Liturgy

Community Liturgy

For the diary - first Community Liturgy for 2019 will be Friday 15 February.

REGULAR COMMUNITY LITURGY

When: Fridays in Term Time
Time: 8:00-8:30am
Where: College Chapel

If you have any queries about Community Liturgy, please contact Mary-Anne Lumley:

Lumley.mary-anne@cewa.edu.au or 9383 0513.

First Reconciliation

Congratulations… to the following students in Year 3 who have recently made their First Reconciliation.

Samuel Dale

Sophia Edgley

Alice Edmondson

Nada Jackovich

Eliza Owen

Amber Vujcich

Parish News

During the Advent and Christmas seasons many families incorporate parish liturgies and other special Nativity events into their family celebrations.

Some information from local parishes below:

Do you have a child in Year 2, 3 or 5?

Children in Years 3, 4 and 6 prepare to celebrate the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation in their own ‘home’ parish. Parents are reminded that it is their right and responsibility to enroll their own child in a parish ‘Sacrament Program’.

Frequently Asked Questions

I thought the school would arrange for my child to receive the Sacrament?

Your children will definitely cover the content during religion classes: Reconciliation in Year 3, Eucharist in Year 4 and Confirmation in Year 6. The archdiocesan Sacrament Policy respects that parents are the children’s first teachers in Faith, so the program in our archdiocese is ‘family-focused, parish-based and catholic school supported.’

In simple language that means:

Catholic schools cover the religious content
Parishes celebrate the sacraments within the wider parish community
Families will have their own association with a parish, and enroll their child in the parish program

When will the sacraments be celebrated?

Each parish is different; refer to your local parish for dates and times.

I need help with this; who may I contact?

Contact your Parish Priest or Sacrament Coordinator.
Contact Mary-Anne Lumley, Parish Liaison lumley.mary-anne@johnxxiii.edu.au or 9383 0513.
Information for all parishes may be found on the archdiocesan website: http://www.perthcatholic.org.au/Parishes_and_Mass_Times.htm?cms%2Erm=List
Information from parishes will be on the College website as it becomes available.

GOOD NEWS for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

“All people shall see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:1-6)

The reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel is part of a homily by Jesuit priest, Fr Richard Leonard. Fr Richard Leonard SJ is the Director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting, is a member of the Australian Catholic Media Council and is author of Preaching to the Converted, Paulist Press, New York, 2006.

In (Sunday’s) Gospel, John the Baptist encourages his followers to be patient, as the wait for salvation will soon be over. The Israelites longed to see the day when the Messiah would come. Each generation hoped and prayed that they would be the one to witness the appearance of God's anointed. The Jewish people still hope and pray for this event in every generation.

But Jesus did not come as many expected. Some thought he would arrive in a dramatic event and the end of the world would occur. Others expected a regal entrance or a political overthrow of the Romans. Luke's Gospel repeatedly points out that the very people who longed for the day to see the Messiah missed out because they were looking for the wrong signs.

John the Baptist is the first to see Jesus for who he really is for the world. He recognises that Jesus' sacrificial love can fill our valleys, lay mountains low, make crooked paths straight and rough ways smooth.

Advent is not a season where we have to pretend that we do not know Jesus is coming and then put on mock surprise at Christmas. Advent is the season which celebrates a 'patient yes'. Every year all of us in the Church stand in a queue and remind ourselves of how blessed we are to have seen our salvation in Jesus. We remember the faith of those who longed to see what we see and to know what we know. And we cultivate our patience for life's valleys, mountains and crooked paths where sometimes we can feel Jesus' absence more than his presence, where only when we look back we can see he was with us all the way.

So, as we all wait together in line this Advent let's say yes to all that salvation holds for us: yes to God's personal love; yes to Jesus' kingdom of justice and peace; yes to every opportunity to serve the Gospel and yes to knowing that our God is a companion to us at every step of our journey, even in the most unexpected ways.