Religious Dimension
Crazy Hair Day
Camp Quality performed two engaging shows for the students last Tuesday 9 March. The Camp Quality Puppets – Kylie, Dean and Mel performed an interactive show that answered many of the students' questions about cancer. Thank you for your gold coin donations. $168 was donated to Camp Quality.
First Eucharist Reflection Day
All children celebrating the sacrament of Eucharist for the first time this year came together on Thursday 4 March to meet one another and participate in activities to deepen their understanding of sacraments, Eucharist and living Eucharist. Students and their families have begun gathering for Home Masses where Fr Dispin celebrates and explains the mass before the families share a meal together.
St John's Parish Easter Timetable 2021
Parish Lenten Penitential Celebration Wednesday 24 March, 7.30pm
Services during April:
Holy Thursday – Thurs 1 Mass of the Lord’s Supper followed by quiet prayer, 7.30pm
Good Friday – Fri 2 Stations of the Cross, 11.00am
Commemoration of the Passion, 3.00pm (in the Church)
Holy Saturday – Sat 3 Easter Vigil, 7.30pm
Easter Sunday – Sun 4 Easter Masses: 8.30am, 9.45am & 11.15am.
****Please note: NO 6.00pm Mass Saturday & NO 5.00pm Mass Easter Sunday
Saints: Heroes of the Church
Our Catholic Faith has lots of heroes whom we can admire and try to be like. We call them "saints." These are people who love God deeply and follow Jesus closely. Some of these may be people in our own family who have died and others have been chosen officially by the church - we call this "canonisation." Many saints did amazing things during their lives. Each saint has a feast day - a day on which the Church honours them. We celebrate two popular saints' feast days this week: St Patrick on 17 March, known for bringing Christianity to parts of Ireland and using the shamrock to teach the Holy Trinity and St Joseph, the father of Jesus, on 19 March.
In honour of 150th anniversary of Saint Joseph being named as patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis announced a Year of St Joseph (8 December 2020 – 8 December 2021). Joseph was courageous in taking on the responsibility of becoming the husband of Mary and the legal father of Jesus and all that those two roles entailed. As we follow Joseph in the Gospel, we see how he could turn a difficulty into a possibility with his trust in the providence of God.
In his apostolic letter (8 December 2020), Pope Francis reflected on the qualities of Saint Joseph whom he described as a strong working man, a beloved, loving father, an accepting, obedient and “creatively courageous” person. The Pope wrote: In the Gospels, St Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love.
In the eyes of the Pope, Saint Joseph is an extraordinary person who epitomises our own experiences. By reflecting on Joseph’s life, we can appreciate that God calls each of us to love freely, to accept our responsibility to welcome and serve others, to use and develop our gifts and talents, to appreciate the value and dignity of honest work, to overcome our challenges and become “courageously and firmly proactive” in our daily living. A “respectful and sensitive man,” Saint Joseph “did not look for shortcuts, but confronted reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it.”
Pope Francis encourages each one of us to imitate Joseph’s virtues and zeal as he urges us to: Discover in Joseph — the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence — an intercessor, a support and a guide.
Important Dates to Remember:
March
18 Thursday Home Mass for Bartek, 6:30pm
20 Saturday Year Four Level Mass & Eucharist Commitment Ceremony, 6:00pm
22 Monday Harmony Day at St John's
23 Tuesday Home Mass: Madison, Ellie, Joseph, Alana, Lachlan & Oliver T, 6:30pm
25 Thursday Home Mass for Lexie, Mason, Milla, Lucas & Chase, 6:30pm
28 Sunday Palm Sunday
April
1 Thursday Holy Thursday
2 Friday Good Friday
4 Sunday Easter Sunday
Monica O'Shannassy
moshannassy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au