Education in Faith

Our Sacrament of Reconciliation

We are so very proud of five of our Year Three students who this week have made the Sacrament of First Reconciliation! Students prepared thoroughly for this evening, and were reverent and reflective on the night.

The Sacrament

We understand that Reconciliation is a Sacrament of Healing in the Catholic Church. It involves speaking to our priest and confessing our errors and the times we have turned away from God. We describe our actions as turning away from God because they describe the times we act in a way that is not consistent with God's messages of love and understanding. The times we consciously act with anger, impatience, frustration and a lack of compassion.

There is an important story in the Bible that involves Reconciliation. Saint Peter goes to Jesus and asks him about forgiveness. He wants to know how he should act in his life. Peter asks:

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?

Up to seven times?”

Seven times! Can you imagine?! I think some of us would burn through these in the space of one day!

Luckily Jesus has a more measured response to Peter. He explains his thoughts:

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times seven."

Now we are actually capable of doing the maths here, but Jesus does not mean literally that 539 is the amount of times we can forgive one person. Again if this was the number we would be pushing it with some people! Instead what Jesus means here is that we should not actively keep a tally, we should instead forgive as much as our heart is able, and always look to be able to act with compassion and humility.

Our Reconciliation candidates read through this story closely and in fact shared their thoughts on this passage and the meaning of Jesus' response, putting the idea in their own words:

Preparations

All Year Three students spent ample time learning about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the concept of being sorry and asking for forgiveness.

Students worked to map out what someone could possibly say to a priest about in Reconciliation. They differentiated between the small mistakes we might make in our everyday life and the times we need to do better.

They learnt how Reconciliation is a healing experience as we reflect on our thoughts and behaviour. Speaking with a priest about these things allows God to forgive us, but also helps us learn and be better. All Year Three students mapped out some examples of things they might like to be better with, while our Reconciliation candidates wrote notes for what they wished to share with Father and the Lord during the Sacrament.

Students made lovely pieces of reflective art, to not only decorate our church but our school as well, reminding us all that there is always time to ask for forgiveness.

First Reconciliation

As mentioned, Tuesday was an absolutely lovely evening. Our students prayed and read aloud, making their Reconciliation fully supported by their families in attendance. They reflected on how Reconciliation is not a one night occurrence, but rather a life long process. As we spoke about above, Jesus implores us to forgive others as much as we can, but the flip side of this is that we should also continue to actively work on our behaviour and apologise in a meaningful way when needed. We can apologise to those we affect, but also the Lord.

We understand that our Year Three students were the ones making Reconciliation, but we can be inspired by their actions and thoughts to review our own behaviour. Please take a moment to read some of the beautiful prayers read aloud at our ceremony. Use this as an opportunity to reflect.

Thank you!

We could not have undertaken this wonderful process without the amazing work of our Parish Priests Father Leenus and Father Pat, who worked so closely with our candidates and families, ensuring the whole process was so warm and lovely.

We thank our principal Mrs Carlei for also supporting all students and their families in her usual caring and selfless way.

We thank all of our Year Three students, including those not making the Sacrament. They did a fantastic job with learning all about this Sacrament and supporting their peers in their faith journey.

Finally a massive congratulation to our Candidates for all their hard work and reverence! We were so proud of you all not just on Tuesday night but during this whole process. We congratulate all of the candidates families as well, for taking part in this journey and supporting these students so well!