John XXIII College Newsletter

Faith and Mission

This week our community participated in Ash Wednesday liturgies. This solemn day in the church marked the beginning of Lent, a sacred season of reflection, renewal, and spiritual growth. As ashes were placed on our foreheads, we were reminded of our call to be a witness to the Gospel and the invitation to turn our hearts toward God. This powerful symbol urges us to embrace humility and compassion as we embark on our 40-day journey of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

 

Inspired by Jesus' time in the desert, Lent calls us to reflect on our struggles, seek transformation, and restore our relationships. Striving for the right relationship with God also means fostering communities built on respect, justice, and love.

 

This call takes on particular significance as we recognise International Women’s Day on 8 March. Falling within the first week of Lent, this global celebration highlights the importance of dignity, equality, and justice. As a Catholic school, we honour the inspiring women of faith who have dedicated their lives to service, justice, and leadership.

 

Honouring the dignity and contributions of women is central to living in right relationship with one another. Just as Lent urges us to seek justice and reconciliation, it also calls us to stand in solidarity with those who have been marginalised. One way we can act on this commitment is by supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion throughout Lent, helping uplift vulnerable communities through generosity and action.

 

May this Lenten season be one of transformation, prayer, and service as we grow closer to God and live out our faith with purpose and compassion.

 

 

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal Faith and Mission

 

 

 

 

 

Community Mass

Thank you to students in Year 10 who prepared this morning’s Community Mass. Next Friday, 14 March, our Community Eucharist will be prepared by students in Campion House. Everyone is invited! Just come to the Chapel in time for an 8:00am start. The bell rings at 7:50am as a reminder! After Mass, there is coffee in the Circle of Friends Café for those able to stay.

 

If you have any questions about Community Mass, please contact Mary-Anne Lumley: 

mary-anne.lumley@johnxxiii.edu.au

 

Community Mass Details

  • College Chapel
  • Fridays in term time
  • Starts: 8:00am and concludes 8:30am.

Sacraments

Do you have a child in Years 3, 4 or 6?

Students in these classes are respectively preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. It is imperative to enrol in a parish program as soon as possible as some parishes have already closed their enrolments for 2025.

 

Each parish has their own unique Sacrament program. Information from some local parishes is provided below and on the College website. 

 

CLAREMONT – ST THOMAS APOSTLE 

Currently accepting enrolments.

Contact: Silvia.kinder@cewa.edu.au

 

COTTESLOE – ST MARY STAR OF THE SEA

First Holy Communion – enrolments close Monday 24 March

Confirmation – enrolments close Monday 25 August.

Enrol online here: Sacramental Programme | St Mary Star of the Sea & Corpus Christi Churches

Full details are available on the College website.

Further queries: Natasha Colli, sacraments.cottesloe@perthcatholic.org.au

 

Parents often have questions about the Sacrament program, so don’t be afraid to ask:

Good News for the 1st Sunday in Lent

 

At his baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus clearly had a great religious experience. 

‘You are my beloved son, my favour rests on you.’ 

He was confirmed in his sense of identity. But what then? Would it be back to the carpentry shop? 

 

No. Listen to what happened: Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where the devil was waiting to put him to the test. What was the test?

The test was to realise that, even as the Beloved Son, he was not to be insulated from all the struggles and difficulties and setbacks of life. He would be challenged to live a life

– in harmony with the will of God,

– in which there would be no shortcuts to success.

 

Jesus was offered three shortcuts:

1. When he was hungry: bread out of stones, using miraculous powers for self-interest, to satisfy his own cravings.

2. When he wanted to change the world: absolute political power, to be handed to him by the devil to whom he should bow the knee.

3. When he needed to take risks: that angels would keep him safe – that the ordinary rules of gravity would be suspended just for him!

These were the three Temptations of Christ.

 

And His answer? ‘I will persevere in my ministry, not expecting exceptional powers for myself. I will hold on to what I realised in a special way at my baptism. I am precious and loved by my Heavenly Father.

 

Each of us at our baptism heard those same words in the depths of our hearts – the core of our emerging personalities.

‘You are my beloved daughter.’

‘You are my beloved son.’

‘My favour rests on you.’

This does not insulate us from the difficulties and hardships of persevering and trying to live a life in harmony with God’s will.

Which means that you and I can expect, have experienced, temptations.

 

Temptation is likely to show signs of the threefold pattern. Think of any temptation in an important matter and look for this pattern:

1. I want the whole world to change to satisfy me, or

2. I want to exercise power over others, coercive or manipulative, or

3. I want to take stupid risks and come out unscathed, or

all three!

What must we do when such temptations assail us?

 

First, realise that such temptations come from an enemy already defeated by Christ – in his own time of temptation and definitively on the Cross. They are much less powerful than they seem – the last gasp of the vanquished devil.

 

Second, really believe that you are a beloved child of God through the gift and privilege of the Sacrament of Baptism. Imagine if we really believed that and integrated it into our lives – then, as a consequence of living out that belief:

then, the hungry would be fed, not having to pray for stones to be turned into bread.

then, politics would change, abandoning the diabolical use of power to divide people.

then, the infantile fantasy that someone will always come to the rescue would give way to taking risks with our lives as adults willing to face the consequences.

 

In the presence of temptations, hang on to the belief in your true identity.

I am, you are, we are, beloved sons and daughters of God.

 

©Michael Tate

 

 

 

Reflection is from Father Michael Tate and is used with permission. Rev. Prof. Michael Tate was a Senator for Tasmania from 1978-93 and Ambassador to The Hague and the Holy See from 1993-96. He is currently Vicar-General in the Archdiocese of Hobart and is an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania where he lectures in International Humanitarian Law.