St Mary's School

Catholic Identity

Mercy Prayer

We pray for the Sisters of Mercy, who established our school and for the priests who have served at St. Mary’s.  

It is through their vision,  determination and strong faith that we enjoy the benefits of a Catholic Education here in Mooroopna.

We are proud to be a Mercy School, where the values of love and justice are taught and lived every day.

Term 2 Week 9 Catholic Identity Newsletter 2022

REMINDER - St. Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

We will celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass on Friday, 24th June at 10am and will once again be supporting the St.Vinnie’s Winter Appeal as part of this celebration.

We invite you to send along any “Winter Woollies” to support others in our community during the colder months of the year.

Blankets, coats, beanies, scarves, jumpers, windcheaters and socks (much needed items!!) would be gratefully accepted! Food items, such as tinned soup and fish, and other non-perishable foods, would also be appreciated.

Please send along any food items and new or “good condition” second hand Winter Woollies to school by Friday, 24th June.

NEW - Refugee Week

Grade 5/6MH presented Assembly Prayer on Monday based on the theme of this week: Refugee Week. 

Refugee Week, with the theme ‘HEALING’ is celebrated nationally from Sunday, 19th June to Saturday, 25th June. 

The aim of this week is to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees and broaden community understanding of what it is like to be a refugee and to promote harmony and togetherness.

“... history teaches us that the contribution of migrants and refugees has been fundamental to the social and economic growth of our societies. This continues to be true in our own day. Their work, their youth, their enthusiasm and their willingness to sacrifice enrich the communities that receive them.”

 

Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2022.

Lord, make us bearers of hope,

so that where there is darkness,

your light may shine,

and where there is discouragement,

confidence in the future may be reborn.

Lord, make us instruments of your justice,

so that where there is exclusion, fraternity may flourish,

and where there is greed, a spirit of sharing may grow.

Lord, make us builders of your Kingdom,

together with migrants and refugees

and with all who dwell on the peripheries.

Lord, let us learn how beautiful it is

to live together as brothers and sisters.

Amen.

(Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2022.)

NEW - Source of Life Religious Education Curriculum Document.

Schools in the Sandhurst Diocese utilise the “Source of Life” Curriculum document to guide our planning of Religious Education and to keep our Catholic Identity central to all we do here at school. 

Parts of this important document will be shared with you over the next few newsletters to keep you informed of our Catholic identity focus and goals here at St. Mary’s Primary School. 

The scripture central to our Source of Life document is:

“I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly” John 10:10

 

“Religious Education in its fullest sense belongs not only to the catechetical or Religious Education program but encompasses everything in the curriculum. It is about human flourishing in a deeply Christian understanding - whatever makes a student more wise, more loving, more fully human is making the student reflect more fully the image of God.”

 

Source of Life - Section One - Introductory Material. 

REMINDER - Sacramental Parent Information Meetings

The Parent Information Meeting for the Sacrament of First Eucharist will be held in Term Three on TUESDAY, 19th JULY at 7pm in the Marian Centre. Payment for the program can be made on this night. The Sacrament of First Eucharist will take place on Saturday, 20th August at 6.30pm and Sunday, 21st August at 10.00am. 

The students enrolled in this program are:

Ava Vraca 

Nico Maksacheff                            

Willow Dean

Mikhail Maksacheff

Grace Sibio

Lucas Tripoli

Isabelle Vraca 

Sienna Tripoli

Cherie Smith

Abel Huggard

Jett Maksacheff

Macabe Smith 

Ella Thomas

The Parent Information Meeting for the Sacrament of Confirmation will be held in Term Three on TUESDAY, 13th September at 7pm in the Marian Centre. Payment for the program can be made on this night. The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated in Term Four on Saturday, 5th November at 6.30pm and Sunday, 6th November at 10.00am.

REMINDER - Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Encyclical Letter.

Mr. Woodward and the Grade Six Sustainability Team are working towards enrolling St. Mary’s Primary School as an Earthcare school, following the example of many other Sandhurst schools who have signed up to this program aimed at making a difference in our world by focussing on the goals from Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si’.

 

From Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Encyclical Letter come seven goals we are asked to strive for as part of our obligation to care for our Earth and the environment. 

These goals are:

1. Response to the Cry of the Earth (greater use of clean renewable energy and reducing fossil fuels in order to achieve carbon neutrality, efforts to protect and promote biodiversity, guaranteeing access to clean water for all).

 

2. Response to the Cry of the Poor (defence of human life from conception to death and all forms of life on Earth, with special attention to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, migrants, children at risk through slavery).

 

3. Ecological Economics (sustainable production, Fair-trade, ethical consumption, ethical investments, divestment from fossil fuels and any economic activity harmful to the planet and the people, investment in renewable energy).

 

4. Adoption of Simple Lifestyles (sobriety in the use of resources and energy, avoid single-use plastic, adopt a more plant-based diet and reduce meat consumption, greater use of public transport and avoid polluting modes of transportation).

 

5. Ecological Education (re-think and re-design educational curricula and educational institution reform in the spirit of integral ecology to create ecological awareness and action, promoting the ecological vocation of young people, teachers and leaders of education).

 

6. Ecological Spirituality (recover a religious vision of God’s creation, encourage greater contact with the natural world in a spirit of wonder, praise, joy and gratitude, promote creation-centred liturgical celebrations, develop ecological catechesis, prayer, retreats, formation).

 

7. Emphasis on Community involvement and participatory  - action to care for creation at the local, regional, national and international levels (promote advocacy and people’s campaigns, encourage rootedness in local territory and neighbourhood ecosystems).

 

Thanking you,

Michelle Hicks