Education in Faith
R.E.
St. Patrick's Day
On Friday the 15th of March, the Social Justice leaders of Galilee and School Captains went to the St. Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral followed by the Catholic Education Week celebrations in the Treasury Gardens. It was a wonderful to see the students engaged in the Mass especially as Galilee was acknowledged for celebrating 25 years. The students were fortunate enough to have a photo taken with Archbishop Comensoli.
Reconciliation Reflection Day
On Monday the 18th of March the Year Three students and several candidates from our local community met at Galilee to partake in their Reconciliation Reflection Day. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the sacraments of healing and restoration. It celebrates the endlessly forgiving mercy of God and the change of heart of all those who turn back to God after sin.
The students had a lovely day and enjoyed sharing the morning with Fr. Dean. They visited StsPP church where Fr. Dean explained the Stations of the Cross. The students studied each station saying a communal prayer after each station. Back at school Fr. Dean answered all questions the students had, then role played what the actual Sacrament would look like. The students then took part in three rotations with their teachers. They studied the parable of the Prodigal Son, made Reconciliation craft and wrote a sorry prayer after discussing what it feels like to forgive and be forgiven. The day concluded with a blessing from Fr. Dean.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation
We would like to congratulate our Year 3 students preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the end of this term. We will witness many of the cohort participate in the Sacrament on Tuesday evening April 2nd at Sts Peter and Paul at 7pm and we are excited to be able to witness the remaining students receive the Sacrament on Wednesday night April 3rd at Our Lady of Mount Carmel at 7pm. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents, teachers, Religious Education Leader, Parish educators and Parish Priests for preparing the students to receive this special sacrament of healing.
Project Compassion
The Project Compassion Lenten story from Caritas Australia this week is:
MICHAELA FROM ALICE SPRINGS, AUSTRALIA
Twenty-one year-old Michaela is helping to build a social enterprise for people with chronic illnesses at The Purple House in Alice Springs. Featured in Project Compassion 2014, the First Australian-run Wellbeing Program, uses its profits to connect and care for dialysis patients who are far from home.
As a Purple House trainee, Michaela completed a Certificate IV in business management. She was also recently promoted from administration trainee to permanent employee, working on The Wellbeing Program.
The young Alywarr woman cares for patients as they receive dialysis and helps them to feel at home and remain hopeful during treatment. Patients in turn pass on traditional knowledge to Michaela.
The program is run by the Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation, with support from Caritas Australia.
First Australians are twice as likely to experience chronic kidney disease, and four times more likely to die from it than other Australians*.
With the help of staff like Michaela, the Aboriginal-controlled service gives patients the opportunity to stay connected with their culture. They do this through traditional healing practices and income-generating activities, such as making bush balms and soaps.
Profits are invested back into supporting patients receiving remote care and help to get people on dialysis back on country.
In addition to completing her studies, Michaela has obtained a driver’s licence, is building her leadership skills running workshops solo.
“Hope means having something to look forward to. I enjoy building relationships with the patients and learning from them. If we keep our culture alive we can feel strong.”
Next week will be the last week for collections for Caritas Project Compassion. Caritas Australia’s annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australians together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.
To see the difference Caritas is making for Michaela and her community please see the video below:
https://lent.caritas.org.au/page/week-4
Happy Holy Week and Easter
In the school holidays we will be celebrating Holy Week and Easter. This is the most important week in the life of all Christians. It commences with Palm Sunday (April 14) when Jesus rode on a donkey triumphantly into Jerusalem with the people praising, saying: ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!’ We remember The Last Supper on Holy Thursday where Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his twelve apostles. It is a sombre commemoration when we remember the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday when He who was sinless took all the sin and suffering of humanity on himself so that we could come into a new and personal covenant with God our loving Father. We celebrate with great joy the Resurrection of our saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, on Easter Sunday, filled with the hope of eternal life, love, peace and freedom. May you and your family be especially blessed this Easter with all the goodness that comes from God.
