and to all students for all your hard work and enthusiasm in preparing your songs, dances and spoken passages. What a beautiful way to wrap up a wonderful term!

HOLY WEEK 2025 Dates

Palm Sunday – April 13

Holy Thursday – April 17

Good Friday – April 18

Holy Saturday – April 19

Easter Sunday – April 20

An extract from My Catholic Life reflecting on the events of Holy Week:

https://mycatholic.life/books/catholic-daily-reflections-series/lent-and-easter-reflections/7-holy-week/

Holy Saturday

"Today, there is a great silence. The Savior has died. He rests in the tomb. Many hearts were filled with uncontrollable grief and confusion. Was He really gone? Had all their hopes been shattered? These and many other thoughts of despair filled the minds and hearts of so many who loved and followed Jesus.

Let divine hope grow within you knowing that Easter is soon to come.

Lord of all hope, I thank You for the gift of Your suffering and death. Thank You for this day of silence as we await Your Resurrection. May I also await Your triumph in my life. When I struggle with despair, dear Lord, help me to be reminded of this day. The day when all appeared as loss. Help me to see my struggles through the lens of Holy Saturday, remembering that You are faithful in all things and that the Resurrection is always assured to those who put their trust in You.

Jesus, I do trust in You."

A Message of the Holy Father

As we go into our Easter break I invite you join me in taking a moment to read and reflect on this beautiful Lenten message focusing on this year's Jubilee theme of Hope from Pope Francis.

"This Lent, as we share in the grace of the Jubilee Year, I would like to propose a few reflections on what it means to journey together in hope, and on the summons to conversion that God in his mercy addresses to all of us, as individuals and as a community.

A first call to conversion thus comes from the realization that all of us are pilgrims in this life; each of us is invited to stop and ask how our lives reflect this fact.
Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilized by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone?
Am I seeking ways to leave behind the occasions of sin and situations that degrade my dignity? It would be a good Lenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that of some migrant or foreigner, to learn how to sympathize with their experiences and in this way discover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journey to the house of the Father. This would be a good “examination of conscience” for all of us wayfarers.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope,

intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey."

Refer to the link below for the full message. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/02/25/250225b.html

Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope

I invite you to join me as “Pilgrims of Hope” this Jubilee Year.

Visit local Pilgrim Places:

Pilgrim Places across the Archdiocese of Melbourne will offer various experiences for pilgrims this Jubilee Year, including Masses, Reconciliation and adoration. Please visit the website of each Pilgrim Place for details of what is offered, the time it is offered and who to contact to make arrangements for group pilgrimages.

For more information on this Jubilee Year please refer to:

On behalf our St. Mary's school community,

I pray that you may all have a restful and blessed Easter break with your families.

Veronica Del Castillo

Religious Education Leader

Family Easter Holiday Craft Ideas

Lenten Spiral:

At the beginning of Lent I prepared a Lenten Spiral with my family to count down the days leading to Easter. We use salt dough for the spiral, a candle to poke 40 holes and decorated with seashells, rocks and seaglass we have collected. A candle moves through each hole leading to the centre - reaching the final day of our countdown, Easter!

On Easter, light an Easter Candle and read out an Easter prayer, story or poem together to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. It's not too late to start one!

https://woodlarkblog.com/diy-salt-dough-advent-spiral/

Easter Ice Eggs:

All you need are some egg shells, flowers and water!

This activity has become one of my son's favourite Easter tradition.

(One year, we may have added some dinosaur figurines)

https://www.mainstreamgreen.co.nz/ice-eggs/

Gumnut / Acorn Eggs:

Collect some gumnuts and acorns and paint them into Easter Eggs!

(Posca Pens and Sharpies also work well!)

Gospel Reading: (From Loyola Press)

John 8:1-11 Jesus does not condemn the woman caught in adultery.

Family Connection

There are few people that we know better than the members of our own family. We know one another's strengths and abilities, and we also know one another's limitations and weaknesses. Like the Pharisees in today's Gospel, we may be tempted to focus on the faults and sins that familiarity with one another can sometimes reveal. As family members, however, we also have the ability to see one another's faults and sins within the context of the whole person. When we can keep this perspective, we are more likely to look upon one another with compassion. Family life, then, presents us the opportunity to see one another as God sees us, not with judgment and condemnation for our weaknesses and failings, but with mercy and compassion. When we learn to withhold judgment for the faults we know are there and seek the best in one another, we help one another to experience the depths of God's compassion, mercy, and love.

As you gather as a family, observe that when we know people well we know their faults as well as their strengths. At times, we can be tempted to focus on the faults we see in others. Discuss what your family life would be like if you always focused on one another's faults. Observe that in today's Gospel, Jesus refuses to focus on the sin of the woman brought to him for judgment. Read aloud today's Gospel, John 8:2-11.

Ask:

What did the people who focused on the woman's sin want to do?

(stone the woman)

What does Jesus say to the people who accused the woman caught in adultery?

(that the person with no sin should throw the first stone)

Are any of us without sin? (No)

Observe that we can help each other to grow in God's love by refusing to focus on one another's faults and sins. In this way, we can help one another to see ourselves as God sees us: with understanding and compassion.

Conclude in prayer together asking God to forgive our sins by praying the Act of Contrition.

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