Education in Faith 

St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal 

Anyone walking into our office will have seen our wonderful display that has continued to grow, and grow, and grow! We absolutely cannot thank our families enough for their generosity at this time! 

These gifts will be packaged and used in creating Christmas Hampers for families in our community. We can easily imagine the glowing faces on these people looking at the food, toys and other brilliant gifts in their hampers! Thank you all so very much. 

Advent and Christmas

As our school year closes, religion lessons in each of our classes will reflect our current season. This of course includes the events of the Nativity and the Birth of our Lord, but also some other important and interesting concepts. 

We know Advent is the lead up to Christmas Day but each week holds an important theme that becomes part of our prayer and reflection for the week. Each of these themes are present not only in the story of the nativity but also our every day lives. 

Hope - What did Mary and Joseph hope for with their journey to Bethlehem? What hopes were placed upon the infant Jesus? 

What do we hope for the future? What do we hope for the ones we love and care about? 

Faith/Love - How did the shepherds visitting the stable show their love and adoration for the newborn child? How did Mary and Joseph care for each other? 

How do we say I love you? How do I show it with my actions? How can we show love to people we don't even know? 

Joy - How did people go forth and exclaim their happiness about the birth of Jesus? How did Mary and Joseph feel joy at finding a stable that was better than nothing? 

How do we celebrate the people in our lives? How do we encourage them and reward the times they put forth great effort? 

Peace - How peaceful did Mary and Joseph feel looking down at their sleeping baby? How at peace was the town of Bethlehem which was full to the brim of people attending the Census? 

What does peace look like to us in the world? How can we disagree with others in a peaceful way? How can we calm our minds in times of stress to feel peace? 

The Jesse Tree represents the family tree of Jesus, and looks at the actions and stories of God's people in the Old Testament in the Bible. Students can read through these stories at Christmas time with a focus on the symbol selected from the story. They learn about the patience and trust of Abraham, the bravery of Daniel, the clear thinking and empathy of Samuel and much more. These lessons are yet another source of prayer and reflection in the month of December. 

A Prayer for Christmas 

Heavenly Father, 

On this holy feast of Christmas 

May we take time to experience and enjoy the real gifts we have been given this year. 

Our health. 

Our home.

Our safety. 

Friends. 

Community and most of all each other. 

Amen.

Thank You 

It is always so funny how a year can pass by in what feels like a blink of the eye! What a year 2023 has been. We have engaged in regular prayer and celebration both in Mass and at school. We embarked on many greatly successful social justice initiatives which demonstrated generosity and strength of spirit. As a community we were able to engage in the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation and watch with joy as many of our students continued their faith journeys. 

Importantly we were able to care and love for each other. 

On behalf of myself, but also the entire staff, I once again say thank you so much to all of our beautiful families and members of our community. We wish you nothing but absolute joy over this Christmas and New Year break. 

Tim O'Mahoney

Education in Faith Leader