Religious Education with Mrs. Therese Skelly
EASTER – the Season of new life (April - May)
We continue to celebrate the most important Church season of Easter for the next four weeks. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection – and the NEW LIFE in heaven Jesus won for us by dying on the cross. To say "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who rose from the dead," is to say I believe that the Resurrection goes on and on forever. Just as death could not hold Jesus, we can live in the hope that death will not be the end for us.
During this Easter season, we remember that Jesus was God living among us as one of us – fully human – and that he came to show us a better way to live… with love, hope, mercy, compassion, peace and justice - even amid pain, death and sorrow. There are many recent YouTube clips of hundreds of Ukrainian Christians gathering to celebrate Easter Mass in the shadow of war. A particularly moving hymn was sung by a choir gathered to celebrate their faith in Jesus’ resurrection and a God who brings love, joy and peace even in the worst circumstances. Their faces radiated inner joy and peace as they sang ‘Alleluia. You are Lord, God Almighty’
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 38 I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans)
An Easter Prayer
Jesus, you suffered and died for me,
May I know that your rising from the dead is a sign to us
that there is life after death.
Risen Lord, you are always with me and keep calling my name,
May I hear your voice, allowing me to feel loved, blessed and cherished?
Comfort, nurture, and strengthen me.
Help me to carry your risen presence with me,
wherever I go and to whomever I meet.
Amen
Catholic Schools Week
Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is an annual celebration of Catholic education. St Mary’s joins 1755 Catholic schools nationwide to celebrate over 200 years of Catholic education in Australia.
The core purpose of Catholic education is to form our students spiritually, academically, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially, to enable them to make a meaningful contribution to the world. Catholic schools strive to empower students to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and actively strive to create a better world.
All are welcome to join us for Mass next Thursday in St Mary’s Church at 9.30am to celebrate Catholic Schools’ Week.
OUR SCHOOL MOTTO, MISSION and VALUES sum up our purpose…
Jesus Christ calls us as an inclusive community to live our faith, engage in quality learning and enrich our world for the future.
Following in the footsteps of our founders, the Sisters of Mercy, Together As One in Truth and Knowledge, we are:
Jesus’ hands - offering SERVICE to others
Jesus’ eyes - seeing the needs of others with COMPASSION
Jesus’ heart - sharing RESPECT for everyone
Jesus’ feet - walking the road of JUSTICE
Jesus’ mind - persevering and striving for EXCELLENCE
Christ Has No Body
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
