First Reconciliation 

Please continue to keep our First Reconciliation Candidates in your prayers in the lead up to the Sacrament on the 8th of April. All of Year 3 will participate in a Retreat Day at Holy Trinity on Friday the 28th of March to ensure they are prepared for this occasion. 

TIMETABLE FOR THE SACRAMENT OF FIRST RECONCILIATION PROGRAM 2025

The Season of Lent Begins

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. As we enter the sacred season of Lent, we are invited to reflect, pray, and renew our hearts in preparation for Easter. This 40-day journey is a time for spiritual growth, self-discipline, and acts of kindness. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we deepen our relationship with God and open our hearts to His grace.

As a school community, we encourage our students to embrace this season with a spirit of compassion and generosity. Let us walk together in faith, seeking to grow in love and service to others.

Wishing you a blessed and meaningful Lent.

Project Compassion 

This Lent, our school  is proud to support Project Compassion 2025, Caritas Australia's annual initiative to help vulnerable communities create brighter futures. Through generosity, prayer, and action, we can make a real difference in the lives of those in need.

Students will learn about inspiring stories of resilience and hope while participating in fundraising activities to support this vital cause. Each class will have a Project Compassion Box in their classroom for students to bring in their donations to help support communities in need. We kindly ask that you help us work together to support this great cause. Every donation, big or small, helps transform lives.

Let’s work together to bring compassion to life this Lent! 

Help us help children like Toefuata’iga.

First Sunday in Lent, Year C  Luke 4:1-13 Jesus is Tested in the Wilderness 

The Gospel for the first Sunday in Lent recounts Jesus alone in a stark desert landscape. He personifies the journey of his own people, the Israelites, who were tested in the desert yet, in context, all relate to compromising his mission. There is an inherent subtlety at play as each lure has a certain attraction. Satan, the tempter, proposes seemingly good alternative choices to Jesus. 

The desert encounter testifies to the humanity of Jesus. It is an inevitable part of being human to struggle with the spirits of both light and darkness. The human heart is not neutral territory but instead a space that is frequently contested with our choices between good and evil. St Ignatius of Loyola clearly identified this in his spiritual practice of discernment of spirits. He noted that the devil comes to us especially in our good deeds, cloaked as an angel of light. We enter these six weeks of Lent within the backdrop of this desert scene. It is in this context that we experience a heightened sensitivity in discerning the subtle ways in which spirits of light and darkness compete for the holy ground of our hearts. We ask that we may have the clarity and strength of Jesus to remain faithful to choosing all that is anchored in and springs forth from the source of the true light. 

From God’s Word, Daily Reflections, 2025

Yours in Christ, 

Andrea McQuirk 

Religious Education Coordinator