Liturgy

Sacrament Program

Do you have a child in Year 3, 4 or 6?

Students in these classes are excited about their Parish commitment liturgies and about preparing for the Sacrament this year. It is a great privilege for this task to be shared among parents, the parish and the College, in what is the ‘family-focused, parish-based and Catholic school supported’ sacrament program of our archdiocese.

If you have not already enrolled your child in a a parish program it is important to do that immediately.

If you need support in this, there are several people available to assist:

Contact your Parish Priest or Sacrament Coordinator.
Contact Mary-Anne Lumley, Parish Liaison lumley.mary-anne@johnxxiii.edu.au or 9383 0513.
Information for all parishes may be found on the archdiocesan website:

http://www.perthcatholic.org.au/Parishes_and_Mass_Times.htm?cms%2Erm=List

Information from parishes will be on the College website as it becomes available?

Parishes in the College catchment area may have supplied information about their programs. Check the College website here.

GOOD NEWS for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

“The blind man went off and washed himself and came away with his sight restored.”

(John 9:1-41)

The reflection is a section from a longer homily by Fr Richard Leonard for this Sunday. It is printed here with kind permission. Fr Richard Leonard SJ is the Director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting, is a member of the Australian Catholic Media Council and is author of Preaching to the Converted, Paulist Press, New York, 2006.

… On reflection the Gospel of the man born blind is a joyful one. Imagine this man’s elation at having his sight restored. As the story develops the all-seeing Pharisees move to spiritual blindness by putting on the blinkers of the law. They cannot recognise Jesus or his works of mercy because of their tunnel vision. Jesus doesn’t fit their worldview. Meanwhile the blind beggar, who has sight restored, goes on to gain insight about who Jesus is and the way that God works in the world; he begins to see how shallow and pathetic the Pharisees really are.

This Gospel also contains a critical theological lesson: disability and illness do not come from personal sinfulness. It’s surprising that we need to keep saying this, but too readily we hear otherwise intelligent and good Christians, for example, telling us that some illnesses have been ‘sent’ by God as punishment for sins or they wonder what their families have ‘done’ to deserve disabled children. It’s true that God permits us to live in an imperfect world where we are prone to illness and disability. But that same world gives us the freedom to be creative in the face of adversity, to be compassionate with those who are sick or disabled and free to believe that there is a purpose for each human life. God, the source of all love, does not actively send bad things to us, instead, he is our constant companion in dealing with them; giving us the courage and strength to cope with, and sometimes overcome, them.

The task of this joyful season (of Lent) is to bring our good humour and compassion to bear on the blind spots in our own lives and be on our guard for the times when we are too confident about who God is, how he works or what he can or cannot do. May it never be said of us that we were so consumed by our own religious vision that we missed God’s woods for the trees.

Community Liturgy

Special event: Friday 5 April Community Mass will begin in the Library Courtyard at 7:30am.

Next Friday, 31 March, Community Mass will be prepared by students in Campion House, and students and families are warmly invited.

If you have not previously attended Community Mass, and especially if you are new to the College, you are very welcome. People are welcome to attend on a regular basis – or less frequently, depending on personal schedules. Some people commit to Community Mass as part of their Lenten practice.

For any enquiries concerning the Community Mass, please contact Mary-Anne Lumley: Lumley.mary-anne@johnxxiii.edu.au or 9383 0513.

When: Fridays in Term Time

Time: 8:00-8:30am

Where: College Chapel