Community News
It’s Children’s Week 2020
Children's Week is a national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children. It will run from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November 2020, with thousands of Victorian children taking part in the festivities.
The theme for Children's Week 2020 celebrates the right of all children to choose their own friends and safely connect with others. This is based on Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
During Children's Week, local councils, not-for-profit organisations, schools and early childhood services organise open days, displays, special events, virtual spaces and online-based activities. These celebrate childhood and showcase children's achievements. For further information, please see the attached poster with website details.
All Children's Week events are free to families with children aged from birth to 12 years. This is a great opportunity for Victorian families to enjoy fun, engaging and educational experiences.
Children’s Faith Formation Opportunity During Lockdown
While the Church doors are closed, the Archdiocese formation team has been hard at work developing an excellent online resource for Children’s Liturgy at Home called Ready, Set, Pray!
Ideal for primary school children, every week from now until Christmas, families can participate in a twenty-minute session which includes:
- Setting up a sacred space in the home (you can use a candle, Bible, rosary bead, a Cross, a holy picture among other things)
- An opening pray
- A child-friendly hymn
- The story of Sunday’s Gospel told in a child-appropriate format
- Some questions and you can pause the video and discuss it as a family
- Some further comment on the Gospel
- An art activity
- A closing prayer
To hear the stories about Jesus is to come to know Jesus and to have the opportunity to develop a relationship or a deeper relationship with Jesus. We can do this as children as well as adults. We remember that families are the domestic church, the first point of call for faith formation of children and while we cannot take our children to mass at this time, we can still nourish their faith through this wonderful resource. Please copy and click on the following link for a source of inspiration and hope: https://bit.ly/ReadySetPray