Mass to Celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education

On Monday Mr Colquhoun attended the bi-centenary Mass at St John Vianney’s Co-cathedral in Fairy Meadow. 200 years of Catholic education throughout the Diocese of Wollongong, was recognised and celebrated, from its humble beginnings in a slab hut at the southern end of the village of Campbelltown to the recently opened St Francis Catholic College, Edmondson Park. We continue to be proud of our Catholic schools which give us strong messages of hope and confidence for the future. Take a moment to watch the clip on YouTube titled ‘Faith in our Future’: CEDoW celebrates 200 years of Catholic education in Australia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjp0FwhwkWM. You will see some Year 1 students from St Columbkille’s as well as students from around our Diocese. (video also posted above)

National Sorry Day / Reconciliation Week

Wednesday marked the anniversary of National Sorry Day, a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It leads us into the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27 May and 3 June.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2021 is “More Than a Word. Reconciliation Takes Action.” Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. For the Catholic Church in Australia, this week offers us a time to be fully the Church that God dreams for us – a Church in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make their own unique contribution and that contribution is joyfully received by others.

St Columbkille’s will be celebrating on Thursday 3 June with a Reconciliation Walk around the school grounds and finishing with students placing their own decorated rock into our spiritual garden. A big thanks to Mrs Orphin for helping to organise this. Uncle Kev will also be blessing our totem poles in the paddock and celebrating a smoking ceremony with our community on this day.

Confirmation Books

These books should have been returned by today. If there are any problems or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Family Mass

On Saturday 5 June at 6pm, and Sunday 6 June at 9.30am we celebrate our Family/ School/Parish Masses. We would love to see as many families there as we can, in particular our Year 6 students. Our parishioners will be invited to pray for a specific Confirmation candidate/s after receiving their prayer card. Our community continues to work together as partners in transforming our student’s faith. This Eucharistic celebration allows for this love of Jesus to exist.

World Environment Day

This day is a United Nations Environment-led global event, which takes place each year on June 5 and is celebrated by thousands of communities worldwide. Since it began in 1972, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated across the globe. Most of all, World Environment Day is a day for everyone around the world to take ownership of their environment and to actively engage in the protection of our earth. 

World Environment Day 2021 will be hosted by Pakistan, with a theme of “Ecosystem Restoration” calling us to Reimagine, Recreate, Restore.  

For too long, we have been exploiting and destroying our planet’s ecosystems. Every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch and over the last century we have destroyed  half of our wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of our coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5°C. 

Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it.

In celebrating World Environment Day, we are reminded of our call to mission in the care of God’s creation, the care of our common home. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis calls us to remember that we do not abuse or take for granted that which God has gifted us. Rather, with contemplative action, we are called to care for the earth and are clear in our response to challenge those who would use and abuse the earth’s resources indiscriminately for power, financial gain, and self-serving purposes, and proactively work towards redressing climate issues which affect the health and well-being of our earth, its creatures, and its peoples.

Recently on Earth Day the actor Alec Baldwin invited people to join Generation Restoration and on  World Environment Day this invitation is repeated for us to join and improve the well-being of people  and nature: taking action; making smart choices; and raising our voice for restoration of the planet’s  ecosystems. 

Video: Generation Restoration 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEsHJ5Elleg 

On this World Environment Day, you are invited to take a moment to pause and reflect on your own ecological journey and consider what are some deliberate, loving steps that you can make in your daily living that nurture and give life to our world.

What can you reimagine? What are you are able to recreate? What needs to be restored?

St Columbkille’s will commemorate this annual event with a liturgy celebration on Friday 4 June at 11.30am.

St Columba Feast Day

Our patron saint, St Columba, will be honoured on Wednesday 9 June during class time. Our annual St Columba Picnic Day and liturgy will be held a little later on Friday 18 June within our school premises. More details of this event will follow.

Joanne Herring - Religious Education Coordinator