Education in Faith

You are Invited to Become an Altar Server…

Have you ever thought about becoming an Altar Server? If not! Now it’s the time… To take this opportunity to grow in your faith, to become more active in the Mass by serving as Altar Servers and to begin a life of service to your church, our parish community, and God Himself! 

Altar Servers are young people who assist the priest and deacon during Mass. Altar Servers in the liturgy, you are much more than simple "helpers of the priest." Above all, you are servers of Jesus Christ, you are called in particular to be young friends of Jesus. 

We are here to support you and would like to invite all who have received your First Holy Communion and have a desire to serve the Lord and His people as an Altar Server to join our upcoming training sessions and to become an Altar Server of our Parish. 

Parents we need your support, please encourage your children in their faith journey…

Altar Servers training will be on:

Saturday 27th February 2021 at 3pm

Sunday 28th February 2021 at 3pm

St. Kevin’s Church Hampton Park

For any details, you may email the parish office: HamptonPark@cam.org.au or talk to either Fr Des, Fr Anil or the Altar Servers Coordinator Martin Thomas.

With a grateful heart,

Fr. Anil

A blessed candle was collected by a student for their Learning Space.

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT - YEAR B

The theme for this week is Sacrifice. 

We see Jesus transfigure in the presence of his friends Peter, James, and John.

In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus brings his friends high upon a mountain. While they are there, Jesus becomes radiant with light. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus. Peter, James, and John cannot believe their eyes. The disciples are both fascinated and frightened by the glorification of Jesus. Peter wants the moment to last forever. From a cloud comes the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Jesus’ friends are given a vision of light and hope. This vision will help them deal with Jesus’ sacrifice to suffer and die on the cross. This passage sheds light on Jesus’ divinity and the great event to come, Jesus’ victory over death.

The Gospel in our Life

Every family has special moments they remember and share again and again. In sharing these stories, the meaning and importance of these events develop and deepen over time. This is how it was with the disciples’ remembrance of Jesus’ Transfiguration. The full significance of what they saw and experienced could only be understood after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. As they told other believers about this event and recorded the story for us in the Bible, our understanding of what it means to call Jesus God's own Son has also deepened.

As you gather as a family this weekend, think about some special family memories that your family tells over and over again. Talk about why these memories are important to you. Recall that in the Bible we find many important memories about Jesus that have been recorded for us so that we can believe that Jesus is God’s Son. Think about what do we learn about Jesus from this Gospel? (He fulfills the promises God made to Israel through the Law and the prophets. God glorified Jesus in his Resurrection. Jesus is God’s Son.) 

Sacrifice and Sacrament

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the idea of sacrifice is important. The sacrifice of Jesus is the greatest sacrifice. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.

The celebration of the Eucharist makes present the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus. In the Eucharist we celebrate the memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection, become real and present in the celebration of Eucharist. The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. Through the celebration of the Eucharist, we offer our lives to God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist transforms our lives.

Scripture Discussion Starters

Who does Jesus take up the mountain with him?What happens to Jesus on the mountaintop?What does Peter say to Jesus?

What do we celebrate at Easter?

What is the greatest sacrifice?Why did Jesus die on the cross?What happens when we celebrate Eucharist?

How can Jesus’ light shine through your actions?

How can you let your light shine for the entire world to see this week?

When have you had such a great time that you wanted the moment to last forever?

Let us pray:O God, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,and the lifting of my hands as an evening sacrifice.”

Conclude holding hands and praying together The Lord’s Prayer.

Thank you 

Fr. Anil Mascarenhas met with 26 of our grade 6 students in our Community Room on Monday, 22nd February.  He invited them to take the opportunity to participate in Altar Server training sessions.  Fr. Anil and the students explore how altar serving is a special invitation to be called to serve at the Altar of God. 

These training sessions will take place over TWO sessions at St. Kevin’s Church Saturday 28th February and Sunday 29th February commencing from 3pm to 4pm. 

This will be indeed be a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in these training sessions as it will empower them to serve at our school masses.

Please remember to complete and take along with you the ‘Altar Server’ form for this meeting on Saturday.

Sacramental News

Please find below dates for our 2021 Sacramental Program. 

PS:  Please bear in mind these dates would need to be amended according to current COVID restrictions.

Rozeta Ambrose

rambrose@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au 

GRADE 5/6 SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM – 

MINI VINNIES

A group of Grade 5/6s have offered to give up some of their time on Tuesday second lunch to meet and begin the work of helping others. I would like to congratulate these students for their effort. 

Ash Wednesday last week marked the beginning of Lent. Unfortunately because of the lockdown we were unable to celebrate it as a community. Mini Vinnies have been working hard to put together project compassion boxes, decorate them in House colours and then deliver them to Learning Spaces with posters which give information about project compassion. We are hoping to collect money to help Caritas with their work throughout the world. This will also become a House competition and will be the beginning of points collected for the Community Spirit Award. In each Learning Space there are 4 project compassion boxes, one for each House. There are also 4 project compassion boxes in the office for any parents who wish to donate to their children’s House.

Each week I will share a link with you, which will help you to discover how Caritas helps people all over the world. Project Compassion is one way SFS can assist Caritas in their work. You might like to share these stories as a family. This week I am including two links: 

The first one gives you a bit of an overview of Caritas and Project Compassion  

The second link is the story of Jamila from Bangladesh

Families that would like a Project Compassion box for home are most welcome to come and collect one from the office. They will need to be returned before the end of this term.

I would like to thank our new Mini Vinnies for their enthusiasm and all their hard work! Thanks also to the SFS community for your support!!

Giuliana