News from the APRE...
Next week we see the beginning of a special time in our Liturgical year with Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent.
Shrove Tuesday/ Pancake Day will be celebrated on Tuesday 5th March during the day. Our Year 6 students with the help of some volunteers will be cooking pancakes and sending around to classes for the children to share and prepare for the Lenten season. If you have a child with allergies could you please let their classroom teacher know so we can make alternative arrangements for them.
Ash Wednesday 6th March – we will be holding a Liturgy in the Church at 11.15 am and invite you all to come and join us as a school community.
What is Lent?
The name ‘Lent’ comes from an old English word meaning ‘to lengthen’. It was used to describe the 6-week period leading to Easter because in the northern hemisphere it coincided with the time when the short winter days were gradually growing longer.
Lent began as a brief period of preparation for those adults who were to be baptised at Easter. Eventually the rest of the Community showed their solidarity with the catechumens by also observing an intense period of prayer and fasting before Easter.
© Liturgy Brisbane
Lent is a time for strengthening our faith, a time to reflect on who we are and where we are going. It is a time of quietness and prayer, a time of penance and meditation, a time to become aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
What is fasting and abstinence?
Traditionally the Catholic practice of fasting meant having only one full meal a day. Smaller quantities of food may be eaten at two other meals but no food should be consumed at any other time during the day and the law of fasting only applied to people from 18 to 59 years old.
Abstinence is the practice of abstaining from the use of certain kinds of food. Everyone aged 14 years and older is bound by the law of abstinence from meat.
The practice of fasting and abstinence aims at leading us to interior conversion by making us more disciplined and more charitable. We fast in order to share our time and our treasure with an attitude of love towards God and others. In addition, the practice helps us imitate the example of Jesus who fasted for 40 days in the desert.
The ashes that are marked on our foreheads on the first day of Lent are a symbol of humility, purification and sorrow and remind us of the need to repent our failings. But we remember also that we are Easter people – that good can come out of evil, that death gives way to new life and that there is hope in the midst of despair. © Liturgy Brisbane.
During Lent we try to make a conscious effort to prepare ourselves for Easter. We can do this by increasing our prayer, helping others, fasting, giving up things we particularly like, and supporting Project Compassion.
In the spirit of renewal and conversion we observe Lent by reflecting on the central events of Jesus’ life and welcoming the opportunity to grow through changing our lives.
This is probably one of the best feel good stories so far this term and I certainly look forward to hearing some more about what the children and our families are going to do this Lent.
Project Compassion Appeal
Our compassion boxes have arrived so they will be distributed to classes next week so students and families are asked to “give a little” by placing coins in their collection box. At the end of the term and before we go on our Easter holidays, we will count all the money raised and pass it along to Caritas Australia. This year the theme is “100% Hope.”
As Pope Francis said, “Cultivate with love the seeds of goodness, beauty and truth that God sows in every new generation.”
VOLUNTEER INDUCTION
On Thursday we held our first Parent volunteer induction session and it was fabulous to see so many volunteers wanting to be a part of our school community. Thank you, ladies for your attendance and the great questions asked during our discussion. If you missed out on this opportunity, please let me know and we can arrange for another session to be scheduled.
Thank you and blessings for a great weekend,
Amanda
Prayer the week:
Lord, sometimes we are weak and give in in the face of difficulties.
Help us to be strong and to persevere.
Lord, help us to always try to finish what we start.
Lord, help us to overcome our greed and selfishness.
May God's thoughts always be in my mind,
God's words be on my lips,
God's love be in my heart.
Amen