The celebrations for Catholic Education Week ended with today's mass with the whole school and an afternoon of student-led fundraising. Next week's newsletter will include an  overview of today's event. We appreciate your participation in and support of the events this week. All students deserve praise for their agency, initiative, passion, and dedication to cooperating, sharing, and creating spaces for encounter.

The following student leaders spoke to the parishioners last weekend on their educational experiences and their knowledge of Catholic Education Week. Last weekend, the students confidently addressed parishioners during the 6 p.m. Saturday and 7.30 a.m. Parish masses. We appreciate these students and their families taking the time to attend mass and share their ideas.

Our names are Annabelle, Ethan, Adiel, Ruben, Marielle and Sienna and we are from Mary MacKillop Primary School. One of the Parish schools of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Narre Warren.  We would like to share with you a special event that will be celebrated across all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale. It is Catholic Education Week.

It is a week that is celebrated by all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale. This year the theme is “Go out into the world and spread the Good News to all creation”, encouraging us as members of a school community to enact a vision for a better world, one where people can live in harmony with each other and with the environment, in response to the call of Pope Francis.”

Our schools are currently living this call in many ways. The spirit of Jesus is present in every Catholic school community spanning across south east Victoria from Narre Warren and Cranbourne in the west, Wonthaggi and Philip Island in the south, to Orbost in the east.  There are 38 Primary Catholic schools and 7 Secondary Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale.  There really is a lot to celebrate isn’t there?  

Well, we would like to share a few things about what we enjoy about MMPS.

Adiel: What I enjoy about MMPS is that I really feel a part of the School Community with both my classmates and teachers.

Ethan: What I enjoy about MMPS is all the kindness people show towards each other while learning and in the schoolyard. In Mary Mac people show all of the Mary MacKillop school values every day of the week and we show that through our learning awards.

Sienna: What I enjoy is being surrounded by people and teachers who care and follow in the values of Mary MacKillop.

Marielle: I enjoy how Mary MacKillop produces and lets us experience our catholic faith journey with a whole heap of inclusivity and support towards one another.

Annabelle: At Mary MacKillop, I enjoy the fact that we all work in harmony with God. I also enjoy all of the prayer spaces and sacred areas around our school.

Ruben: I enjoy how the teachers don’t just tell us about God but demonstrate how to follow In God's and Jesus’ footsteps while teaching and showing us important values for our life. 

Caritas Australia would like to THANK YOU for supporting Project Compassion 2023. Your generosity will empower the world’s most vulnerable communities to grow stronger and lift themselves out of poverty. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow For All Future Generations.The total amount raised through the classroom Project Compassion boxes during Term 1 was $679.00 Thank you for your generous support!

National Sorry Day is held on the 26th May each year. National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. We deepen our knowledge of Australia by learning about the world’s oldest continuous living cultures. Together we pray -

Holy God,

you meet us in quiet gardens and wild places,

in busy streets and wide-open spaces;

all creation hums with life!

May Australia’s First Nations Peoples continue to thrive,

and – having remembered the sacred earth again –

may we all grow in love, respect and harmony

with the people and places we call home,

for the sake of all future generations.

Amen.

Pentecost Sunday, Cycle A

Sunday, May 28, 2023

John 20:19-23
Jesus appears to his disciples and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Season of Easter concludes with next Sunday’s celebration, the Feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. The story of Pentecost is found in the Acts of the Apostles, first scripture reading in next Sunday’s liturgy. The account in the Gospel, John 20:19-23, recounts how Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. Jesus greeted the disciples with “Peace be with you. Jesus gave the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit to help them spread his message of peace and forgiveness.