Education in Faith

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal

Again this year, our RE Student Leaders would like everybody in the OHR community to get involved in supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. This is often just shortened to the Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

This Christmas, more families are experiencing poverty and are on the brink of homelessness due to the relentless rising cost-of-living in Australia. The crisis has been an ongoing issue impacting Australians for over two years with no sign of reprieve. As the crisis deepens, so does the amount of people turning to Vinnies for support.

The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has more than 60,000 members and volunteers, who work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia. Internationally, the Society operates in 153 countries and has over 800,000 members.

This video helps introduce the Vinnies Christmas Appeal and explains a little about how the organisation is providing a hand to vulnerable people in urgent need this Christmas.

There are three ways OHR will be supporting the work of Vinnies this year. The first option is to bring in non perishable food items, especially those with a Christmas theme. This will help provide food for a family to celebrate Christmas with a meal together. These can be left in classrooms and we will collect them before the end of term.

The second is to bring in a voucher for Coles or Woolworths. These can be used by a family who is finding it tough. They might use the voucher to purchase food or other vital household items. These can be left under the Christmas Tree in the office.

Finally, for the rest of the year the RE/Social Justice Team will be selling Zooper Dooper icy poles for 50c after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 - 3:30pm at the tuckshop window.

If anybody would like to donate a pack (or more) of Zooper Doopers please bring them to the office. We can look after the freezing for you‼  

We will start selling zooper doopers on Thursday 5th November after school - so please bring in your money if you want one. Also, don’t forget about donating a voucher or some non-perishable food items. Thank you.

RE Learning in 5/6KM

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians  (Galatians 5: 16,17, 22-25)

'If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self control. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit.'

In class we have been learning about the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. The difference between the two is that the Church teaches that the Gifts are permanently in everybody while the fruits on the other hand, are the effects in us of living a life according to the spirit, according to the will of God, a life of holiness.

We explored the meaning of each of these Fruits which then lead to an exploration of what fruit we see in ourselves, what fruit our teacher sees in us and finally what fruit our peers see in us. It was special to learn how the students see each other and many were surprised at their results! See some examples below of these reflections.

Sunday Gospel

The liturgy of the Catholic Church provides a framework for reflection which is used by Catholics throughout the world. Each week in the Newsletter, you will find the Sunday Gospel as well as some discussion questions to have with your child/ren.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle:

they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn:

they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:

they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful:

they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart:

they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers:

they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.’

Discussion Questions

1. What would a peacemaker do?

2. Why does God bless peacemakers?

3. How can we be peacemakers?

4. What do humble people do?

5. Why does God bless the humble?

6. How can we be more humble?