Prayer & Acknowledgement
Our new school theme for 2025.
‘We Are Pilgrims Of Hope!’
(Celebrating the Jubilee Year for the Holy Catholic Church)
What is a Jubilee Year?
A Jubilee is a special year of grace and conversion, involving prayer, pilgrimage and sacramental repentance, held every 25 years, or during other years as called for by the Pope. Through a series of concrete rituals, acts and commitments, the goal of a Jubilee year is to inspire and encourage holiness of life among the faithful and therefore to strengthen the Church’s witness to God’s loving mercy in and for the world.
The word “jubilee” is derived from the Hebrew word jobel, which means “ram’s horn”; since it was precisely that horn which was used as a trumpet, whose sound indicated to everybody the beginning of the jubilee year. The book of Leviticus, in the code of holiness, is the source which tells us of the significance of the jubilee year, a year of liberation “par excellence,” which is at the end of seven weeks of years, the fiftieth year.
What does this mean for us in the Sandhurst diocese and our schools?
Each year, our diocese creates a theme, linked to scripture, that unites all schools. The theme for 2025 is ‘Pilgrims of Hope!’
As pilgrims, we are privileged to walk the same journey as Jesus did thousands of years ago. He brought hope and light to those who others ignored or brushed aside. Jesus took great risks to ground his pilgrimage in God’s love. This became his centre, his guide and his compass. This year, we are all called to journey towards the light that we experience in his presence and God’s promise of equity, justice and compassion.
For thousands of years, Aboriginal people have been pilgrims upon our land. With bare feet, they have carved tracks into the earth with intent, purpose and sustainable care. Their pilgrimage is rich in story, dreaming and justice for creation. We acknowledge them today.
Let us call to mind the need to honour our first pilgrims and the land they call home. Let us acknowledge the current need for reconciliation and a new dreaming for our future filled with the spirit of hope and promise.
All of creation is on pilgrimage towards tomorrow. She forms an incredible community of creatures and elements that are sacred, dependent, vulnerable and magnificent. Each element of creation that is on pilgrimage offers its own value to the greater whole. Every living aspect of creation offers a window into the divine presence of love we call God.
God of hope, fill us with your spirit of pilgrimage this year.
Many years ago, Jesus was a pilgrim too. In Galilee, the desert and Jerusalem he formed tracks in the earth with few possessions, a swag of followers and a dream to bring hope to the poorest of the poor, the lonely and the lost.
The only guide for his pilgrimage was his love for God. He believed that hope could turn all things from darkness to light. His pilgrimage offers us hope for the journeys we are on today.
God of hope, fill us with your spirit of pilgrimage this year.
Today, we are inspired by all pilgrims who have gone before us. They are our models and our guide, the ones we look up to and learn from about how to build communities of inclusivity, hope and companionship.
In particular, Jesus invites us to become the most loving and generous pilgrims that we can be this year. As pilgrims, we can dream of a tomorrow that is teaming with Spirit filled moments and endless buckets of joy.
God of hope, fill us with your spirit of pilgrimage this year.
Acknowledgment of Country
St. Brendan's Primary School acknowledges and
pays respect to the Yorta Yorta Nation,
as the original ongoing custodians of
the land we meet on.
We commit ourselves to actively working alongside
Aboriginal people for reconciliation and justice.
