Religious Life of the School

As we are halfway through the term it strikes me how busy we are as families. As a mum of four children from ages 17 to 11, finding time to spend together can be a challenge and time to pray together and individually can be even more so. There seems to be a relentless busyness between after school activities and other commitments that even sharing a meal as a family is a treasured time. Recently Pope Francis put together a special prayer intention for families. He prays that families, through their life of prayer and love be ‘schools of true human development.’ I invite you to view the video at the following link.

Pope Francis' Prayer Intention for Families Video Link

Prayer and Worship

Student-Led Christian Prayer

Each Friday this term after first break, Year 6 lead classes in prayer with a focus on the Gospel for the coming Sunday.

Liturgical Season: Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Liturgical Season Colour: Green

This week the focus is on the Gospel of Luke 13: 22 - 30.

On the way to Jerusalem, someone stopped Jesus and asked, “Master, will many be saved at the end of time?” Jesus answered, “May will try to enter the kingdom of God but few will succeed; some will leave it too late and find they have missed their chance of everlasting happiness. So take care and be ready! At the end of time, people will be called far and wide to rejoice in God’s heavenly kingdom.”

Behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

At home, we invite you to read the upcoming Gospel as a family and discuss our focus questions for the week.

1.     What are some ways that we win or come first in the games we play?

2.    What are some ways you can put the needs of our family or friends before ourselves?

Celebrating Liturgy and Sacraments

Father's Day Prayer Celebration

Father's Day celebrates and honours fathers and celebrates fatherhood, paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society. Next Friday, 30 August, Year 6 will lead the school in the Father’s Day Prayer Celebration at 9.15am in the school hall. All families and extended families are invited to our BBQ breakfast and afterwards to our Prayer Celebration as we honour and celebrate all fathers.

Did you know that Father’s Day originated with a celebration on the Feast of St Joseph, the 19th of March in Europe in the middle ages?  How blessed we are to have St Joseph as our Patron Saint and a wonderful role model.

Sacraments

Sacrament of Confirmation

Preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation commences in just over a week. Students in Year 6 can now be enrolled in the Sacrament of Confirmation at the link below. Please add the Sacrament of Confirmation and preparation session dates and times to your calendars. A reminder that the Sacrament of Confirmation will take place with Archbishop Christopher Prowse on the last Sunday of the holidays before Term 4 commences.

Please enrol at http://bit.ly/sacraments2019

If you do not have a Google account you can use your child’s school account to register. Please contact Father Paul  if you have any questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation at:

paul_nulley@hotmail.com

Confirmation Classes

(Year 6)

5.15pm in the Learning Hub followed by Mass at 6.00pm in the Church

Saturday 31 August

Saturday 7 September

Saturday 14 September

Saturday 21 September

Sacrament of Confirmation

Sunday 13 October 9am

Social Action & Justice

   Action For Justice

On Thursday 8 August, we held our St Mary Mackillop Market Day where more than half of our St Joseph’s students raised money to help build an additional toilet block for our partner school, Riamabana. The St Joseph’s community raised an outstanding total of $2444 and we are only $56 short of our goal of $2 500. Year 6 will be making and selling flavoured lip balms to raise the remaining money. Keep your eyes peeled for their pop-up shop over the coming weeks.

Religious Identity and Culture

Ethos and Charism

This year, one of our strategic priorities is to deepen our St Joseph’s identity. To deepen our St Joseph’s identify means to deepen our understanding of our Josephite Charism. The charism of the school expresses the assumptions, beliefs and values that our Christ-Centred community shares. The Charism is reflected in what is done, how it is done and who is doing it. A school communicates its distinctive identity through its ethos and charism, which find expression in its religious values, culture, rituals and practices. As we work to deepen our St Joseph’s identity I will share with you over the coming weeks some quotes from Saint Mary Mackillop, the founder of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

Evangelisation and Faith Formation

Spiritual Formation

As a Christ-Centred community, we naturally have a focus on student and staff spiritual formation. Our Year 6 students are currently participating in a series of retreat experiences in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Our staff meeting next week will focus on spiritual formation for St Joseph’s staff. As I have been preparing these spiritual formation experiences I began to wonder what spiritual formation opportunities parents have access to and if parents know where to go for their own formation. If you would like to access some formation opportunities please get in contact with me.