RESPECT - for our Environment

Tomorrow, St Mary’s will help to ‘Clean Up Australia.’ This annual event reminds us of our responsibility to respect God’s gift of creation. From the beginning of time, human beings have been tasked with being the ‘keepers of creation’.

‘So God created humankind in his image… God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ (Book of Genesis, New Testament)

The words subdue and dominion, do NOT mean that humans have the right to overpower the earth for their own ends. The author of Genesis was referring to stewardship. Our planet is fragile, and it is Humankind’s role to care for it.

The two Genesis stories of Creation are not historical, scientific truths but, rather, deep religious truths about God, the meaning and purpose of the cosmos and the role of humanity. They are Sacred Myths. God said… And God saw that it was GOOD’.  Catholics believe that although the world was not created in six ‘24-hour days’, the creation stories reveal to us these divine and sacred truths:

• All of creation stems from an original act of God. God said ‘Let there be … light, day, night, sun, stars, moon, land, sea, nature, creatures and humankind…’
• God intended creation to be GOOD (‘And God saw that it was good’ – this phrase is repeated 6 times in Genesis 1)
• God placed the responsibility of managing it and caring for it on humankind.

Human beings are ‘made in God’s image’; and each one has a spirit, the capacity to love, a conscience and unbound intelligence. The Catholic Church teaches that all humans have a responsibility to the land and all living beings, including fellow humans.

PROJECT COMPASSION

The theme for Project Compassion in 2025 is Unite Against Poverty. Our school community will unite to help provide change for those living in poverty. 

LENT- A TIME TO REMEMBER GOD’S LOVE FOR US

This week we commence the season of Lent, which is for 40 days and culminates with the Easter celebration. Easter will soon be upon us and it is meant to be a joyful time when we celebrate God’s love for us.

In these troubling times, it is sometimes difficult to remember just how much God personally loves each one of us. Where is God when we are suffering? Where is God in what is happening to Australia with natural disasters? Where is God in the war torn countries? God certainly isn’t the cause of any suffering …but we may wonder, if God truly loves us, why doesn’t He intervene?

Well… just imagine if He did. If God took away our free will and ‘fixed’ all of our bad choices, and intervened and stopped all suffering, there would be no such thing as compassion, empathy, forgiveness, courage, tolerance, patience, mercy, justice … all of the things which make humanity beautiful. There would be no need for any of these in a perfect world! We would also have no sense of responsibility, no sense of empathy or the joy that comes from giving, no deep relationships built on shared joys and sufferings.

Jesus (God born into our world as the perfect human) displayed all of the best human qualities. Yet even He suffered by being crucified for our sins. God knows first-hand about our suffering! Jesus’ crucifixion shows us that even in the midst of suffering, God’s love is ever-present. Jesus died because of God’s love for us. And Jesus’ death showed that life and love ultimately triumph over suffering and death. Just as Jesus rose to new life, God promises us life after death.

During the season of Lent, May we take time to really know this in our hearts…

• God loved us into being.
• We are God’s most precious creation.
• God never stops loving us... regardless of what we do or even whether we love Him back!
• We are unconditionally and eternally loved every minute of every day
• Even through human pain and suffering, there is God’s love

PRAY - Your way through Your day… Say a little prayer whenever someone or something makes life difficult; when someone does you a favour; when you experience great service; or when something joyful happens—you will soon find yourself praying your way through the day. This habit will make you aware of God’s constant presence in your life and bring you peace.

We may not be able to physically attend Mass, but the Scriptures are a great way to pray and reflect on God’s loving presence in our lives. The following link will take you to Mass online as well as other online spiritual reflection tools:

GIVE - GIVE of Yourself as Jesus did.

Weave moments of service into even the busiest moments of your daily life. In this way you open your heart to God. Listen to others. Reach out in kindness. Help someone. Give encouragement to the doubting. Give praise to the insecure. Be kind to someone who could use a friend. Give thanks to those whose services often go unappreciated. Give attention to someone who simply wants to be noticed. Smile at everyone you meet.

FAST - Have you ‘fasted’ this Lent?

Fast every day from… self-doubt, intolerance, impatience, criticism, gossip, judging others, or passing on rumours?

SACARMENTS