Education in Faith

Sacramental News

Dear Parents/Guardians/Caregivers,

As we embark on a new academic year, we would like to share with you important dates for our Sacramental celebrations that will take place throughout the school year.

 Sacraments play a significant role in the spiritual journey of our students and we need to ensure that you are well-informed and can actively participate in these meaningful events. 

Please be advised that attendance is compulsory for the commitment masses and formation nights that take place before the celebration of each Sacrament. 

Kindly mark the following dates on your calendar:

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Sacramental Program, celebrations or preparation process, please feel free to contact the School's Religious Education leader.

Thank you for your continued partnership in the spiritual formation of our students. We look forward to celebrating these sacred moments with you and your families as a parish community. 

May God's blessings be with you and your loved ones.

Sacrament Levy

There is a $25 Sacrament Levy to cover the cost of stoles.

•  This levy needs to be paid in full to the school in an envelope clearly indicating your child’s name, Home Group and name of Sacrament being received.

Second Sunday in Lent - Year B

Gospel Reflection

Like many important events in the Bible, the events of this week’s gospel occur on a high mountaintop. Mountaintops were places of special and dramatic encounter with God and the disciples’ experience of the transfiguration is clearly no exception! In this instance, the disciples suddenly see Jesus’ power fully revealed but they fail to fully understand what is going on. 

One might think how much more obvious could God be about trying to reveal Jesus’ identity to the disciples, but still they don’t really catch on. Peter thinks he has caught on to the message. 

When the great prophets Elijah and Moses appear beside Jesus, Peter understands Jesus to be part of the line of prophets in the Hebrew tradition. He believes he has had a great insight and is so impressed that he wants to remain on the mountaintop – setting up tents in honour of Jesus, Elijah and Moses. In essence, Peter has still only partially understood who Jesus is. He thinks he is the Messiah, but a Messiah in the same mould as the prophets of old, a prophet of the old tradition. He has not understood that Jesus is breaking that mould and creating a new vision, a new tradition – one that is endorsed by the voice of God on the mountaintop.

Rather than allowing the disciples to set up tents and remain in the ‘high’ of this experience, Jesus immediately leads the boys back down the mountain. This is perhaps the greatest message of this passage: that life is not lived on the mountaintop but back down in the valley. Although the mountaintop experience may have provided some new insight and new energy, it is back down in the valley that the world waits; that the real work needs to be done; that the sick and the poor are crying out for God’s love and mercy.

Scriptural context 

Throughout the gospel of Mark, it is important to look at the stories that lie either side of important events to pick up the subtlety of the gospel writer’s message. In this instance, the passage that immediately follows the Transfiguration is a story of the disciples trying unsuccessfully to heal a boy and Jesus having to intervene. It reinforces the message of the mountaintop in which the disciples still only partially understand Jesus’ purpose and presence. They still haven’t fully mastered who Jesus is and so they have not fully mastered the ability to heal.

Have you thought? Mountaintop Moments

Throughout the Bible there are instances of important encounters with God on mountaintops. Even this week’s first reading, the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, occurs on a mountaintop. It is not the potential sacrifice, but the new relationship between God and Abraham that is a mountaintop moment. In modern language, we often speak about ‘peak experiences’ – moments of exceptional clarity, intense emotion or extraordinary accomplishment. Sometimes, like Peter, we are tempted to try to remain ‘in the moment’ rather than using the peak experience as a motivator for when we go back down the mountain to our normal (if perhaps changed) existence.

Gospel Focus – A new vision

Part of Peter’s mistake is to see the appearance of Elijah and Moses as a confirmation that Jesus has come to continue the work of the great prophets of the past. Rather than placing Jesus in the old tradition of the prophets, the appearance of Elijah and Moses, together with the voice of God, is to endorse the new direction that Jesus’ ministry is taking. Jesus’ new vision for the world is informed by the relationships forged between God and the prophets of the past, but it is a vision of a completely different way of relating to God: a much more personal relationship that calls us to respond from the heart to those around us.

Discussion Starters

Why might Jesus have only taken three of his disciples up the mountain with him?

Why were the disciples frightened by what they saw?

Why might Jesus have warned the disciples to tell no one what they had seen?

Have you ever had a really pleasant experience that you wished could keep on going?

Why was it important for Jesus and the disciples to go back down the mountain?

Why is this transfiguration event regarded with such importance in the Church?

Why are the disciples portrayed as struggling to grasp the meaning of what they have seen?

Can you recall an experience of God that occurred to you at a mountaintop location?

Have you ever had the experience of not wanting to ‘go back down the mountain’?

Why is this reading chosen for use in the season of Lent?

God Bless  

Rozeta Ambrose

Religious Education Leader

rambrose@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5/6 SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM – MINI VINNIES

First Week of Lent

(Week beginning Monday 19 February)

This year, Project Compassion brings you the stories of three resilient women from three different corners of the world. They are facing vastly different challenges, but are all united by one dream: to create a better tomorrow for all future generations. ​ 

Meet Ronita from the Philippines. Ronita lives with her husband and two children in a barangay (local district) in Quezon City, which is situated in Metro Manila in the Philippines. She went back to school to finish her education so that she could earn income to support her children.

Meet Leaia from Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water was very difficult for Leaia and her family. But, with the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their health and living conditions. 

Meet Memory from Malawi. Memory, the eldest daughter from a rural Malawian family, trained to become a carpenter and is now a trailblazer for future generations of women in her village.   

Throughout Project Compassion, you will get to know the stories of Ronita, Leaia and Memory. Journey with them as they forge a path to a brighter future for all generations. 

Watch a short film: Introduction to Project Compassion (Primary school version)

Project Compassion boxes are now in the Learning Spaces decorated in House colours. Students are being asked to donate to Project Compassion during the season of Lent. They can place their donations in their House Project Compassion box and each week we will let you know how much each house has donated. Parents can also assist by donating to their child’s house through the boxes kept in the office. If families would like to collect a Project Compassion box for their home, they will be available in the office next week. We will then ask you to return them to school by the end of the term.

House Donations for the end of Week 1:

COMMUNITY SPIRIT HOUSE POINTS

Staff have been busily giving out points when they see students demonstrating community spirit, which includes our PBL Values especially our focus of Respect: Listening in the Learning Space. This tally also includes the House donations from Project Compassion this week. The points for each House are:

Well done to  who is leading!! 

Giuliana

gfaiola@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au