John XXIII College Newsletter

Liturgy

Community Mass

Next Friday is the last Community Mass for 2022, and will be prepared by students in Year 7. Please join us in this joyful advent liturgy – it is not just for families in Year 7, all are welcome!

 

Community Mass details

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

Do you have a child in Year 2, 3 or 5?

Parishes have begun enrolling for their 2023 Sacrament Programs and parents are encouraged to enrol their child in their ‘home’ parish. 

 

Please see the College website for enrolment information received from City Beach, Doubleview and Subiaco parishes.

 

Parents often have questions about the Sacrament program, so don’t be afraid to ask. The program is family-focused, parish-based, Catholic school-supported. This means that parents are respected as first educators in the faith of their children. The family is supported by the College Religious Education program. In Year 3, students are taught the content for First Reconciliation; in year 4 ,the content for First Holy Communion and in Year 6, the content for Confirmation. Students celebrate these sacraments in their parish. Parish Sacrament programs usually involve enrolling your child, attending a workshop or commitment Mass and attending a rehearsal. 

 

If you would like further information about the Sacrament Program please contact:

Good News for the First Sunday in Advent

 

A new liturgical year begins this Sunday, which is also the First Sunday in Advent. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and is a season of expectant waiting and hope. Some students may have seen the following video in their Religious Education classes. 

In the reflection below, Father Andrew Hamilton SJ explains the Advent season within its ancient historical context. The complete unabridged article is from Australian Catholics and may be found here.

 

… When the Church calendar was the State calendar, Advent was naturally seen as a public season. It was about public events. The season when the Son of God came to us as a baby laid in a manger, naturally was modelled on the visitation, the ‘Advent’ (from the Latin adventus, meaning ‘coming’), of the Roman Emperor to outlying parts of his empire.

The imperial ‘Advent’ was designed to be fear-inspiring. The people were given long notice, officials would come to examine the books, and then the Emperor, accompanied by battle-tried troops would come, preceded by the sound of drums, long lines of troops marching silently, and finally the Emperor in his chariot. It was an event requiring prudent preparation. 

 

In this context, preparing for the coming of Christ at Christmas was marked out as a time of reflection and preparation. It recalled the humble coming of the Son of God at Bethlehem, and looked ahead to the awe-inspiring coming of the Son of Man at the end of time.

 

The Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent (Matthew 24:27-44) spells out the urgency of our time of preparation. (In Australia, it echoes the Australian experience of the bushfire season that is almost upon us.

 

Perhaps the best image of Advent is that of pregnancy, which after all was the initial experience of Mary and Joseph as it is described in the Gospel stories. That pregnancy also was a time of waiting, no doubt anxious given the high mortality rate of children and the risks of childbirth, not to mention the trek described in Luke’s Gospel to a crowded town of Bethlehem.

 

Mary’s pregnancy, as is any pregnancy, was a time of preparation for a new life which brought changing patterns of relationships and adjustment to a new and all-demanding arrival in the family. Advent is a season for waiting, for discarding old and tired ways of living and for pondering new possibilities…