Lenten Prayer

O Lord and Master of my life!
Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother,
for Thou art blessed unto ages of ages.

Amen.

- St. Ephrem the Syrian

Lenten Season

You may have travelled to Paris and visited the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. It contains some beautiful architecture that really reveal the transcendent. One of the features of the Cathedral is its beautiful rose-stained glass windows. The beauty and colours they produce really capture the eye. The people who created these works of art were trying to expose a great spiritual truth. If you examine the windows, you will notice that at the centre is Christ and then around Christ are ordered and harmonious elements, all pointing towards the centre, towards Christ. This is what the Season of Lent is all about making Christ the centre of our lives, without competition from any other facet of our lives. He is the centre of our personal life, our family life, our social life, our work life. When this is the case everything else will be harmonious and ordered just like the rose windows of Notre Dame. Part of our College motto reminds us of this truth “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). We are at the halfway mark of Lent and it is never late to open our hearts to Our Lord. Let us pray that during this Season of Lent we continue to work on making Christ the centre of our lives.

This Saturday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Our Blessed Mother’s fiat (Let it be done) is a beautiful example of her trust and faith in the will of God even though “she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” Sometimes, in life we too are filled with moments of confusion and do not have the answers to our questions straight away. The Annunciation teaches us that offering these moments up to God will ensure that ‘thy will be done.’

Ask A Priest Session

A couple of weeks ago, students had the opportunity to attend our ‘Ask A Priest’ session during lunchtime. Fr Richard Rosse (Parish Priest, St Catherine of Siena, Caroline Springs) and Fr Joel Peart (Assistant Parish Priest, St Catherine of Siena, Caroline Springs) were our honoured guests and answered many questions our students had about our Catholic Faith. It was a wonderful opportunity to continue building upon our relationship with our priests and also grow more in knowledge and in love of Jesus Christ and our faith.

“I came to the ‘Ask A Priest’ session because at times you receive a question from people, and they want to know the answer about questions from your own religion. ‘Ask a Priest’ is an opportunity for people to ask questions and get the right answer. I see that it’s beneficial for everyone and you can learn from it. I really learn a lot of things.”

• Yacoub A (10 Lingiari)

“On Thursday 2 March we had a little session called "Ask a Priest", where there were two Catholic priests and six students, and a teacher. The students who were there decided to expand their knowledge and understanding about Jesus Christ and Christianity, or even those who had doubts and questions about the Catholic faith, asked questions to the priests, and they were answered.”

• Nadhir K (10 Kulin)

Friday 8am Mass

It has been so beautiful to witness the commitment of both staff and students attending our Friday 8am Mass. The Holy Spirit has been truly at work and many have been making an effort to come. This mass is open to all, and we strongly encourage our students and families to attend. Mass concludes at 8:25am, ensuring that there is more than ample time to get ready for Homeroom.

It is important for our students to establish and nurture a relationship with the Lord and what better way to do this than in the Holy Mass and during the Season of Lent.

Sunday Gospel Reflection

Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
Jn 11:1-45
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.