RE News
Dear Families,
It feels like yesterday when I wished you all a happy holiday break and now, we are well and truly back into learning! This week we head into a most special time in the Church calendar, the season of Lent.
The Church Calendar
The Church has many seasons and indeed there is a liturgical calendar which begins every Advent. The calendar is on a three-year cycle ~ Years A, B and C.
Each Year highlights the readings of a particular gospel writer. This year we are in Year A and the gospel readings are from
Matthew.
Just for your interest and reference, I have included visual for you to demonstrate what the church calendar looks like. During mass, you might notice that the priest will wear a chasuble to correspond with the seasons. During Lent, Fr Manny will wear a purple vestment. You may also notice colours in the church matching the colours represented by each liturgical season.
In our classrooms, we learn about the various seasons of the Church year and we add different coloured cloths to our prayer tables to match the seasons.
On Ash Wednesday, the students put a purple cloth on their prayer table and this will remain from now until Easter Sunday when we will change it to white or gold for the season of Easter.
The Season of Lent
As I mentioned we have now entered the season of Lent which has its beginning on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is a time for us to commit to this period of preparation with gentle reflection.
As a school (minus our gorgeous Preps, who are yet to commence coming on a Wednesday) we went to Mass to commemorate Ash Wednesday and receive the ashes from the burnt palms of last Palm Sunday. These ashes are placed on our foreheads in the sign of a cross. The ashes remind us that people came into the world from dust and will leave this earth in the same way. It is therefore very important what we do, during our time on this earth to help make our world a better place for all people and for creation. By displaying the ashes we received, we are also indicating our willingness to make up for the times we have neglected to “Make Jesus Real” in our world and in the lives of others and are recommitting to try again to do this during Lent. The experience of self-sacrifice and giving really strengthens our character and makes the experience of sharing in the resurrection of Jesus at Easter more powerful and meaningful to all of us.
As a school (minus our gorgeous Preps, who are yet to commence coming on a Wednesday) we went to Mass to commemorate Ash Wednesday and receive the ashes from the burnt palms of last Palm Sunday. These ashes are placed on our foreheads in the sign of a cross. The ashes remind us that people came into the world from dust and will leave this earth in the same way. It is therefore very important what we do, during our time on this earth to help make our world a better place for all people and for creation. By displaying the ashes we received, we are also indicating our willingness to make up for the times we have neglected to “Make Jesus Real” in our world and in the lives of others and are recommitting to try again to do this during Lent. The experience of self-sacrifice and giving really strengthens our character and makes the experience of sharing in the resurrection of Jesus at Easter more powerful and meaningful to all of us.
You may find that the children come home talking about raising money for Project Compassion, which is a campaign run throughout Lent by Caritas, a charitable organization that supports people in poorer countries to become self-sufficient by helping them build wells, develop irrigation and grow crops and begin small businesses with some assistance. We have encouraged the students to do extra chores at home or for relatives and friends to earn some money to donate to this worthwhile organization throughout Lent.
Wishing you all God’s Blessings
Pauline Turnbull REL