Newman News Term 1 Week 8: From the Deputy Principal Mission and Catholic Identity
Gospel for Sunday 31 March
– Luke 15: 1 – 3, 11-32
Sunday 31 March is Laetare Sunday, the halfway mark of Lent, and we pause for a breather. It is on this Sunday that our Gospel offers to us this most consoling image of God’s love in the Gospel of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 1 – 3, 11-32). “Prodigal” can mean lavish, even wasteful. We employ the term usually on the returning son, but it better depicts attitude of the boy’s father to his son.
I offer the following reflection from Fr Sean Cullen (Trust Lenten Program, Catholic Diocese of Wollongong) as we prepare for this Sunday:
This Gospel contains arguably the best known and loved story that Jesus told. Those who hear it and read it can find in it their own story. It is called the parable of the prodigal son, but could easily be called the parable of the merciful father. We can identify with all three characters in the parable. The father – who clearly represents an all loving and forgiving God – can be for us a model of selfless love. The younger brother is someone we can easily relate to, as he runs away to search for life and learns from his mistakes along the way. But it is the elder brother who we need to turn our attention to, because it was his blind-spot which Jesus was trying to highlight. The father loved both sons with all his heart, no matter what they did with their lives. Nothing they did could diminish his love for them.
As we reflect on the words of this Gospel, may we continue to be abundant, even ‘prodigal’ in the care, support and love we extend to one another.
Weekly Thursday Morning Community Mass (Champagnat Chapel – 8.10am – 8.35am)
All parents, guardians and families across our PK-12 College are invited to attend the weekly Thursday morning Mass. Our weekly Newman College Community Mass is an important way that we as a Catholic community seek to nourish and live-out our faith in community with one another.
May we return to the words of Blessed John Henry Newman as we continue our Lenten journey:
There is nothing stable
but you O my God.
And you are the centre and life of all,
who change,
who trust you as their Father.
who look to you
and are content to put themselves
into your hands. Amen.
(John Henry Newman)
Project Compassion Update
To date, our College community has raised $5893.70.
Caritas Ks
On Wednesday 27 March, the Year 8 students participated in a Caritas Ks event, where they walked in solidarity with those who walk many kilometres for water. The students participated in two activities:
- Students walked laps of the oval carrying water buckets of different sizes to understand that some people travel long distances for a minimal amount of water and that some people have to carry a heavier load.
- Students participated in a relay where they had a bucket containing 6L of water. Students had to soak a sponge and pass it down their PCG line and empty it into an empty bucket. Once they had completed the task, we measured the amount of water that they had salvaged and discussed water scarcity.
The Year 8 students worked well together to complete these activities and showed some real consideration in their answers to the discussion questions. Money is still coming in, however at this stage they have raised over $350.
24:7 Youth Group
- For all youth in Years 6-12
- St Joseph’s Subiaco every Friday 6.30pm – 8.30pm in the Parish Upper room
- Call Aidan Walsh 0487 403 456 or Angela Firth 0455 960 174 for more information
Floreat Youth Group
- St Cecilia’s Parish Centre, 47 Peebles Road, Floreat
- Every Sunday from 6.00pm – 8.00pm
- Call Sebastian on 0403230395 or Emma on 0412310019 for more information.
Slavery-free Easter Chocolate
Pope Francis said “every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.”
It is estimated that up to 40 million people are trapped in slavery globally – 1 in 4 of these are children. They will never get an education and they will never taste the chocolate produced from the cocoa beans they pick. But people around the world are making decisions that could change this tragedy.
To buy slavery-free Easter chocolate look for any of these three certification symbols on the wrappers: FAIRTRADE, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ. It’s delicious and you can buy it at ALDI, Haigh’s, Oxfam and other leading supermarkets and shops. Click here for more information and resources.
