Sacrament of Confirmation

Before enrolling in the Sacrament of Confirmation, children must have been baptised in the Catholic Church and have received the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist.   PARENT FORMATION NIGHT (Parents only) TONIGHT Thursday, July 25th and Wednesday, July 31st, 2024.   Arrive at 6.45pm for a 7pm start Our Lady Help of Christians Parish Centre A $50 levy is payable via CDF online at https:// olhc.cdfpay.org.au. Making a payment through CDF confirms your participation in the Parent Formation Night. CDF Payment is open and will close on Monday, June 17, 2024, at 10:00am, and Friday, July 2, 2024, at 10:00am.  For all enquiries, please contact our Sacrament Coordinator, Vea, by phone (03) 9704 7935 or email sacrament@olhc.org.au

Sacrament of First Eucharist

Congratulations to the following students receiving the Sacrament of First Communion during Parish Masses last weekend:

Liam in 4FW, Jocelyn in 4FW, Eva in 4CM & Caleb in 4CM

28 July: 4th World Day of Grandparents 

This weekend's parish masses will feature contributions from the three parish schools toward a collection of cards intended for grandparents. This weekend, during mass, these will be distributed. As the church year commemorates the Feast Day of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus' grandparents, we are grateful to the students in our school  who made the heartfelt cards and messages. Please read a message of his holiness Pope Francis for the IV World Day for Grandparents and the elderly:

A Blessing Prayer for Grandparents by Greg Sunter

God of all the generations

Your gift of faith and gift of love have been handed down to us

through parents, grandparents and great-grandparents

for all of time.

Look with favour on all our grandparents and bless them.

Bless their eyes that look on us with love and affection.

Bless their ears that listen to our questions and our stories.

Bless their knees and laps we sit on.

Bless their arms that hold us and their hands that help us.

Bless their legs that walk beside us.

Bless their hearts that swell with pride for us.

And bless their faces that bring us joy.

Bless them and keep them as they bless and keep us.

We make this prayer through Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

Amen.

Masses and Reconciliation celebrations

Parents and friends are welcome to join students when celebrating mass or reconciliation celebrations. Please refer to the Term 3 schedule. below:

The Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Our Feast Day celebrations are fast approaching. A letter has been sent to families outlining the forthcoming activities celebrating the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.  

A School Family Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Saturday 3rd August 2024 at 6.00pm. Students and families are invited to attend. It would be wonderful to see many of our school families at this Parish mass time. Students and their families are welcome to take an active role in the mass by being part of the Offertory procession, reading a prayer of the faithful or joining in a school choir. If you are interested please email lprivitera@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au  A few families have sent in their expression of interest – a few more students are needed to read, be part of the choir and the Offertory procession. Send an email to secure your role!

Our whole school Mass will be celebrated on Thursday 8th August beginning at 9.00am in Allen Hall. A family is invited to be part of the Offertory Procession during our school mass on Thursday 8th August. Please email lprivitera@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au if your family will be attending the school mass on this day and would like to participate in the Offertory Procession. 

Further Feast Day activities are listed on the letter sent to families last Friday.

Project Compassion

Project Compassion 2024 has wrapped up for another year, and extend gratitude for the incredible commitment and compassion demonstrated by our school throughout Lent. Project Compassion 2024 has raised an astounding $9.7 million to help vulnerable communities globally. Our school has played a vital role in fostering hope, standing in solidarity and acting as a beacon of hope, for all future generations to come.

As a token of the organisation's  heartfelt appreciation, a Certificate of Appreciation is attached. This certificate is a small way to acknowledge the significant contributions our school has made towards creating a more just and compassionate world.

The Project Compassion organsiers express their sincere thanks for our active participation in Project Compassion 2024.

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Sunday, July 28, 2024

In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples to help him do a wonderful thing. But the disciples don’t think they can help Jesus do this.

Seeing the crowd approaching him, what did Jesus want to do? What did Philip answer when Jesus asked where they could buy food?  What did the disciple Andrew tell Jesus? Did Jesus think that this was enough? 

Jesus gave thanks to God for the food that was given to him and fed more than 5,000 people. All the people ate and had their fill. Then what did Jesus tell his disciples to do? Jesus accepted the contribution of food that was given to him, and this small offering became more than enough to feed the crowd.

This miracle teaches us about the great gift we receive in the Eucharist, when the gifts of bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. When the bread and wine are offered at Mass, we offer ourselves as well, giving thanks to God for all that we have been given. God has given us many gifts to share and can do amazing things when we offer these gifts in service to others.

Our Lady Help of Christians Parish Information

• Parish 2024 Sacramental Booklet Link - https://olhc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Sacrament-Program-Booklet-2024-A4.pdf
• Parish Bulletin Link - https://olhc.org.au/parish-bulletin/
• Our Lady Help of Christian Website - https://olhc.org.au/