Religious Education News
Jessica Earle
Religious Education Leader
Happy Easter Season everyone! Congratulations to our St Mary’s students for putting on a successful Passion Play Liturgy in the last week of Term 1 - it was moving and special!
Key Liturgical Dates Term 2
At St Mary’s we have some important liturgical dates coming up - please note these down for your calendar in Term 2:
Sun 30th April - Junior School Mass 5:30pm
Fri 12th May - Whole School Mass (Mother’s & Special Friends) 9.15am
Thurs 18th May - First Eucharist Family Faith Night (Year 4) 6:00pm
Sun 28th May - First Eucharist Preparation Mass 5:30pm
Thur 22nd June - Sacrament of First Eucharist (Year 4) 6:00pm
As the primary sharers of faith in your family we strongly encourage you to come along and support the students and community in prayer at these services.
Junior School Mass This Sunday
Our Year Prep, One and Two students will be leading the readings and taking up the gifts at the Mass this Sunday. We encourage families to take this opportunity to gather after Mass for a picnic or social time in the park. We hope
This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday - we pray especially for priests, bishops, religious and consecrated people at this time. It is also the beginning of vocations week where we are encouraged to pray for our seminarians and those who are studying to become priests and consecrated religious.
Eucharist - Making First Eucharist
Students in Year 4 (or above) who are baptised, have been catechised in making the sacrament of Reconciliation are now able to prepare for their First Eucharist. If you would like your child to receive their First Eucharist this year please let us know via the form which will be sent out during the week. If your child is not in Year Four but is in a year above and would like to receive this sacrament or be prepared for sacraments please contact jes.earle@smstkildaeast.catholic.edu.au and Ms Earle will liaise with you.
Project Compassion Boxes
It is now time to start handing in your small project compassion boxes - please bring these back to school or drop these off at the Parish. I am pleased to be able to announce that we have so far raised enough to purchase 46 much needed chickens for Zimbabwe as part of our ‘Chickitas’ campaign. These chickens will be a source of protein, eggs and ongoing resource for those in great need.
Here is a mathematical equation for you:
If $7 raised money purchases a chicken for Zimbabwe and we have raised enough money to buy 46 chickens for the farm - how much money have we raised for Project Compassion so far?
Our Social Justice and Faith Leaders have set us the challenge to raise enough money to provide 100 chickens to the farm - Let’s see how we go!
Vocations Week
This week is vocations week. We pray for all those in our community who are priests and religious, especially Fr Jerome Santamaria at this time. This is also a time to pray for those who are discerning religious life or contemplating holy orders.
Below is a prayer for vocations:
Sunday is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Pope Francis tells us:
There can be no greater joy than to risk one’s life for the Lord! I would like to say this especially to you, the young. Do not be deaf to the Lord’s call. If he calls you to follow this path, do not pull your oars into the boat, but trust him.
Let us pray for the young people in our community, and in our families and circle of friends. May our prayers help them to be open to the Lord’s call to consecrated life or priesthood. AMEN
Easter Season
The Easter Season goes for 50 days and is a period of time when we celebrate Christ’s rising from the dead and coming to visit His disciples until the period when He Ascended into Heaven.
In the front office you will see some images and excerpts of scripture which could be used as a Lectio Divina (this is a prayer with the Divine Word). Attached is a PDF of these images which you can place on your family meal table to pray with together each week. Each image is accompanied by scripture on the following page: