2025 Sacramental Program
2025 Sacramental Program for St Joseph’s and St Laurence O'Toole Primary Schools
Each year St Joseph’s and St Laurence’s Schools provide a Sacramental Program which all families are invited to be a part of. The Sacramental Program prepares students who have been baptised to take the next steps in their Catholic faith journey. Families are invited to support their children in making the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist (otherwise known as First Communion) and Confirmation.
The Sacramental Programs are offered for families who have a student in the following grades:
· Reconciliation for grade 3 students.
· Eucharist for grade 4 students.
· Confirmation for grade 6 students.
To prepare students in making their sacrament, religious education classes focusing on the sacrament are provided during the school day and a sacramental activity resource will be sent home for families to work through with their child in a way that works for the family. The discussion around the sacrament is the most important outcome of this activity book. Families are required to attend one Parent and Child Workshop, and of course the liturgy where their child receives and celebrates the sacrament for the first time. A child will not be able to receive a sacrament without undertaking the full preparations, as every sacrament requires the necessary preparation from the recipient.
We also strongly encourage you to attend the Sunday Masses in the churches closest to you or your weekend activities, leading up to the actual celebration of the sacrament. Participation in the Eucharist provides the child and the family with due spiritual preparation.
St Laurence’s and St Joseph’s Primary Schools work together as parishes in partnership which includes coming together for our Sacramental Program. Throughout 2024, all sacraments and sacramental workshops were held in Leongatha at either the St Laurence O’Toole Church or St Laurence’s Primary. In 2025, all sacraments and sacramental workshops will be held in Korumburra at St Joseph’s Church or St Joseph’s Primary. Therefore, all families from St Laurence’s and St Joseph’s Primary Schools who choose for their child/children to make their sacraments will require a commitment to attend Korumburra for both the Parent & Child Workshop and the Sacramental Mass (although First Eucharist celebration masses will be offered in Leongatha too). Students who attend other schools in the local area are also invited to join in.
Note: A child in an older grade who hasn’t made their Sacraments at the usual time is also invited to join in with the Sacrament preparations as they arise within the school year as long as the child has been baptised. If your child is not baptised and expresses an interest in being baptised, or you would like to have them baptised, please feel welcome to contact one of us to discuss this further. This, of course, applies to any member in your family who wants to become part of the sacramental life of the Church. Everyone is welcome in our Church and their presence would be a great gift to our Church family.
In 2025 all Sacramental Parent and Child Workshops and Sacramental Masses will be held at St Joseph's Primary School and St Joseph's Church, Korumburra however, please note St Laurence's Masses were added to the Eucharist. Pleaser refer to the below information.
Directions: Park outside St Joseph’s School, on Bridge Road. Walk through the gate and straight ahead down the stairs to the basketball court. The library is on the other side of the court.
For further information about what each of the sacraments entails go to Catholic Diocese of Sale - Living the Faith website.
What is Jubilee 2025?
Every 25 years since 1300, the Catholic Church holds a special celebration called the Jubilee Year. This is a time of reset, where the land and the people rest and we focus on our relationships with others and with God.
The most striking part of the logo for this jubilee is the cross: bending towards humanity and forming an anchor, it depicts the cross as something to cling to, especially in rough seas. It is a contemporary ‘riff’ on an old biblical image. The letter to the Hebrews describes the hope we have in Jesus as ‘an anchor of the soul, as sure as it is firm’ (6:19). The cross is not a dead symbol from the past. It is a living sign of God’s unfathomable love, and one that carries us together in pilgrimage towards heaven.
The word ‘Jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew word for a ram’s horn, which was blown to announce the start of a Jubilee year in the Bible.
In the Old Testament, the Jubilee Year was a time of renewal and celebration, every fifty years. Debts were cancelled, people could rest, and because crops weren’t planted, even the land was able to rest.
It was also a time of freedom: prisoners and slaves were freed, and land was given to those who didn’t have any. It was known as the year of the Lord’s favour.
Pope Francis invites us to become ‘Pilgrims of Hope,” - to embark on a journey filled with hope that is felt by us, recognised by others and spreads throughout our world.