Liturgy

Community Liturgy

Thanks to the students of Year 8 who prepared the Eucharist this morning.

Next Friday’s liturgy will be prepared by the incoming Homeroom leaders. It will also mark the beginning of the season of Advent, and the beginning of a new year in the Church’s cycle. Families are especially welcome to this penultimate Community Mass for 2019.

Thursday 12 December, the last day of term, students from Pre-Primary to Year 9 will celebrate the Eucharist together in the gym at 9:00am. Parent are most welcome to attend also.

Community Liturgy summary

Where: College Chapel
Time: 8:00am – 8:30am
When: every Friday in term time

SACRAMENT PROGRAM 2020

Do you have a child currently in Year 2, 3 or 5? Next year the children will be respectively preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation. While the students will learn the appropriate content in their Religion classes, they celebrate the sacraments with their family in their parishes.

The archdiocesan Sacrament Policy is ‘family-focused, parish-based, Catholic school supported’, so it is the right of the parents to enrol their child in a parish program – usually, but not necessarily the parish closest to home. Some of our local parishes have begun the enrolment process, including City Beach, whose enrolment date is next Thursday.

Please see information which has been supplied by parishes on the College website: http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/parent-resources/parish

Parish Connections

Preparations have begun in parishes for the seasons of Advent and Christmas – with Advent beginning next Sunday, 1 December. Some of our local parishes warmly invite families to enter into this season with some special celebrations. Please refer to details below.

GOOD NEWS for the Feast of Christ the King

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom
Luke 23:35-43

The reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel is from Father Michael Tate and is used with permission. Rev. Prof. Michael Tate was a Senator for Tasmania from 1978-93 and Ambassador to The Hague and the Holy See from 1993-96. He is currently Vicar-General in the Archdiocese of Hobart and is an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania where he lectures in International Humanitarian Law.

THE POWER OF REMEMBERING

If you memorise a tune or your 'times tables', you are said to 'know it by heart'. The sort of person who will always remember me is someone who 'knows me by heart'.

Here, a tortured criminal starts his plea: 'Jesus . . . '. This is one of only two instances where Jesus is addressed by his name which means 'The Lord saves'. The good thief went on: 'remember me when you come into Your Kingdom'. Jesus 'knows him by heart' and promises that He will re-member him in Paradise.

This is an exercise of sovereignty which befits 'Christ the King'. This is all the Kingly power which you or I will ever need, but to confidently invoke it we need to position ourselves alongside Jesus, like the 'good thief'. We do this by our practical concern for the poor and by coming to Mass which re-members the Body of Christ.

We could pause for a moment to pray: 'Jesus, remember me, know me by heart, for when you do I will be in Paradise.'