Family & Faith

Another Pilgrimage of Hope

This is my last newsletter for the term as I embark on another personal pilgrimage this time to the towns of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic. I hope to learn more about my Catholic faith and heritage through the eyes of a European - gaining knowledge, experiencing first hand how European Catholics give witness to their faith and live Christian teachings.

Please pray for me as I will you. Photos to come!

Our Daily Bread

It was a beautiful experience watching our Yr 4, 5 and 6 candidates receive the Body of Christ for the first time last weekend. Prayerful, reverent and fully present these children are now fully able to participate in the Mass. Congratulations to all the children!

On this subject of Eucharist I include an article from CathFamily that explains the importance of family meals.

How sharing dinner is a ritual at the heart of a family’s life.

by Isabella Garcia

Many of our fondest memories from childhood relate to meals we have enjoyed with our

family, such as long Christmas lunches, the weekly roast, or fish and chips on a Friday night. The humble family meal is a powerful daily ritual that nurtures every member.

More than just a feed.

Breaking bread together is a way to build and deepen relationships in all areas of life. Christ’s last moments with his disciples were spent over a meal; that was no accident. Likewise in our homes a family meal is more than just a feed after a busy day! We eat together not just to nourish our bodies, but our relationships too.

A family meal doesn’t have to be elaborate or Instagram-worthy.

In fact, it’s not about the food! It’s an opportunity to say: I love you, we belong, let’s eat!

We ‘feed’ each other by spending time together, sharing in the preparation of the meal, eating together, and listening to each other about what’s happened during the day. With the pace of life, we need to make family meals a priority or they just won’t happen. Not just for families with young children, but for all of us. And not just on special occasions, but on ordinary days as well.

Without our conscious prioritising, this precious part of our family life can easily be overrun by sports, work, hobbies, study, household chores, TV or computer games.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Everything good

comes from you, including this meal.

We are about to share.

We thank you for it.

Bless this food and drink.

Bless us and our time together.

Amen.

Take the boring out of weeknight dinners

» Go fancy. Use candles, flowers or greenery from the garden, the ‘good’ crockery and silverware. Write place cards and fold serviettes and let the kids drink their milk from a wine glass!

» Change of scene. Throw a picnic blanket in the back yard or on the balcony for a picnic dinner at home, or take it to a nearby park or beach.

» Back to front. Don’t worry about rationing your appetite for once – eat dessert first!

» Colour code. Let colour inspire the choice of food and table decorations, e.g. green for St Patrick’s day, red for Pentecost.

» Lounge room camping. When it’s cold outside, light the fire or some candles for a camp dinner atmosphere.

» Turn it up! Keep the fun vibe going at clean-up time by playing some high-energy music. They’ll be more inclined to stay and help (happily).

Prayer Cards for Year 12 students

For St Aloysius College, OLMC Burraneer and De La Salle Caringbah

Thank you to the families who opened their hearts to write a prayer for a Year 12

student. Thank you so much for your support! Last Wednesday the Family Educators from Eastern Sutherland Shire assembled the packs which include:

Prayer card written by a family
Before and after exam prayer cards
A blessed miraculous necklacel and prayer info sheet
A chocolate - life is sweet!

Fatima Friends Invitation - Come and join in the fun!

Wow! What a great Book Week Parade!

I wished I had some photos to share but I was too busy leading our Fatima Friends around the hall!I think we were the best and that was the opinion of many of the staff members!

We have one more session of Fatima Friends (Week 7) this term but it will continue in Term 4!

Week 6 - 29/8: No Fatima Friends today - I’m at a Parent Conference

Week 7 - 5/8: Last session for the term so let’s have FUN! - Wear your favourite jersey and come and celebrate Father’s Day with games from 8am and prayer at 9am.

Please note there are no Fatima Friends sessions in Week 6, 8,9,10 but Fatima Friends will return in Term 4!

Natural Simplicity

by Kiara Pirola

When do people most commonly feel God’s presence? It is rarely at a desk or in front of a screen. Most often, we have profound spiritual experiences when immersed in the natural world.

It is through God’s creation that we connect with the transcendent and we regain the capacity to be humble and filled with awe. It is the elegance and beauty of the natural world that shocks us out of materialism into a reverence for the goodness of creation.

But this sense of humility and awe can so easily be crowded out with busyness, and the quest for material things. Humility and awe require physical and mental space to be experienced.

Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods, articulates this problem as “nature-deficit disorder” and argues that our relationship with the natural world has fundamentally changed over the last thirty years. We deprive ourselves and our children of a vast resource of spiritual, mental and physical growth with our increasingly urbanised and technology-driven lifestyles. His book has inspired a movement of parents, community leaders, religious leaders and policy makers to actively reconnect children and adults with the natural world. Here are just a few simple ideas on how to reconnect to nature with your family.

Natural Connections

Cloud Watching
Lie in the grass and watch the clouds. Spot different shapes and make up stories about them. Grab a book on clouds and try to identify the different types.
Explore & Observe
Even the youngest children can participate in an exploration expedition to the park! Arm yourselves with a note pad and pencil and wander around to find something that interests you. Share what you found and why you thought it was interesting or beautiful.
Stargazing
If you live in a city, all it takes is a short drive beyond the city limits to find some clear sky to watch the stars. Take a book on astronomy, search for constellations in the sky, or make up your own!

Wishing you a happy week full of enjoyable family mealtimes and connecting to nature.

Tracey Bowler | Family Educator

tracey.bowler@syd.catholic.edu.au