Faith News

Term Two 

• First Eucharist Parent and Student Evening Workshop Wednesday, May 8th. 5:30-6:30 pm- St Brendan’s Church.  First Eucharist students and parents/guardians, please attend. 
• Whole School Mass, for Mothers and Special Women.  Thursday, May 9th- St Brendan’s Church  Leaders: Foundation staff and students. St Brendan’s Church at 11:30 am All are welcome, especially mothers, grandmothers and special women in the lives of our students.
• St Brendan’s Day Whole School Mass, First Eucharist Commitment Mass #1 & Confirmation Commitment Mass #1  Thursday, May 16th- St Brendan’s Church Leaders: Year Five & Six staff and students.  St Brendan’s Church at 11:30 am All are welcome.
• First Eucharist Commitment Mass #2 & St Brendan’s, Westernport Parish Family Mass (more details to follow) Saturday, May, 18th at 6:00 pm Parish Mass at St Brendan’s.  All families are welcome, and all First Communicants and their parents/guardians are especially invited to attend. 
• First Eucharist Commitment Mass # 3 Saturday, May, 25th at 6:00 pm Parish Mass at St Brendan’s. All First Communicants and their parents/guardians are especially invited to attend. 
• First Eucharist Sacramental Mass Saturday, June 1st, at St Brendan’s Church at 6:00 pm.
• Confirmation parent & student evening workshop: Wednesday, June 5th. 5:30 pm- 6:30 pm at St Brendan’s Church.  Confirmation students and parents/guardians, please attend.
• Confirmation Parish Commitment Mass # 2 (Parish) Saturday, June 22nd at 6:00pm pm Parish Mass at St Brendan’s.  All Confirmation students (candidates) and their parents/guardians are especially invited to attend. 

Term Three

• Confirmation Parish Commitment Mass # 3 (Parish) Saturday, July 20th at 6:00 pm Parish Mass- St Brendan’s Church. All Confirmation students (candidates) and their parents/guardians are especially invited to attend. 
• Year Six Confirmation Sacramental Mass. Saturday, July 27th at St Brendan’s Church at 6:00 pm

**Enrolment information for Year six Confirmation is coming soon.

First Eucharist Enrolments 

Thank you to the parents and carers who have finalised their child’s enrolment for First Eucharist. Enrolments for First Eucharist (for students in Year Four and older children by request) have now closed. Please contact me directly if you wish to enrol your child and still need to do so or if you have enrolled them via Operoo and their name does not appear on the list below. Please pray for these children as they prepare to receive the sacrament of First Eucharist (Communion) on Saturday, June 1st:

The Sacrament of First Reconciliation 

Congratulations to the following students who received The Sacrament of First Reconciliation on Thursday, May 2nd. Thank you to the Year Three four staff for their great work in preparing the students and leading the sacrament. Thank you to Fr Shymon and Fr Martin (St Anne’s, Seaford) for leading and administering the sacrament to the following students:

Social Justice Action Team (SJAT) News: Student Voice in Action

Thank you to Mrs Turner and the SJAT for their great work in hosting our Mini Vinnies meeting with the students and teachers from St Mary’s, Hastings and St Joseph's Crib Point here at St Brendan’s last Monday, April 29th. The SJAT were fortunate enough to have Tayla and Rob from the St Vincent De Paul Schools Youth Engagement Team visit, and talk about the work of St Vincent De Paul in schools. 

The SJAT will also continue to coordinate a donation drive into the foreseeable future, for items desperately needed by the Westernport Conference of St Vincent De Paul. Please refer to the details below.

Catholic Baptism

Did the disruption of the ‘COVID-19 years’ disrupt your plans to seek Catholic Baptism for your child?

Now is a great time for families considering The Sacrament of Catholic Baptism for their child/ren, to contact the Western Port Parish Centre on (03) 5979 4374. Should you make Baptism arrangements with the Parish, please inform me so that this special milestone for your child can be acknowledged within the school community. Please also forward a copy of your child’s Baptism Certificate to the school so that this can be reflected in the school records.

Families who wish for their children to receive any sacrament or The Rite of Reception through the parish have been requested by Fr Shymon to make timely arrangements, as adequate preparation is required. This is especially important when families wish to enrol in school sacramental preparation programs, 

such as First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation. 

Please consider this advice in preparation for our future school sacramental programs.

Christian Initiation for Adults: RCIA

Have you ever considered becoming a Catholic or continuing the Catholic sacramental journey that you commenced as a child or younger adult? 

Adults who wish to begin or continue their faith journey through the reception of the Catholic sacraments are invited to contact the Western Port Parish Centre on (03) 5979 4374.

Catholic Care

For further information about the services offered by Catholic Care for those in need, please visit: https://www.ccam.org.au/

Western Port Parish News

Please follow this link to the Western Port Parish web page, and to find out more about parish happenings.

Access to Australian Catholics Online Magazine

Hard copies of the Australian Catholic Magazine will be distributed to all families whose eldest children are in Years 3-6 this year. Please look out for these throughout the year and have a read over a ‘cuppa’ to discover more about happenings in Catholic schools and parishes. 

ALL families have FREE access to the Australian Catholics online resource. To access this fabulous resource, please click here  and use the following login details to gain access:

Email: parents@sbsomerville.catholic.edu.au 

NEW Password: acparents

Yours in faith & harmony.

Emma Chapple -Religious Education Leader -Performing Arts Classroom Specialist Teacher

echapple@sbsomerville.catholic.edu.au

A Letter from Fr Shymon