RENews

Sacrament of First Eucharist

Congratulations to all the children who received the Eucharist for the first time last Saturday. The children were beautifully prepared by their teachers, and it was a wondrous celebration for all who participated. 

The Eucharist is a celebration of the Christian community in which all are welcome. The celebration of the Eucharist is present at the liturgy to nourish and nurture us so that we are strengthened by God's Word, the presence of Jesus in the community and by receiving the Eucharist, we are enabled to act and live with courage and commitment as disciples of Jesus in our world. At mass, we celebrate rituals that include a Liturgy of the Word and a Liturgy of the Eucharist. The final moment of the Eucharist reminds people that they are called to be agents of change and evangelisation in our world. While all of this as adults is understood, what is critical is how these understandings are adapted and fostered in the teaching and learning of children.

A special and extended thank you to all the parents and extended family that have supported the children on their faith formation journey. To our spiritual leader Fr Simon a big thank you for preparing the children exceptionally well and helping them to grow in understanding of the liturgy of the word, and liturgy of the Eucharist. We thank the teachers in the 3/4 level, Linda Pham, Belinda Hirschauer, Kaitlyn McMillian, Lauren Bell for their support and hard work throughout the weeks.

To all our children we continue to keep you in our prayers and may the Lord's love and blessing be upon you each and every day.

St Raphael the Archangel Feast Day

We invite all members of our St Raphael community to come and celebrate the feast day of St Raphael. Fr Simon will lead us in liturgy on Sunday 23rd of October at 10.30 am. This will be a parish mass and not a school based event.

On Sunday 23rd of October as a parish community we will celebrate the Feast of Archangel Raphael. St Raphael is  known for his healing power-Patron Saint of Healing. 

Unlike most saints, Raphael was never on earth in that human sense, rather spoken about in scripture through the Old Testement. Instead he has always been a heavenly angel. 

He was declared a saint in honour of his work helping humanity. As one of God's leading Archangels, Raphael serves people who need healing in body, mind, and spirit. Raphael's spiritual help through prayer, aids people particular with health professions who seek this help . He is also a patron saint of young people, love, travel and joy. St. Raphael is one of the seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord and one of the only three mentioned by name in the Bible. He appears, by name, only in the Book of Tobit (Tobit 12:15). Raphael's name means "God heals." Raphael is also mentioned together with Archangel Gabriel and Michael (Luke1:9–26; Jude 1:9). St. Raphael is also believed to be the archangel who healed the multitude of infirm at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-4).

In the coming week each year level will learn more about our patron saint and celebrate the blessings of his spiritual work.