Religious Education
Christmas Carols Assembly
St Patrick's School is happy to announce we will be performing Christmas Carols for our final whole school assembly next Monday 16th December at Kilbreda College's hall. Each class will perform a Christmas song as well as our Senior and Junior choirs. All families and friends are invited to attend and asked to please arrive by 9:15am to find your seat (first in best dressed basis). Students are invited to wear a Christmas tshirt and/or a Christmas accessory. It will be hosted by our Grade 6 leaders who will also be presenting birthday stickers and awards. We look forward to seeing you at the joyous event!
Christmas Hampers at St Patricks
Thank you to our whole school community for your generous donations to our St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers. They will be delivered by parishioners to families and individuals across our community who need that extra support especially during the holiday season. Let us continue these good works this Christmas and put into practice our school motto 'Christ in the Heart of All', treating one another with love and mercy, "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." - Matthew 25:35
Gospel
John the Baptist teaches the path of repentance and announces Christ.
Unpacking the Scriptures
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent where we light the pink candle (shepherds candle) - standing out from the other purple as it represents joy. It is also known as Gaudete Sunday which means rejoice! We think of the Shepherds, how they would have rejoiced after hearing the news and ran excitedly to see the Saviour their people had been waiting for (hundreds of years). Let us remember during our time of prayer and preparation, that we must carry joy in our hearts as the Shepherds did, living our lives so that others may see and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Last week's reading described John's appearance in the desert and established his connection with the prophetic tradition of Israel. This week, Luke is continuing to set up two important themes of his Gospel message: that the Christian faith is expressed in one's actions, and the call to salvation is extended to everyone, Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews).
When the crowd begins to wonder if John the Baptist might be the Messiah, he makes it clear that his ministry is in preparation for the Messiah. John the Baptist knows his place and role in God's plan of salvation. By encouraging the crowd to act similarly in accordance with their stations in life, his teaching suggests that each person has a role to play in God's salvation. It is the great mystery of our salvation that God permits and even asks for human cooperation in his divine plans. We each have a call to sanctity in our own unique way.
Family Connection
If Advent is a time of waiting, it is not the sitting in the doctor's office kind of waiting. It is a busy time of preparation, more like the waiting we might do when preparing for dinner guests. Our challenge is to not make this season a frenzied time, but rather a time of joyful anticipation and making ready for God who comes to dwell among us and changes our lives with the gift of salvation. As you gather as a family, talk about the preparations your family is making during the season of Advent. Reflect together on these activities, not only on what you are doing but why you are choosing to do these things. See ideas here.
Pray
Gather together around the family Advent wreath or Nativity scene, light a candle and acknowledge that you are in the presence of God in a moment of silence. Read the Gospel Luke 3:10-18. Discuss how Advent is a time for making ourselves ready to receive Jesus in our lives. Could your family make some changes in your Advent activities so that each person is well prepared to celebrate the gift of salvation at Christmas? Conclude in prayer asking that your family will be able to live the spirit of Advent.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
– John 3:16
Thank You & Farewell
I’d like to say a special thank you to all staff, students, families and parishioners of the St Patrick’s Community for your support and friendship during my time at this school, particularly during my time as Religious Education Leader. It’s been a great learning journey and I look forward to a new chapter, whilst looking back with gratitude and fond memories. I will keep you in my prayers and ask that you pray for me also. Let us remember our call to be Saints in the middle of our ordinary lives and do all things no matter how big or small through Christ, in Christ and with Christ. I leave you with Pope Francis’ 2023 Christmas message (read full homily here) - “Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.”
God bless,
India Mitchell-Fletcher
Religious Education Leader