Education in Faith

CATHOLIC IDENTITY

Celebrating Pentecost in our Schools

By Vincent (Vas) Clementine, Formation Officer, Liturgy, Prayer and Spirituality, at Catholic Education Melbourne

The feast of Pentecost, which we celebrate in a couple of weeks, is about God’s presence with us. In the story of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples experienced the Holy Spirit entering into each one of them and then drawing them together.

On that day in Jerusalem there were people gathered from all over the world, people from every culture and language group. When the disciples went out to share the Spirit of Pentecost they were able to communicate with those people of diverse cultures and languages in a way that spoke personally to each one: ‘in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power’ (Acts 2: 11). On that day the first Christian community was born: a community of forgiveness, of cultural diversity, of sharing, of equality, of mutual support and benefit, of understanding and trust (Acts 2: 43–47). For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes called the birthday of the Church.

First Eucharist Sacramental Preperation

Many of our Year 4 students have been preparing to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist for the first time. 

On Monday 29th May our Year 4 students will be involved in a First Eucharist Reflection Day  at Galilee.

The Reflection Day will take place during normal school hours in the school hall and will give the students an opportunity to celebrate all the learning that they have been doing in the lead up to the Sacrament of First Eucharist.

During the day we will attend the Parish Mass at St Peter and Paul’s. We will work through several activities that will allow the children to dialogue with others and enhance their understanding of First Eucharist. The activities will be run by teachers from Galilee. 

We thank the parents, parish staff and school staff for all the work that they are doing to ensure that the students are well prepared for the Sacrament of First Eucharist.

Singing Practice with Anita

Many of you will be aware that Anita has begun to lead us in singing hymn's and Mass responses during assembly.

We thank Anita for this wonderful initiative and we trust that the students will not only enjoy this new addition to the school assembly but also benefit from learning the hymns and new responses as well as learning a little more about meaning behind the responses.

The aim behind this initiative is to encourage student participation and increase students knowledge and understanding of the liturgy.