Education in Faith

Prayers in PJs Family Faith Nights

Prayers in PJs Family Faith Nights were a success. The students from Foundation and Year 1-2 and their families enjoyed a brilliant night of prayer, activities and sing along.

The Foundation students and their families attended on the night of Wednesday 6th November 2019. All who were there, including the parents and teachers, came in their PJs and brought a teddy or cuddly toy to celebrate a night of prayer, fun activities, Christian music and songs as well spending time with their family. The Year 1 and 2 students and their families attended on the night of Thursday 7th November 2019. Again the students, parents and teachers wore their PJs and brought along a toy or teddy.

We prayed, listened to the story "Guess How Much I love You", completed an engaging activity of creating our own prayer book with our families, sang a song and said the Our Father prayer. Everyone joined in and offered their Thankful Prayers as a way of thanking God for the wonderful people and things in our lives. The night was truly a prayerful and spiritual night.

Foundation Prayers in PJs:

Year 1 and 2 Prayers in PJs:

Praying

Prayer is key to a living faith, nourishing the soul and orienting each person to God. The Catholic school makes time to pray daily, keeping the presence of God at the forefront of each school day and connecting it to the church community and the wider world. In Melbourne’s multi-faith and diverse cultural context the school community respectfully invites all to prayer, enabling deep encounters between faith and contemporary life, while encouraging a lived response. Drawing from rich prayer traditions, a variety of ways of praying are encouraged: individual and communal, vocal and silent, informal and liturgical. Prayer engenders a way of being in the world and a perspective on life that, at times, can be challenging and counter-cultural. Through prayer, the sacred is acknowledged, assented to and celebrated. It marks the times when we affirm the presence of God and the sacredness of everyday life. Members of the Catholic school community embrace a prayerful attitude that is open to a personal encounter with God and nurturing of humility, reflection, and a rich inner life.

From The Catholic Education Melbourne website.

Christmas Carols in the Church

This year, the Christmas Carols will begin in St Anthony's Church at 7pm on Wednesday 4th December, 2019. We will sing Christmas hymns and the Foundation students will perform the Nativity Play. At approximately 8pm we will walk to The Green, where we will wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Families are invited to continue celebrating after the Carols on The Green.

St Vinnies' Christmas Appeal - from Monday 25 November to Wednesday 12th December, 2019

The students are currently exploring Advent and The Nativity. As Christmas is approaching fast, we at St Anthony's are thinking of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. We will begin with collecting donations of canned foods, cleaning products and toiletries to go towards Christmas hampers distributed by the St Vinnies team over the Christmas period. Last year we donated over 10 large boxes of goods which amounted to more than 150 items. Let's see if we can beat that target of 150 items.

Nativity Story Reflection from St Vinnies website:

Having to travel a long distance without support and with no place to stay when they arrived, Mary and Joseph faced many things that people in our community doing it tough today can relate to.

As we start to talk about and reflect on the Nativity Story some things that might be interesting to discuss with your child/ren:

Homelessness:

Although not permanently staying in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph's experience of trying to find accommodation is something that many people in our community who are experiencing homelessness can identify with.
Not being able to find accommodation as there is none available and having to choose options to keep your family safe is something many people have to consider. What could tomorrow look like?
Giving birth in a stable is not something anyone would like to experience but often people make decisions they otherwise wouldn't to keep themselves, their children or families safe.

Food:

Living in substandard accommodation or not knowing where you are going to be makes it hard to purchase, access or keep food.
Often the cost of Christmas adds pressure to people's already tight budgets causing further stress on resources such as the price of food.

Support, Community and Giving:

When the Sheppard and Three Wise Men came to visit they provided Mary and Joseph with support, gifts and community. It not only shows the importance of the birth but how we can all support those around us who may need it.
In our times of need we all need a bit of extra support and connection.

Christmas is a time to stop and reflect, to be with those most important to us and to recognise that we can all do something small to support those in our community that could use a bit of help. It is a time to spread love and understanding.

Toni Dent

Education in Faith Leader