Religious Education
All students attending St Louis de Montfort's Aspendale have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.
Our Year 3 students are currently preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Last week the students and their parents participated in a Reconciliation Workshop where Father Andrew spoke about the Sacrament of Reconciliation as one of the sacraments of healing.
Through this sacrament, we experience the forgiveness of God and the healing grace of God’s transforming love. It restores and renews our relationship with God, our families, friends and the Christian Community and is a celebration of God's love and forgiveness, which is always available to us. God wants us to be happy and to live in peace and harmony with ourselves, with one another and with all of creation.
Throughout the evening the students made peace badges, read some scripture stories about forgiveness, discussed "sunny" and "cloudy" choices and learnt that Jesus gave us the special gift of Reconciliation so that when we make poor choices and fracture our relationships, we can always say sorry and restore our relationship with others and with God. When we forgive or are forgiven we have the chance to put behind us what was
wrong and restore our relationship.
On Tuesday and Thursday the Year 3 students celebrated their class journey masses with families who were able to attend. The students prayed and sang beautifully, the children who were selected to read did an amazing job then we all enjoyed a delicious
morning tea.
On Friday students participated in a Reconciliation Reflection Day aimed at further deepening their understanding of Reconciliation and enjoyed a special sausage sizzle lunch.
This weekend, the Year 3 children and their families are invited to attend a special Commitment Mass where they pledge their commitment to receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive a prayer card with the Act of Contrition.
All these wonderful, faith-filled activities contribute to the journey students are undertaking in order to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.
However, it is very important to note that the liturgical celebration is but one element of a much broader context, namely, the constant process of forgiving and being forgiven in everyday life.
As Jesus tells us: 'Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matt 25:40-45)
In other words- how you treat other people is how you treat Jesus. Jesus calls us to show love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion in our words and actions because when we love as Jesus loves, we love Him.