Catholic Life and Reflection
What Staff are Learning About
Each term we celebrate staff mass together. As you can imagine we get very busy and sometimes Mass can feel like "just another thing". The comment that happens the most after staff Mass is that it was so fulfilling to sit together and be at peace. To be still in each others presence and to listen to Father's homily.
What Students are Learning About
Year Six Service Outreach
Our focus for Year Six is 'acts of service'. There's an enthusiastic group of Year 6 girls that love to do crochet and craft, and are keen to volunteer in the community. You may have seen them at the fete where they sold their creations and donated to Save the Children Gaza appeal.
They are hoping to work with elderly people or people who live with disabilities.
If you have any suggestions of where they should go, please contact stephanie.stewart@cg.catholic.edu.au
WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES FOR TERM 3!
Also if anyone has an old wooden hall table that they would like to donate I am looking for one to use as a display. Please let me know via email on stephanie.stewart@cg.catholic.edu.au
Year Two
Students in Year 2 have been learning about the word 'covenant' and how it is a sacred agreement between God and His people. They have been exploring God’s covenantal relationship with the Jewish people described in the Old Testament stories such as Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel and Abraham and Sarah.
Year 2 have then been learning about God's relationship with the Jewish people of today. They have explored the foods that some Jewish people choose to eat, in particular the Seven Sacred Species, TuBishvat and the seder meal. Students have learnt about the 'Birthday of the Trees' in a song and dance.
They have looked at some of these scriptures.
The first creation story in Genesis – Genesis 1: 1-2:4a
The second creation story in Genesis - Genesis 2:4b-25
The Covenant between God and Noah - Genesis 9:8-17
God’s Promise to Abraham and Sarah (introduction to Isaac) - Genesis 17:1-8, 15-19, 21-22
Wonderful work Year 2!
Saint of the Week by Liliana Givens
St Catherine of Bologna
By Liliana Givens
St Catherine of Bologna was born 8th of September 1413, in Bologna, Italy. Catherine died on the 9th March 1463 at the age of 49 years, in Bologna, Italy. She was beatified in 1524 and canonised in 1712 by Pope Clement XI.
Catherine grew up in Bologna and loved to paint and write about the dreams she had about Jesus and Mary. St Catherine had great love for Mary and Jesus.
She is credited with creating the first known depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a darker coloured woman, which is now housed in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. In addition to her artistic pursuits, Catherine was also known for her charitable work and her efforts to reform the convent. Despite the opportunity to live a noble life at court, St. Catherine eagerly responded to her call to lead the religious life. Her piety, charity, and kindness attracted many to follow her along the road to perfection.
Because St Catherine of Bologna had so much love for Jesus and Mary and liked to paint them she became the patron saint of art and artists. Catherine's three miracles consisted of:
- The sick and suffering were healed
- Catherine's curious fellow nuns exhumed her body 18 days after her initial burial
- Freeing her from the consecrated ground (her body was incorruptible)
In the imagery of the St Catherine, she is portrayed in the Franciscan habit, made up of a grey tunic and cloak. A black veil covers her head, a sign of her role as abbess.
I chose St Catherine of Bologna to be my saint because she loves art and was in a order of nuns called the Poor Clare's. St Catherine was loving and caring. I admire her very much, so this is why I chose her to be my saint.
Catholic Life and Reflection
The parable of the mustard seed was the scripture I chose for staff mass this week. Little did I know how good it would be to listen to a homily about growth and change.
Father Chung talked about how the seed must be broken to grow. A tiny, tiny seed cracks and sprouts and grows into a mighty tree. It must push and force its way to growth and to the ultimate height. Like the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist, we too sometimes must be split and broken to grow. Jesus was broken on the cross, only to rise again fully renewed and fully divine.
It was timely advice, as it often is when you open yourself to scripture and engage in the Eucharist.
Matthew 13:31-32
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’
God bless,
Stephanie Stewart, Religious Education Coordinator