Tomorrow we will be attending the Ash Wednesday Mass as a whole school at 12pm at St Michael’s Church. Parents are very welcome to join us. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season.

Pope Francis once said that ‘Lent is a time of repentance, yes, but it is not a time of sorrow!’ 

The Pope wanted to remind Christians that Lent is a season of ‘a joyous and serious commitment to strip ourselves of our selfishness … and to renew ourselves according to the grace of our Baptism.’ Note his emphasis on it being ‘joyous. 

In one of his major teaching documents, Evangelli Gaudium, the Pope begins as follows: ‘The Joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.’ He goes on to say that ‘With Christ joy is constantly born anew.’ This is the kind of Lent we should all strive for: a joyful one. 

Later in the same document the Pope expresses concern about joyless seriousness. ‘There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter.’ 

The Pope then reminds us that ‘Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.’ Our Lent should be a time of joyful response to that love. Fasts and penances should be helping us find joy in Christ, not misery. 
After all, Jesus emerged from the desert proclaiming ‘Good News’. 

(Nick Brodie - Liturgy Help)

Lent is upon us – let's consider it a time to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ and seek inner transformation through fasting, prayer, and acts of generosity.

Meet the teacher sessions

You will receive an email asking you to pick a time slot on either Tuesday 20th February or Wednesday 21st February. This is a chance to meet with your child’s teacher and share information about your child that will assist them this year to thrive. Letting your child's teacher know things like interests and hobbies, their strengths and challenges will all be helpful information for their teacher. Grades may also send home prompts for you to consider prior to the meeting.

National Apology Day to the Stolen Generations

February 13 each year marks the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. On this day in 2008, the then Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, offered an apology to the Stolen Generations of our First Nations People. Last year, Yaama, the First Nations Community of St Matthew's, Cornubia, QLD, Catherine Connors, together with Andrew Chinn and the staff of Butterfly House combined stories and talents to create this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32H5Pxfl1qU