John XXIII College Newsletter

Liturgy

Community Liturgy

Thanks to Loyola House for their excellent preparation of today’s Mass.  New York Jesuit, Fr Tom Scirghi as very complimentary about the students who led the prayers and did the readings as well as the choir.  We are lucky to have such joyful Friday morning liturgies – with participation by students, and enhanced by the singing of the choir under the baton of Mrs Haydon, accompanied by Mr Johnston. 

 

After a break, due to the pandemic, parents and family are very welcome to attend Community Mass.

 

Next Friday – John XXIII Day

Instead of Community Mass next Friday, the whole College will gather in the St Louis Sport Centre to celebrate the Eucharist for John XXIII Day.  Mass begins at 9:00am.

SACRAMENT PROGRAM

Congratulations

Congratulations to the students in Year 4 who will be receiving Holy Communion for the first time this Sunday at St Mary Star of the Sea in Cottesloe.  The students’ names will be included in the newsletter next week.  Let us keep these students and their families in our thoughts and prayer over the weekend at this special time of celebrating the sacrament together.   

 

Sacraments during the Phase-4 Roadmap

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe has advised that “the celebration of First Reconciliation (school-aged children) and First Holy Communion (school-aged children) may recommence.”  When the Phase-5 Roadmap is adopted there will be further updates from the archdiocese. The Archbishop’s statements may be viewed  here.

 

What does this mean for my child in Year 3 or 4?

The students have completed the required units of work in the Religion curriculum and have received certificates so they may be enrolled in parish sacrament programs. 

 

My parish is not offering a sacrament program yet.

Each parish within the archdiocese is a unique community, responding to the pastoral needs within the parish. 

 

I have a child in Year 6: will there be Confirmation this year?

The Archbishop has advised “Confirmation (school-aged children) remains temporarily suspended.” You are advised to enroll in your parish, pending further easing of restrictions

 

I need more information; where can I get it?

Updates from local parishes

 

STAR OF THE SEA, COTTESLOE

First Communion  2 August 10:00am

Contact: cottesloe@perthcatholic.org.au

 

SAINT THOMAS APOSTLE, CLAREMONT

First Communion  Friday 4 September, 5:30pm

Reconciliation  4 and 5 November, 3:30-4:30pm

Contact: silvia.kinder@cewa.edu.au

 

OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY, DOUBLEVIEW

Dates for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion will be available early in Term 3.

Contact: Kaye Shervington, doubleview@perthcatholic.org.au

 

OUR LADY OF GRACE, NORTH BEACH

Reconciliation  27 October

Contact: Sheralee Allen, north.beach@perthcatholic.org.au

 

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, SCARBOROUGH

Reconciliation  To be advised

First Communion   23 August

Contact: Fr Grant Goddard, scarborough@perthcatholic.org.au  08 9341 1124

 

SAINT CECILIA, FLOREAT

Contact: Rita Morgan, floreat@perthcatholic.org.au

 

ST JOSEPH, SUBIACO

Contact: sacraments@stjosephssubiaco.org.au

 

HOLY SPIRIT, CITY BEACH

Reconciliation  22 August

First Communion 29 & 30 August

Contact: delattrecn@yahoo.fr or phone Parish Priest, Fr Emmanual-tv Dimobi, 08 93413131

GOOD NEWS for the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola

 

Today (31 July) is the official church feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola.  Australian Jesuit theologian and Media Officer for Jesuit Social Services, Fr Andy Hamilton, has given us the following insightful reflection into St Ignatius in the context of our times.

 

In future 2020 will be remembered by many different names. In Australia, one of them could well be the Year of Hard Times and Places. We think of the country alight, of the people caught by Coronavirus, and of the hardship suffered as a result of the isolation that followed it. 2020 will certainly not be called the year of trivial pursuits.

 

St Ignatius spent much of his life drawing people beyond trivial pursuits, and became at home in hard places. He had to convalesce after being wounded in battle. He begged his way around Spain, slept rough, had constant run ins with authorities suspicious of his faith and morals, went back to school in his late 20s, begged his way to visit the Holy Land but was ordered home, and faced every obstacle in placing himself and his friends at the disposal of the Pope. For much of his life, too, he suffered the acute pain of kidney stones.

 

If resilience is a quality highly to be prized – as is widely proclaimed in this year of coronavirus - Ignatius had it in spades. It came from his conviction that God loved him and was calling him into service, and that the map of the future would be written in the successes, the failures, the lights and the unnoticed shadows of his life. In a world marked by bitter conflicts, by people wanting unconditional commitment to narrow causes, by war and plague and troubled conscience, he listened to people and led them to focus on what really matters. As Pope Francis would say, he did not live in officers’ quarters but in the field hospital.

 

Coincidentally, the day before St Ignatius’ feast is the World Day of Friendship. Had Ignatius seen into the future he would have appreciated the coincidence, and over the dinner table would surely have reminded his Jesuit community of its significance. Friendship lay at the heart of his discovery of God and of the founding of the Jesuits.  For him friendship with Jesus flowed naturally from gratitude to God for his goodness in making, forgiving and calling him. In his life and his Spiritual Exercises intimacy with Jesus and Mary through an imagination captured by them had a central part. He shared this friendship with his young fellow students at university in Paris, and it grounded their deep friendship with one another.  It led them to have high desires to serve God in a shared commitment, initially in Palestine, and when that was impracticable, in service of the Pope.

 

When with his companions Ignatius decided to ask the Pope to allow them to formalise their commitment to Christ and one another in his service, they hoped that all those who joined them would be what they were, friends in the Lord. 

 

In the time of Coronavirus, too, resilience and friendship are great gifts. They are also in great need. They are in the DNA also of Jesuit Social Services, which inherits the tradition of Ignatius. They are gifts that we hope we offer to offer to those for whom we work, and to show in our relationship with one another. 

 

©Andrew Hamilton SJ