CHURCH YEAR – Ordinary Time

We have now entered the season of the church year called ‘Ordinary Time’ which makes up most of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church (approximately 33-34 Sundays). However Ordinary Time is far from unimportant or uninteresting. It is called this because the weeks are numbered (or ordered!) It is the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent), but in watchfulness and expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. Green vestments and altar cloths are now used as they have traditionally been associated with this time after Pentecost.

NAIDOC WEEK

On Wednesday our school community celebrated our annual NAIDOC Week liturgy. A huge thank you to Mrs Orphin who helped prepare each Indigenous students acrostic poems titled ‘Heal Country’. Mrs Orphin has also been extremely busy painting 14 tree stumps (one for each class) which will be displayed in the Infants playground for yarning and quiet reflections, as well as stepping logs. We are lucky to have such a passionate advocate for our Indigenous students learning, here at St Columbkille’s. Another big thank you to Ms Patton and our school choir who performed their three pieces so beautifully at our liturgy.

Attached below are 2021 NAIDOC Celebrations for the Illawarra and the Shoalhaven areas. These will be celebrated from July 4-11, the second week of the holidays. Everyone is welcome to attend these events. 

ST COLUMBA FEAST DAY

What an amazing day was had by all (including the teachers who braved the Zoomer swing) last Friday. Our liturgy began the day with a focus on the life and prayers of St Columba. Even though he made some mistakes in his lifetime he asked for God’s forgiveness and prayed and talked to God often. Our St Columba awards were then presented to fourteen students who were very worthy of this achievement. The list of award winners has been provided previously. Then it was time for some fun with our classmates. Although it was an exhausting day the students continued to show the school rules of being respectful, responsible, and safe. Thanks to all for their organisation and participation.

CONFIRMATION

Our Confirmation evenings were wonderful celebrations for our Year 6 students and our friends from various state schools. Bishop Brian certainly speaks from the heart when acknowledging the gifts of the Holy Spirit these students will now endeavour to live out. Congratulations to all involved in the preparation of these children and we continue to keep them in our prayers as they live out their faith.

Mini Vinnies

Today our donations were dropped off to the St Vincent de Paul warehouse in Wollongong. The workers there were amazed by the generosity of our school community and asked me to pass on their heartfelt thanks. The timing of our donations could not be better as their warehouse was in short supply of many items. Thanks for continuing to be such a generous and caring community.

Mrs Joanne Herring - Religious Education Coordinator