Religion and Parish News

A Prayer for Advent

Lord, please fill us with peace and acceptance so we can be more like Mary. Give us opportunities during advent that allow us to share your love by spreading joy and instilling hope. 

Amen.

Advent

Purple is the colour for getting ready. It is the colour of Advent. Advent is a time for getting ready. It is a time of waiting for a most amazing event.

The season of Advent is the time we get ready to celebrate the mystery of Christmas. During Advent we remember some of the special people who helped God’s promise to come true.

St Francis Xavier Feast Day - 3rd of December

Saint Francis was born in Spain and together with St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits society. This missionary preached and spread the Word of God in Africa, India, Japan and the Philippines. Being Catholic in these countries was very difficult; however, St. Francis, never gave up and wherever he was, he was a living reminder of how to be Faithful in the Lord even in difficult scenarios.

On Tuesday the 3rd of December we celebrated St Francis Xavier’s Feast Day and our End of School Mass. The whole school gathered in the hall with Fr Abmar. At the end of mass we acknowledged our Year 6 Altar Servers for their service to our school and parish during their time at St Xaviers. 

Students then enjoyed a picnic at morning tea in their houses and the Year 6 students organised some games to play. Bullrush was very popular.

Important Dates 

Year 6 Graduation Mass

Wednesday 11th December, 5:30pm, St Joseph’s Church

Lapathon for Catholic Missions and St Vincent de Paul

Friday 13th December, 9:00am, St Xaviers 

Lapathon for Catholic Missions and 

St Vincent de Paul

Families are invited to join in the fun and information has been sent home via Compass

• Students can wear plain clothes (dress up optional) which are suitable for walking, joggers and a hat are essential. 
• Students do not need to bring a gold coin as this is a celebration of all the fundraising that they have already done. 
• Students are asked to please bring the money that they have raised to school on Friday 13th so that we can forward it on before the holidays. 
• There are baskets in the shared space for families to donate Christmas treats (non perishable - packets of chips/nuts, bottles of soft drink, tinned hams, tinned fruit, chocolate-coated sultanas, shortbread biscuits, Christmas cakes/puddings) to St Vinnies instead of donating money. This is instead of doing the classroom collections that we have done in previous years. 

Please do not feel pressured to contribute to everything as we understand that times are tough for many families in our own community. We just want to give students an opportunity to donate something concrete rather than monetary.

Parents and families are more than welcome to throw their walking shoes on and join in the Lapathon or find a shady spot and enjoy the atmosphere.

Mission in Action

Thank you to everyone that has supported the students in their fundraising efforts. It is fantastic to see so many students wanting to be actively involved in raising money for others.

Altar Serving Roster

Stamp Collection 

As a school we have been collecting stamps for Mary MacKillop Today. Thank you to everyone who sent stamps in. We sent a full A4 envelop in the mail today. We will do this again next year, so please keep any stamps