Religious Education - Term 3 Week 3 - 2022
WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS
The Whole school focus theme for this year is ‘Do small Things with Great Love’ and the Bible reference that supports our theme for Term 3 is John 15:12
"This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.”
FOCUS ASSEMBLY
Thank you Mrs Blackwell, Mrs Williams, 5 Pearl & 5 Ivory for presenting a beautiful Focus Assembly on ‘Having a loving and understanding heart’, our theme for this term. They explained that in the bible, the heart often refers to the whole person, not just how they feel, but everything about them: how they think, how they respond to people and how they feel too. This helps us understand the people around us and respond with love. They shared a fabulous song that all the students love, ‘If I was Jesus’.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Marking National Homelessness Week 1-7 August 2022
Social Justice is alive and strong at Mother Teresa School! Last Friday Matt Wilson from St Vincent de Paul attended our assembly to accept the wonderful donations the students brought in for Pyjama Day at the end of last term.
Matt returned on Wednesday to chat with our Mini Vinnies Team to mark National Homelessness Week and shared the work that the Night Patrol Van does to support those in need in the community. He also gave the students inspiration for their next project.
St Teresa of Calcutta, Feast Day 5 September, Mini Mission Fete.
Please pray for our Year 3 teachers and students who are currently preparing for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist.
Remember to bring along the Precious memory card to Mass on the weekend. During the Mass the children will be invited to bring their memories forward and will receive a blessing.
Mass Book - Don’t forget to bring along your Mass book at the weekend to follow along during the Mass. If you didn’t collect your book over the past two weekends, it will be available in the foyer of the Church.
Fr Mark Question of the week – Please bring along your answer to Fr Mark’s question of the week. Answers should be placed in the tin in the foyer upon arrival. Winners will be drawn after communion. If you missed the question during the service, it is printed in the Bulletin. Please head to our website: holyspiritgungahlin.org.au and download the PocketParish App.
Remember to bring along Food donations for the Vinnies Pantry. These donations help feed the most vulnerable and needy in our local area. Suggestions of what to bring can be found in the back of your handbook.
Please bring your child forward for a blessing at Communion time. Ensure the child has their arms crossed on the chest so as the Priest/Eucharistic minister knows they are receiving a blessing.
Family Games Night - Saturday 20 August. Come join us for a night of fun and trivia. Family friendly event with sausage sizzle and lots of prizes for both adults and children. See the poster attached for more details.
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
7 August 2022 - Year C
“Be prepared.”
Something to Think About
If Jesus was to come into your house today, what would you say?
How would you be ready to welcome him?
The Story
There is a sense of urgency portrayed in today's gospel passage. Jesus tells the disciples to 'Be ready' and 'Keep your lamps burning'. The story tells of servants waiting for and being ready for their master's return from a wedding banquet, but then the master serves the servants which is a complete reversal of roles. This is an image of the 'hospitality of God'. The message is that we should be welcoming to others as we get ready for Jesus.
The Scriptures
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke 12:35-40
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be ready and keep your lamps burning just like those servants who wait up for their master to return from a wedding feast.
As soon as he comes and knocks, they open the door for him.
"Servants are fortunate if their master finds them awake and ready when he comes!
I promise you that he will get ready and have his servants sit down so he can serve them. Those servants are really fortunate if their master finds them ready, even though he comes late at night or early in the morning.
"You would surely not let a thief break into your home, if you knew when the thief was coming.
So always be ready!
You don't know when the Son of Man will come."
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Something to Think About
Jesus tells us to watch out and be ready. We need to constantly think about our relationships with others and be sure to treat other people with friendliness and welcome. Building up God’s kingdom in this way means we will be ready for Jesus. How can we be welcoming, friendly or helpful to people this week?
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
8th August is of particular note as she is celebrated as our first home-grown saint. The eldest of eight children, Mary was born in Melbourne to parents who had emigrated from Scotland. At seventeen she became the family breadwinner when she was employed by a paper merchant. She understood all too well the meaning of charity beginning at home as she helped raise her younger siblings and dreamed of becoming a teacher.
This dream coincided with her desire to work for God. Her faith was fierce and unambiguous, and she believed that Australia needed a group of religious women who understood the tyranny of distance. She founded, together with Father Julian Tennison Woods, an Australian order for Australian conditions, the sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She believed that where you are is exactly where God is to be found. This is a reminder that in all we do we are working for God, even if it does not always look like it. The opportunity is right in front of us. As a teacher she would have looked at her young charges in the make-do school in a barn in Penola and done her best by them. This is what you are called to do.
Mary was a wise woman who responded to the toughness of life in this land. She walked with the drover’s wife and the unmarried mother; she knew the cries of the hungry urchins without shoes and the lifelong sorrow of the disheveled man sleeping in a park; she knew about the people on the fringes of society, the downtrodden or voiceless, the ones who are invisible or ashamed, estranged, or disturbed. Like Jesus, she was not afraid to minister to the poor and in her gentleness and grace and the largesse of her sainted heart she was beloved by men and women of all colours and creeds.
Doing God’s work was not just about being good to those in the group - the baptised Catholics - but about loving every person who came her way. That is the charge of every teacher in the Catholic school - to include with love each child in front of them and to make the Good News real for their unfolding young lives.
One of Mary’s most famous quotes is: ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’. She is an Australian of which to be truly proud. She was tough and true, resourceful, and resilient, prayerful and persistent; all qualities to which others should aspire. On her tomb in Sydney are engraved the words ‘We are all but travellers here’. This reminds us that we have a lot of good to do in this life before we travel to the next!
Peace and Best Wishes.
Anne Leet
(Religious Education Co-ordinator)
