Religious Education   

Last Sunday our prep families gathered at Braeside Park for our traditional Prep Welcome Mass and Picnic. God took care of providing us with a beautiful day, Father Andrew provided us with a lovely mass, the amazing prep teachers worked with the childen to prepare for this special mass and our wonderful families provided us with a special celebration by joining together as 'church'.

Our theme for the mass was "God keeps His promises and we can too!" which reflected the first reading when God promised Noah and all the animals that he would not destroy the Earth again. The children were very eager to share their impressions of their favourite animals when Father Andrew asked them during his homily.

After mass, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Father Andrew who celebrated his 60th Birthday and all preppies enjoyed a cupcake in honour of his milestone birthday!

This weekend we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Lent.  In this week’s gospel recounting the Transfiguration,  the disciples Peter, James and John were able to see Jesus in His full divinity. They had never been so completely and consciously enveloped by God before. What they saw was unexplainable and unbelievable, they did not have the words to describe something so truly amazing. Peter did not want to leave that mountaintop experience. He wanted to build some booths and just ‘camp out’ there for a while. But rather than allowing the disciples to set up tents and remain in the ‘high’ of this experience, Jesus immediately led the disciples 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.

This gospel message reminds us that we are called to "do the real work" by helping those in need. Students in every class are discussing the Caritas stories of Ronita, Leaia and Memory and exploring ways we can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.  

One way we can help is by donating money to Project Compassion. Project Compassion boxes were sent home last week, hopeully they are being filled so that our mission to make a difference can be realized. You can log into Caritas Australia and explore some of the resources provided as a family using the web address below.

https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/

We also have a St Louis' Fundraising page you are more than welcome to contribute to. The QR Code can direct you there.