Reflection

Ash Wednesday - 5 March 2025

Ash Wednesday opens Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting, which prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption. It takes place 40 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the forehead. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person’s forehead, he speaks the words, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolise penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

As we welcome our new Year 7 and Year 11 students and parents/carers to our College we offer this special prayer:

Beginning of the Year Prayer:

Father,

you call us together at the beginning of this new school year.

We ask you to send your spirit upon us that,

as the days and terms unfold,

we may be always mindful of your presence

and alert to opportunities to see and serve you in those around us.

We pray that we may teach well by the example of our own lives,

by our knowledge and love of learning,

by our gentleness and care of the pupils entrusted to us.

In all that we do and say,

we pray that, in building up the community of our school,

we may contribute to the betterment of society

and to the Kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ,

for your greater glory.

Amen.

St John Baptist De La Salle: Pray For Us

St Aloysius: Pray For Us

                                                                    Live Jesus In Our Hearts: Forever