Religious Education News - Week 6 Term 1

Religious Education Dates for 2025

Confirmation

Saturday 16th August- Sacrament of Confirmation – 1pm and 3pm
Wednesday 4th June - Confirmation Information Night - 6pm
Saturday 24th May - Confirmation Commitment Mass - 5pm
Wednesday 18th June- Confirmation Reflection Day
Thursday 14th August - Confirmation Reconciliation service - 11:40am

Reconciliation

Wednesday 19th March - Sacrament of Reconciliation Parent/Child Information Night at 6pm
Wednesday 28th May - Sacrament of Reconciliation - 6pm

Eucharist

Wednesday 30th July - First Eucharist Parent/Child Information Night at 6pm
Saturday 9th August – First Eucharist Commitment Mass – 5pm
Thursday 23rd October - Eucharist Reflection Day
Thursday 23rd October - Reconciliation at 11:40am and practise
Saturday 25th October - Sacrament of First Eucharist mass at 5pm
Sunday 26th October - Sacrament of First Eucharist mass at 9:30am

Whole School Mass/Events

Friday 21st March- Year 6 leaders attending the Catholic Ed Week mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral
Friday 21st March - Harmony Day
Friday 4th April - Easter paraliturgy at 12:45pm
Thursday 24th April - St Mark’s Feast Day mass at 2:10pm & activities 11.40 & 1.30
Friday 16th May - Family Week mass at 2:10pm and activities during the day
Friday 6th June - Reconciliation Week liturgy (assembly) and activities in own class
Friday 4th July - Naidoc Week assembly (1pm)
Friday 15th August - Feast of the Assumption Mass at 9am
Friday 7th November - St Francis Blessing of the animals service from 9am to 9:15am
Tuesday 11th November - Remembrance Day service at 10:55am
Thursday 11th December - Year 6 Graduation at 6pm
Monday 15th December - End of School Mass at 9am - TBC

Junior Information Night

Preps in Pyjamas – Wednesday 11th June at 6pm

Project Compassion

Last week each family was sent home a Project Compassion box. During Lent families can put money into the money box. This box can sent sent back to school and the money raised will go to Caritas who support overseas missions that help people in need.

There is a great story about G K Chesterton, the famous writer who died in 1936. Among many things, he was the creator of Fr Brown, the detective who uses powers of empathy to understand people better than the police. He was once asked to contribute an essay to a collection on the theme of ‘What is Wrong with the World?’ His response to the question required only two words. ‘I am,’ he wrote.

Ash Wednesday, which celebrates the start of Lent, calls us to a more courageous engagement with reality. That is why, when we receive ashes, we often hear the words ‘remember you are dust and to dust you will return.’ That is our truth. It is easy to look at the state of the world and descend into blame and indignation.

Sure, there are many things that are desperately troubling. Wars, poverty and environmental degradation are part of a long list. But who among us has the courage to own up and respond to the question, ‘what’s wrong with the world,’ by answering ‘I am.’

Don’t misunderstand. We are mostly good people, doing our best to love and serve each other. But we would sell ourselves short if we left the future of Earth to others who we thought were more to blame. Ash Wednesday asks us to look at the world and our part in it. Every year, we begin our journey to Easter with Jesus’s advice to go into our private room, wherever that may be, and encounter the Lord one on one. Christianity, unlike so much else in the world, has little time for self-marketing.

Ash Wednesday is Day One of our Lenten journey. God’s invitation to ‘come back to me with all your heart’ is also an invitation to leave our private room and step into a world in urgent need of our love and honesty. This year, Project Compassion is calling us to Unite Against Poverty. St Paul says, ‘now is the favourable time.’ We can make the most difference when we are most truly ourselves.

Prayer of Intercession

We pray this Lent for a deeper trust in God’s plan. May our commitment to prayer, fasting and almsgiving, awaken within us a hunger for justice and compassion. May the Jubilee year remind us of our need for a fresh start. May our work for Project Compassion help us to Unite Against Poverty.

Ash Wednesday

Kids love Ash Wednesday and they are often interested in the meaning behind the ritual of ashes. Here are some common questions and answers about the day.

1. Who can receive ashes?

On Ash Wednesday the procession to the altar is as diverse as we will ever see it! Mothers carrying babies, toddlers holding on to Dad’s hand, teens, parishioners, neighbors, employees from nearby places of business, the elderly—we all come together to mark the beginning of Lent. Anyone, including kids and non-Catholics, can receive ashes.

2. Are ashes a sacrament?

The act of receiving ashes is not a sacrament. Actually, ashes are what we call a “sacramental.”

Sacramentals are dynamic signs that help us prepare for receiving the sacraments. They help us receive the graces of the sacraments and they help make holy various occasions in our lives. They also remind us that all of creation has the potential to reveal God’s presence and receive his blessing.

3. Where do the ashes come from?

The ashes are traditionally made by burning last year’s Palm Sunday palms. In the Australia, the custom is to mark the cross on a person’s forehead, but in other parts of the world, including in Italy, the ashes are sprinkled on a person’s head.

4. How do you get ashes?

Ashes are blessed and distributed on Ash Wednesday, often during Mass or a prayer service. People walk up to the altar using the same process as Communion. The person distributing the ashes marks the recipient’s forehead and says either, “Remember that we are dust and unto dust we shall return,” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

5. Should I do anything special before I receive the ashes?

In receiving the ashes, we are entering into the time of Lent, preparing for Easter with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We are embracing Jesus’ journey: the cross of suffering and the promise of Resurrection. The ashes help us connect the spiritual aspect of Christ’s cross and Resurrection with our everyday lives.

In addition to the liturgical significance of receiving ashes, we also are called to remember that in our repentance is a call to proper relationship between ourselves, God, and each other. Saying a prayer of repentance and remembering your sins is an appropriate way to prepare to receive the ashes.

6. How long should I leave on the ashes?

The ashes on our foreheads are a visible sign that we are followers of Jesus. The ashes are also a way to tell ourselves and those around us that we are beginning the holy season of Lent—the forty days leading up to Easter. Leaving them on helps you remember this throughout the day, but there are no rules requiring how long you leave them on or when you wash them off.

7. Is Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation?

Despite being one of the most-attended holy days of the year by Catholics around the world, it is not an official holy day of obligation.

Following in the footsteps of Christ during Lent

From our Jewish roots we learn the importance of caring for the poor. We teach our children the importance of giving alms and sharing resources, and we teach them how to choose who will receive the resources that we share. Jesus also teaches us about the importance of prayer. Jesus prays seventeen times in the Gospels; he models prayer for us today. In the Scriptures Jesus prays often, morning and night. He prays during critical events in his life and he prays before ministering to people in need. Lent calls us to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Ashes mark the beginning of our walk.

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,

may the faith you have given us

in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,

and the flame of charity enkindled

in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

reawaken in us the blessed hope

for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us

into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.

May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos

in the sure expectation

of a new heaven and a new earth,

when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,

your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee

reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,

a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread

the joy and peace of our Redeemer

throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed,

be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

Children’s Liturgy

The reintroduction of Children's Liturgy at St Mark's Church is up and running and looking for more volunteers!

The Children's Liturgy provides a great opportunity for primary aged children to

engage with the gospel in a way that is accessible and meaningful to them. It runs every Sunday at the St Mark's 9:30am mass during school terms. At the start of mass the Children’s Liturgy adult leaders take the primary school age children into the hall for a small lesson and activity about the gospel of the day. Parents are welcome to join the session if they would like. If any parents are interested in volunteering to help with the Sunday sessions, please email Andrew Davies - andrew@smdingley.catholic.edu.au

School Advisory Council

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL: