St Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish Primary School Warrawong eNewsletter

Religious Education News

Welcome Back, Fr Damien and Happy Anniversary!
We welcome back Fr Damien from his annual leave and congratulate him on his 19th anniversary of priestly ordination, which he celebrated on Sunday 14 May.

2023 Confirmation Program

Last weekend, a number of children from our school attended either the Commitment Mass at Berkeley on Saturday night or Warrawong on Sunday to express their desire to be confirmed this year. They received their stoles and a copy of some of the prayers from our Catholic Tradition and chose someone from our parish community to be their prayer sponsor during their time of preparation. The workshops for this program began this week and will continue for another three weeks.

During this weekend’s Masses, the candidates will be presenting their ‘Candidate for Confirmation’ posters which will be displayed at St Francis of Assisi Church, Warrawong as this is where they will be confirmed in June.

On Pentecost Sunday, the following weekend, they will be presenting their acrostic poems on Pentecost.

Ascension Sunday

This weekend, our Church will celebrate the Ascension of our Lord into Heaven, which is commemorated 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection (Easter). We state our belief in the Ascension in both creeds used at Mass when we say, ‘He ascended into heaven’. Whilst the 40-day mark would technically be on a Thursday, the celebration of the Ascension is often observed on the seventh Sunday of Easter.

Celebrate Laudato Si' Week ~ 21 - 28 May
Next week is Laudato Si’ Week. Laudato Si' Week is a weeklong event marking the anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical on the care of creation. This year we are celebrating the eighth anniversary with the theme “Hope for the Earth. Hope for Humanity”.

A Prayer for our Earth
By Pope Francis

Powerful God,
You hold us and everything you have made in your loving care.
You are in the whole universe and in every tiny creature.
Pour out on us, God, the power of your love
and teach us to care for life and for beauty.
Fill us with peace so that we do not harm others,
but love them all like sisters and brothers.
God, we know that people who are poor are very special to you
and you want us to love them, too, so they are not forgotten.
We ask you to change us so that we protect your world, not destroy it.
Change the hearts of people who only care about themselves and money
instead of caring about people and the earth.
Show us how even small things matter.
Help us see that we are all connected to each other and to the earth.
We thank you, God, for being with us each day.
Fill us up with wonder and light
and help us to bring peace to our beautiful world. Amen

To view an audio-visual version of this prayer, click here

Our Lady Help of Christians

Next Wednesday, 24 May, our school will be attending the 9am parish Mass for the Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians.
The feast day of Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800s. The early Church in Australia was mostly priestless and it was largely the Rosary that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her, under the title of Help of Christians, as Principal Patron.
In the Opening Prayer for Our Lady Help of Christians, the Church prays that through Our Lady’s intercession, God will “grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens” so that “under her protection, Australia may be granted harmony, justice and peace”.

Ms Marita Maloney
Religious Education Coordinator