Family Educator's Corner

A Prayer to Begin My Lenten Journey

Loving Jesus,

As the sign of Your saving cross was placed on my forehead yesterday,

You said to me: 'Repent and believe in the Gospel.'

Walking into Lent, my heart is set on You.

May my fasting fill me with hunger for You,

May my prayer draw me deeper into Your presence,

May my acts of charity bring Your love to my family and community.

Lord of life,

Grant that by turning back to You in these 40 days

I will re-awaken the joy of my Easter faith;

For You raise me up from fear and despair

And call me to hope and trust in God who is with me always.

With You, I will rise again. Amen.

Dear St Martha’s Families

I hope everyone had a blessed Ash Wednesday yesterday and a beautiful St Valentine’s Day. May we grow closer and closer to God during this Lent.

Some possible QUESTIONS to ask our children, instead of: ‘How was your day?’

Sometimes, when we ask our children: 'How was your day?', the reply is shorter than we would like it to be.

Here are some other questions that we could ask our children:

• What made you really happy today?
• What wasn't so good about today?
• What did your teacher do that was nice?
• Who made you laugh today?
• Who did you sit next to in class?
• Did you make any artwork?
• Did you play any games?
• Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?
• Where is the best place to play at school?
• What did you do that made you feel proud today?
• Who did you help today?
• Who helped you out?
• What was your favourite thing you ate today?
• What was something interesting you learnt today?
• What was the hardest thing you learnt about today?
• Who would you like to sit next to in class?
• Did your teacher read you a book today?
• What did you read today?
• Which new word did you learn today?
• Was anyone's birthday in your class today?
• Who did you hang out with at Lunch?
• Who did you play with at Afternoon Tea?
• Tell me about a time you felt confused in class today.
• What did your teacher do that was funny today?
• What would you like to thank Jesus for?
• What was something that challenged you today?
• What was the highlight of your day?

Upcoming Dates

Lenten Program

Our weekly Lenten program started on Monday morning (12th February) at 10:30am at the Parish.  The program will run every Monday during lent. Please feel free to invite any friends and relatives. 

Even if you weren’t able to attend the Lenten program this week, and even if you need to leave earlier and/or are unable to attend the Lenten Program every Monday, we would love to see you when you can.

Please RSVP your attendance to the Lenten Program by emailing me at elena.razzoli@syd.catholic.edu.au by today, so that we will have the Lenten booklets ready for all participants.

Lenten Retreat

The Lenten Retreat is upcoming on  Saturday 24th February 2024 at Mt Schoenstatt Shrine, 30 Fairlight Road Mulgoa.

All parents, grandparents, carers and friends are warmly invited to attend the Lenten retreat at Mt Schoenstatt Shrine in Mulgoa. 

Here is the schedule:

• 9am: Mass
• 9:30am Exposition
• 9:40am Talk by Fr Jeff Miller: The gift of the Body & Blood of Jesus
• 10:20am Coffee Break
• 10:40am Talk by Fr Ben Mackenzie: The Love of God in the Eucharist and in the Passion of Jesus
• 11:25am: Q & A
• 11:45am: Closing prayers and Benediction

Please email elena.razzoli@syd.catholic.edu.au by this Sunday (18th February 2024) if you’d like to attend the Lenten retreat at Mulgoa.

Cost: A $5 donation (donated directly to the priests at the Shrine) would be greatly appreciated to cover some of the costs.

Women's Lenten Retreat

The Women's Lenten Retreat is on Saturday 16th March 2024 at St Mary’s Cathedral Hall, Sydney. All mothers, grandmothers, aunties and female friends are warmly invited to attend.

Please email elena.razzoli@syd.catholic.edu.au at your earliest convenience if you would like to attend. Tickets can be reserved here. 

Cost: $20 per person (includes morning tea and lunch).

Prayer Requests

Let us all kindly keep in our prayers one of our dear parishioners: Greg Glass, who is currently at the hospital following a bad fall. 

If you have any special intentions that you’d like the St Martha’s Community to pray for, please email me (elena.razzoli@syd.catholic.edu.au) your prayer requests and we will pray for them. 

If you’d like, we are also happy to place your prayer requests in our next school newsletter.

‘For mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else 

than an intimate sharing between friends; 

it means taking time frequently 

to be alone with Him who we know loves us.’ 

                St Teresa of Avila

This weekend, I would like to invite you all to sit down with a cuppa and take a few moments to read this beautiful post: https://eringillard.substack.com/p/love-letters-and-lent.

Here are two other posts by the inspiring Erin Gillard that remind us not to take any seconds for granted: https://eringillard.substack.com/p/vulnerability-modelled-in-the-manger & https://eringillard.substack.com/p/presence-over-presents-this-christmas.

Wishing everyone a beautiful weekend and a fruitful and blessed Lent

Elena Razzoli

Family Educator

elena.razzoli@syd.catholic.edu.au