St Joseph Feast Day - 19 March
Saint Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. He was a very good and patient man. Even though he never speaks in the Bible, Saint Joseph was a man of action. When God told him in a dream that it was okay to marry Mary, and when God told him to go to Egypt to save Jesus from Herod, Saint Joseph listened. He always obeyed God even though he did not always understand.
Through his love and care for Jesus and Mary, Saint Joseph showed his love for God. Because he trusted God, Saint Joseph allowed Him to work in his life. Trusting God can be very hard, especially when we cannot see how our story will end or why God is asking us to do something. We can pray to Saint Joseph to help us trust God just as he did.
This week classes will learn about St Joseph and celebrate with a prayer or liturgy in their classrooms. As a school, we will celebrate the Year of St Joseph in conjunction with Father’s Day in September.

Project Compassion Stories for the next 2 weeks

Fourth Week of Lent (school week beginning 15March)
Arsad, an Indonesian farmer, had no toilet in his house, so always had to walk into the forest to the open defecation area. His family was often sick, and open defecation caused many neighbourhood disputes. With the support of Caritas Australia and its partner agency, Laz Harfa, Arsad took part in hygiene, sanitation and financial management training. He then funded the building of a toilet in his house and helped other community members save money to construct their own toilet.

Now, Arsad’s family is healthier; their community no longer practices open defecation and is more harmonious. Arsad inspired his community to ‘Be More.’

• Around 17 percent of Indonesia’s rural population, or 45 million people, practise open defecation – going to the toilet outdoors in fields, forests and other open spaces. (World Bank)
• Watch a short film about Arsad’s story here.
• “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.”
• Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Fifth Week of Lent (school week beginning 22^nd March)

Halima is raising her two children in a refugee camp in Bangladesh while caring for her mother, who has a disability. Widowed at 21, Halima fled violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, arriving at the camp with nothing.
Caritas Australia, through Caritas Bangladesh, helped Halima with shelter, cooking equipment, hygiene and sanitation training. She took on the role of community trainer herself, organising the cleaning of washrooms, wells and toilets.
Halima aspired to “Be More” and is proud that she is able to earn a small income while maintaining the health of her family and the cleanliness of the camp community.

• In the Cox’s Bazar district, women and children make up 78% of the total refugee population, where 52% of children are aged 0-17. (UNHCR)
• Watch a short film about Halima’s story here.
  “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Harmony Day

Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country, and our diversity is at the heart of who we are. According to recent census data, nearly half of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was; as a nation, we identify with other 300 ancestries; since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia, and other than English, some of the most common languages spoken in Australia include Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Filipino, Hindi and Spanish.

Harmony Day is celebrated annually to recognise our Australian multiculturalism and highlights values of inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of our diverse backgrounds. We give thanks to God for this incredible diversity and pray that we will be able to work toward building God’s kingdom on earth where all are welcome and all belong.

On Monday 22 March, our school will celebrate Harmony Day with a Liturgy and class presentations. Our Harmony Day liturgy will begin at 11.15 am.

Masses
This week the school will once again join the parish on Friday mornings for the Parish Mass due to the easing of COVID19 restrictions. This Friday, Year 3 and 4 will attend the Mass at 9 am. Parents are welcome to attend weekday Masses and Sunday Masses as well. Our church can hold 197 parishioners; you no longer need to register to attend.

Weekday Masses - St Francis of Assisi Warrawong - Tuesday to Friday 9 am
Weekend Masses - St Mary of the Rosary Berkeley - Saturday 5 pm
St Francis of Assisi Warrawong - Sunday 8.30 am and 10 am.

Easter Liturgy
On Thursday 1April (Holy Thursday), Year 3 and 4 will present the Stations of the Cross. Further details will be provided as the date gets closer.

Holy Week
For the parishes of Warrawong and Berkeley, the Holy Week celebrations will be combined.

Holy Thursday will be at Warrawong.

Stations of the Cross at Berkeley on Good Friday.

Good Friday afternoon ceremony at Warrawong.

Easter Vigil (Saturday night) Warrawong.

All times and further details will be provided in the
next newsletter.