Welcome Back

Welcome back to the new school year.  I hope the Christmas holidays provided you with some time to relax and reconnect with family and friends.  It has been lovely to see our classrooms and playgrounds filled with children again.

Jubilee 2025 - Pilgrims of Hope
Pope Francis has proclaimed that 2025 will be a Holy Year of Jubilee, a special year of grace and conversion, involving prayer, pilgrimage and sacramental repentance, ordinarily held every 25 years. The goal of a Jubilee year is to inspire and encourage holiness of life among the faithful and therefore to strengthen the Church’s witness to God’s loving mercy in and for the world.

The spiritual theme for the 2025 Holy Year of Jubilee is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.

The Jubilee year commenced with the Opening of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024 and will conclude on Sunday 28th December, 2025.

In choosing the motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ for the Jubilee, Pope Francis noted, ‘We must fan the flame of hope that has been given to us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.’

As ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, this year is an invitation to renew our hope - a hope which comes from knowing that God loves each one of us.

Prayer
Jesus, on whom the Spirit rests,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, bringer of Good News,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, liberator of captives and all who are oppressed,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, restorer of sight,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, proclaimer of the year of the Lord’s favour,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, in whom the Scripture was fulfilled,
guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Lead us all to be signs of your hope in our world.
Amen.

The following infographic unpacks the symbolism of the Jubilee logo:

Our School Values
For the first half of this term, we are focussing on the Gospel value, ‘Respect’.

At St Francis of Assisi, we value respect because we honour the presence of God in those we meet, believing that everyone is created in the image and likeness of God.

At St Francis of Assisi, we show that we are a community that values respect by:

• using good manners
• considering how our actions affect others
• being an active listener
• responding to people’s needs
• treating all people with kindness
• appreciating the diversity of our community

National Apology to the Stolen Generation - 13 February

Next Thursday is the 17th anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generation which we will observe at school as part of our morning prayer.