John XXIII College Newsletter

Liturgy

Community Mass

Thank you to Year 10 students who prepared this morning’s Community Mass. 

 

November is the month in which the Church especially remembers and prays for ‘all souls’ – our loved ones for whom ‘life is changed, not ended’. We will especially remember our beloved dead at Community Masses during November. 

 

Next Friday, alumni from Loreto and St Louis as well as John XXIII are especially welcome to attend Community Mass as we remember former friends who have died.  Thank you to the alumni who are preparing next Friday’s liturgy. All families in the College and all alumni are always welcome to come along to Community Mass and to continue the fellowship in the Circle of Friends Café.

 

Community Mass details

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

Sacrament Program

Parents with students in Years 2, 3 and 5

Parishes are now planning for celebrations of the sacraments in 2022. Parents are encouraged to enrol their child in their ‘home’ parish once enrolments open. 

 

Subiaco

Enrolment information and contact details for the Sacrament Coordinator may be found here

 

If you would like further information about the Sacrament Program:

Good News for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

‘This poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed’

 Mark 12:38-44

 

University of Notre Dame’s Joe Tedesco gives us the reflection for this week’s Gospel. Joe has been involved in tutoring and teaching theology for over ten years at the University of Notre Dame Australia and at the Centre for Faith Enrichment. 

 

When we look at the Gospel reading, there is something going on that is eye catching – at least it is to Jesus. The Gospel talks of Jesus spotting a woman who put a small amount into the temple treasury (probably a collection receptacle where people contributed to the temple upkeep). Like any given day at the Jewish people’s most sacred place, she was one of many who were doing likewise. The difference was that hers was a particularly small amount – especially so in contrast to the rich who’s offerings were particularly large. 

 

It is possible that Jesus could have mentioned the event to anybody. Commonly in Mark there is always a crowd nearby which Jesus addresses and interacts with. We have heard Jesus address ‘the crowd’ or the ‘many followers’ right through this liturgical year of Mark.

 

However, this time, Jesus draws his disciples over and gives them a distinct teaching. When Jesus calls his disciples over, especially so in Mark, it is often for notably important instruction; something that deserves particular focus and is especially necessary for those who wish to live a life as Christ’s followers. As such, this invitation to the disciples to reflect on the example of this woman is also made to us, and if we are paying attention it leaves us in a dynamic state. A choice is before us… the conclusion is being left to us. We can simply admire the woman, cheer her on from a safe distance and remain one of the crowd. Or, on the other hand, we can do what Jesus is in fact implying by drawing attention to the woman in the first place – we can do likewise. It is not a show to watch and admire, but a way of life we are being asked to emulate. 

 

This point may seem obvious. Of course the woman is acting as an exemplar and a model for would be listeners. Perhaps it is obvious, but how often do we view such a scene with distant admiration rather than embodied actualisation? Though it may not seem overt, there is an open invitation here that goes unsaid. Not only to watch and admire, but to follow and do. Jesus is not only asking us to ‘watch the show’, but to join the activity. It will be challenging and it might take us out of our comfort zone. In a nutshell, it will be ‘substantial’. That is what Christianity entails – giving of our substance.

 

Tedesco, Joe. "32nd Ordinary Sunday - 7 November 2021." Pastoral Liturgy 51, no. 3 (2021): 1-5. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/pastoral-liturgy/vol51/iss3/31