Sacrament of Reconciliation Program (Year 3)

 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation Program continues for Year 3.

To ensure careful preparation, attendance by the child and an accompanying parent/carer at the following four sessions is essential.

Meeting 4: Reconciliation Programme Session 3: 10th or 11th Mar,  6:30 pm in St John Vianney Co-Cathedral

Meeting 5: Reconciliation Programme Session 4: 17th or 18th Mar,  6:30 pm in St John Vianney Co-Cathedral. Sacrament of Reconciliation to follow upon completion of Meeting 5.

In order to assist the work of the Vinnies Van we are conducting a week long collection of designated food items. Each class has been given a particular item to bring in. These items are essential for the van to continue to operate in the capacity that it does, assisting our brothers and sisters in need. All items are to be brought into the classroom by Friday 12 March 2021. Ring pull cans are appreciated.

 

 

 

THE FEAST OF ST JOSEPH

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

19 March

Pope Francis, to mark the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, has dedicated most of this year to St Joseph, whose feast day is 19 March.

In a new Apostolic Letter entitled Patris corde (with a Father’s Heart) described St Joseph as a beloved and loving father, an obedient and accepting father, a creatively courageous and a working father, and also a father in the shadows.

'Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust.'

Pope Francis said his desire to share some personal reflections about St Joseph increased during the months of pandemic when it became apparent 'our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked.'

In paying tribute to the doctors, nurses, essential workers, caregivers and others who did not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines but continued to care and work for others, Pope Francis invoked the care by St Joseph of the Holy Family.

'Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. St Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.'

'Saint Joseph was a carpenter who earned an honest living to provide for his family. From him, Jesus learned the value, the dignity and the joy of what it means to eat bread that is the fruit of one’s own labour.'

In our own day, when employment has once more become a burning social issue, and unemployment at times reaches record levels even in nations that for decades have enjoyed a certain degree of prosperity, there is renewed need to appreciate the importance of dignified work, of which St Joseph is an exemplary patron.

Pope Francis called on us all to implore St Joseph the Worker to help us find ways to express our firm conviction that no young person, no person at all, no family should be without work.

Let us now make our prayer to him:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son;

in you Mary placed her trust;

with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,

show yourself a father

and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,

and defend us from every evil.

Amen.