Religious Education

Parish Bulletin

'Christmas celebrations are often full of sound. It would be good for us to make room for silence, to hear the voice of love.'   

Pope Francis

The real meaning of Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. Pope Francis reminds us: 'Let us ensure that Advent and indeed Christmas, are never celebrations of consumerism, appearances, useless gifts or excessive waste but instead a celebration of joyfully and lovingly welcoming the Lord into the crib and into the heart.'

The following prayer by Sue Cooper from Catholic Agency for Overseas Development writes a prayer that encapsulates the message above by Pope Francis. A prayer that also aligns with our Catholic Social Teachings.

Wake us up Lord!

God of Salvation,

Wake us up Lord! The night is nearly over.

Let us begin our Advent journey. Move us from our lives of greed and selfishness,

From our globalized world of inequality and exploitation,

To your kingdom of righteousness and mercy.

To a transformed world,

Where peace is built on understanding not weapons,

The poor are empowered to live their lives to the full,

Businesses are built on need not greed

And your Creation is nurtured not abused.

Wake us up Lord!

Let us live as people of the light.

Amen.

Sue Cooper

Second Week of Advent Liturgy

Please join the school community in celebrating the Second Week of Advent Liturgy in the hall on Friday 2nd December at 9:05a.m. The Year 4 students will be leading the liturgy with the theme PEACE. 

The second candle, which is purple, symbolizes peace. It is called the 'Bethlehem Candle'. It symbolizes the preparations being made to receive and cradle the Christ child. Bethlehem is a story about a humble couple on an unwanted journey, at an inconvenient time, to visit a tiny insignificant town.

Augustus Caesar was ruling and he called for a census to be taken, but God was in charge, for He used Caesar’s edict to move Mary and Joseph eighty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill His Word. Even though there was no room for Mary and Joseph God had orchestrated these events. Mary and Joseph had to leave Nazareth so that they could register in Bethlehem and the Scriptures be fulfilled.

Christmas Hampers

At this time of year, the Mini Vinnies lead the school in the development of Christmas Hampers for the St Vincent de Paul Society. There are many people in our neighbourhood, parish and even school community who face challenging times for various reasons, therefore this an opportune time to help out.

A letter was sent via PAM on Monday, outlining items that can be donated if you are in a position to do so. We invite you to send the items to school with your children which will be collected in baskets in the classrooms, then placed under the school Christmas Tree in the office foyer.

I thank you in advance for your contributions.

Preparing for Advent

Please take note of the Divine Kids event, 'Prepare the Way' being held at Holy Family Church Hall in Doveton. Our own Father Joseph will be a guest speaker at the event.

St Therese's Christmas Concert

Make sure you have this special event in your diaries!!