Religious Dimension

Good Afternoon Families,

Week 4 has come and gone as quickly as blinking an eye. 

Easter is celebrated a little later this year, so the season of Lent begins in Week 6 with Ash Wednesday on March 5th. This begins the special time of preparation for Easter. 

We will be holding two events over the coming weeks with the children to prepare and begin our Lenten season. This is a time we also begin our collections for Project Compassion and more details will be sent out once our boxes and information have arrived from Caritas.

Shrove Tuesday/ Pancake Day is on Tuesday 4th March, we will begin preparing for our Lenten Journey by celebrating Shrove Tuesday. This follows the tradition where people used up all of the fats in the house that they would go without until Easter. We will begin with a small prayer on Shrove Tuesday followed by distribution of pancakes to students at 10.30 am just before morning tea. We are looking for some parent helpers  to assist in the preparation of the pancakes. If you are able to assist please let me know. 

Lent is a time for self-discipline. Throughout the 40 days of Lent, people are called to fast and pray. But just before Lent starts, has become a time of merrymaking, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. The name Shrove Tuesday comes from the custom of ringing the ‘shriving bell’ to summons the people to church to be ‘shriven,’ that are to confess their sins at the beginning of Lent. At that time, certain foods like eggs, milk, meat and rich buttery dishes were given up for the duration of Lent. One way that they used up the eggs, milk and fats in the house was to add flour to make special pancakes. In England, the popularity of pancakes caused Shrove Tuesday to be called Pancake Day, a tradition we also follow here in Australia.

Ash Wednesday Mass

 Our Ash Wednesday Mass will be held on Wednesday, 5th March at 9.15 am. Everyone is most welcome to attend. 

Ash Wednesday begins our special time of Lent. Ash Wednesday begins the forty days of preparation for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The word ‘Lent’ actually comes from the old English word meaning “springtime”. In Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, Lent usually falls in the season of summer and autumn and the experience of what comes with springtime is therefore different. However, it is still a time with rich meaning and symbols. Lent is a time for strengthening our faith, a time to reflect on who we are and where we are going. It is a time of quietness and prayer, a time of penance and meditation, a time to become aware of our strengths and weaknesses. During Lent we try to make a conscious effort to prepare ourselves for Easter. We can do this by increasing our prayer, helping others, fasting, giving up things we particularly like, and supporting Project Compassion. Lent urges us to identify and walk with Jesus as he travels towards Jerusalem and the place of his death and resurrection. In the spirit of renewal and conversion we observe Lent by reflecting on the central events of Jesus’ life and welcoming the opportunity to grow through changing our lives. 

Blessings,

Jacqui