What are students learning about?

Our Year 2 students are currently being introduced to the Scripture from Genesis 17: 1-8, 15-19 and 21-22.  In this scripture God makes three promises to Abraham. God promises Abraham new land, a big family, and an incredibly special blessing.  Even though Abraham had to wait a long time for God’s promises, he did fulfill all his promises to Abraham.  God promised that the whole world would be blessed through Abraham’s family. God knew that ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, people had a great big problem. That problem was sin, and it separated them from God. God knew the people He had created needed to be rescued, but there was nothing they could do to save themselves. God had a rescue mission all planned out from the very beginning, and He would use Abraham and his family to make it happen.  Below are some examples of the extraordinary work that has been happening in Year 2!  If you would like to know more about God’s three promises see the clip below.

What are staff learning about?

Each morning staff members come together to pray, meditate, and reflect.  This week Miss Sarah Collins and Ms Leticia Young have been sharing prayers and songs about Mother Teresa.  She was an incredible humanitarian and dedicated her life to helping the poor.  Mother Teresa was canonized as a saint on September 4, 2016. Pope Francis led the canonization mass, which was held in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of Catholics and pilgrims from around the world attended the canonization to celebrate Mother Teresa who was known as “the saint of the gutters” because of her charitable work with the poor.  For her unwavering commitment to aiding those most in need, Mother Teresa stands out as one of the greatest humanitarians of the twentieth century. Despite the enormous scale of her charitable activities and the millions of lives she touched, to her dying day, she held only the humblest view of her own achievements. Mother Teresa said, "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus."

Reflection

Kids have amazing memories. For instance, they may not be able to remember to put on their shoes before getting in the car to go to school, but if we promise that we’ll get some ice cream after school, you can bet it will be the first thing out of their mouths when they hop in the car.  We often make promises with the best of intentions and then…life happens. Circumstances change, our schedules get busy, and we can think of multiple reasons why following through with our promise is too hard or impossible. 

What does it mean to make a promise to ourselves or to someone else?  We make promises casually and they are sometimes made at the drop of a hat with no real intention of us keeping them. “Let’s do lunch,” “I’ll call you later,” or “I’ll be there in five minutes” are all examples of promises we might make but do not often keep.  Think about a time when you have made a promise to your kids, parents, a partner or even a colleague and not been able to keep it.  How did it make you feel?  We do not always keep our promises one hundred percent of the time.  We might start out with good intentions and try to do what we say we will do.  Sometimes we might get busy with work or life and forget about the promise we have made or perhaps we would rather be doing something else.  But there is always one person in our life who keeps his promises, God.  Like Abraham we may have to wait a while for God’s promises, but we always have faith that God will fulfill his promises to us.

God bless,

Alison Ewyk

Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)