No 77 Term SPREADING GOOD NEWS

Transcription

1 No 77 Term SPREADING GOOD NEWS God of all blessings, you revealed in Mary MacKillop a sensitivity to the rights and dignity of every person, regardless of race or creed. May we learn from her to overcome the obstacles of prejudice and fear. Help us to value the goodness of each person and all the blessings of unity in diversity. We ask this through the depth and unity of you, our bountiful God, who holds all things in being. Amen Sisters of Saint Joseph, North Sydney, Australia

2 CELEBRATING SRE My dear SRE Teachers and Assistants, We are beginning the fourth term and coming to the great month of October. I hope you have enjoyed the break. The weather has be delightful and I have been walking and found the neighbours gardens filled with Spring colours. I had a few trips through the country, here to Coonabarabran, Mudgee, Orange Bathurst, Newcastle and Sydney and have enjoyed looking at the wonderful colours of the countryside, everything refreshed from the rain, the new foals and many baby lambs. What a joy! FAREWELL I was invited to attend Mrs Mary Smith s farewell gathering at Newcastle. The Dunedoo, Coolah folk will remember Mary from her visit earlier this year where she presented the training day with Zofia. Mary decided to finish up in the SRE ministry at the end of last term. Mary made a significant contribution to the ministry of the life of the church in the Maitland/Newcastle Diocese and I had the great pleasure of meeting and working with Mary during the last three years both at the ICCOREIS and CCRESS gatherings. Thank you Mary. I took the opportunity to go to Sydney for the Celebration of Special Religious Education held at the NSW Department of Education and Training Centre. It was catered for by ICCOREIS with about 200 people in attendance, mostly from Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle areas. The most heartening thing about the afternoon was the number of SRE Teachers and Assistants who attended the gathering. I sat behind a cheery group, not sure where they were from, but their enthusiasm for SRE was infectious. The minister for Education, the Honourable Verity Firth MP, was in attendance and spoke. She assured all that SRE will continue in the Government schools. She listened well to the other speakers and answered a number of questions and responded well to His Eminence George Cardinal Pell who quoted sections of the Rawlinson Report, Religion in Education in NSW Government Schools She thanked the many volunteers confirming that NSW schools have been enriched by the contribution of religious education. She said about the Ethics trial, No decision will be made by the Government until the evaluation has been fully reviewed and consultation has occurred. Mrs Ann Maree Whenman, Chairperson for ICCOREIS, spoke welcoming everyone and especially highlighted the value of the volunteers who teach Special Religious Education. She recognised their commitment and thanked them for their dedication. Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen was not in attendance but left a power point presentation. He spoke of his appreciation of the many years SRE, Scripture has been taught in Government schools, 130 years and thanked the SRE Teachers. Other speakers were the Representative from the Islamic Council of NSW, Mr Khaled Sukkarieh, the President of NSW Jewish Board of Studies, Mr Yair Miller, Mr David Hutt from the Australian Christian Lobby and Rt Rev Ray Smith from the Anglican Church. Following the addresses by the Religious Leaders, more than two thousand hand-written

3 and typed statements of support for SRE were presented to the Minister by Anglican Bishop Ray Smith on behalf of the people of NSW. The most Reverend Peter Ingham DD, Bishop of Wollongong, Spokesperson for NSW Catholic Bishops on Special Religious Education (SRE) was in attendance for this celebration. Mr Adrian Piccoli was invited but did not attend. Sydney on the 21 st September had to be postponed. The planning committee are looking at May 2011 as a possible time to hold the meeting. We will have to wait until then to be presented with the results of the survey we did throughout the diocese last June. ETHICS There are a number of articles to read on website. The submission has been presented to the NSW Department of Education and Training. The evaluation of the Ethics Trial will be released sometime towards the end of October. CODe of CONDUCT CANONISATION OF MARY MACKILLOP I was fortunate to be asked by the Sisters of St. Joseph at Perthville to work with the Parish of St. Brigid s Dubbo with the display of the travelling exhibition of memorabilia of Mary Mackillop, Father Julian Edmund Tennison Woods and their pioneering work in education. The display included the history of the Black Sisters of St Joseph in the Diocese of Bathurst, their arrival and the many communities where they worked and are still working. I know many of you have had the opportunity to visit this travelling exhibition as it has travelled throughout the Diocese. Blessed Mary MacKillop s canonisation on the 17 th of October will be a momentous occasion for each one of us. For those who are travelling to Rome be safe and enjoy the occasion. For us at home, some of the churches are using the big screens to show the celebration Mass and for those at home we share this celebration together from our television. Watch the programs guides for this information. Risk Management... SRE Teachers/Assistants All SRE Teachers/Assistants should be aware of risks that arise in the school and take steps to minimise and/or eliminate those risks. Examples might include: the danger of boiling water, if taking a class in the Staff room; the danger of students being hurt by falling equipment, if taking a class in an equipment room; sunburn, if the lesson is taken outside. Candles are not to be used. TERM FOUR OVERVIEW OF PROGRAMS WALKING WITH JESUS PATHWAYS TO DISCIPLESHIP This program will continue as with the last three terms discovering and identifying central truths and messages of the Kingdom through the stories Jesus told the people using Parables and how these can be applied to our daily life. The students will identify God s hand in creation and focus on our responsibility as co-creators with God. The Sundays of Advent is a time for challenging the Students to pray as a means of strengthening their relationship with God. CEC/CCRESS The CEC/CCRESS meeting to have been held in

4 CATHOLIC RESOURCE CENTRE: at your service SUNDAY SCRIPTURES ALIVE The Sunday liturgy will focus on Luke s Gospel chapters We look at how important Faith and Trust are in our lives, what this means to us. The students will look at the freedom we have and how important prayer is to us. Then the students will listen to the readings for Advent. Matthew s Gospel chapters 24,3,11,1. Spring is here and so is the final school term for Wouldn t it be great to have a large picture set on a bunch of the saints to use in class or a DVD to tell the story of one or more of the saints? Would an Echo Pantomime about St Nicholas come in handy? How about a video presentation on John the Baptist? What about a DVD with animated presentations of parables? Could a classroom activity about Advent prayer traditions be helpful --- about the Advent wreath or the O Antiphons? or maybe a lovely fiction book story about the meaning of Christmas? CONNECT Last term the students talked about God s rescue plan. God would send someone to prepare the way for the Lord. Isaiah 40:3-5 God would send a servant to bring justice. Isaiah 42:1-5 I will give you a shepherd from the family of David. Ezekiel 34:23 The stories are taken from John - The Good Shepherd, Luke - Seeking the Lost, and the rest of the weeks are from Matthew s Gospel chapters 2-5 which lead into the Christmas story If you ticked YES in your head as you read any of the above queries, the Centre may be able to help. As a diocesan catechist, all of these types of resources and more are available from the Centre to assist you spread the Word of God and shine a light on the path to faith for students. Find out what s available via the Centre s online catalogue at the CEO web site select/click Religious Education from the left hand column. You have the option of jumping straight into the catalogue via the link provided or going to the Centre s page to use the link embedded there. DON T WORRY if you do not use computers or the internet just give the Centre a call. For more information about borrowing these or other teaching resources, contact the Catholic Resource Centre A multi-media lending library operated by the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Bathurst. Telephone: (02)

5 (Message service is on when staff are unavailable )Alternately leave a message via the Catholic Education Office reception (02) Fax: (02) (NEW): recentre@ceo.bathurst.catholic.edu.au PO Box 725 BATHURST NSW 2795 Gilmour Street KELSO NSW 2795 CHURCH CALENDER OCTOBER 01 st St Therese 02 nd The Guardian Angels 07 th Our Lady of the Rosary Anniversary of the Death of Father Julian Edmund Tennison Woods 15 th St Teresa of Avila 17 th Celebrating the Canonisation of Mary MacKillop_Australia First Saint 18 th St Luke Evangelist 24 th Mission Sunday 28 th Ss Simon & Jude, Apostles NOVEMBER 01 ST All Saints 02 nd All Souls 03 rd St Martin de Porres 04 th St Charles Borromeo 10 th St Leo the Great 11 th St Martin Tours 15 th St Albert the Great 17 th St Elizabeth of Hungary 21 st Christ the King 22 nd St Cecilia 28 th!st Sunday of Advent 30 th St Andrew, Apostle DECEMBER 03 rd St Francis Xavier 05 th 2 nd Sunday of Advent 07 th St Ambrose 08 th The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 12 th 3 rd Sunday of Advent 13 th St Lucy 14 th St John of the Cross 19 th 4 th Sunday of Advent 25 th Christmas Day 26 th Holy Family 27 th St John, Apostle & Evangelist 28 th The Holy Innocents 29 th St Thomas abecket 31 st St Sylvester 1 JANUARY ST Mary, Mother of God 02th The Epiphany 03th Holy Name of Jesus 09 th Baptism of the Lord 16 th 2 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 17 th St Anthony 21 st St Agnes 22 nd St Vincent 23 rd 3 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 24 th St Francis de Sales 25 th Conversion of St Paul, Apostle 26 th Australia Day 27 th St Angela Merici 28 th St Thomas Aquinas 30 th 4 th Sunday in Ordinary Time 31 st St John Bosco DIRECTORY Helen C. Ryan

6 P O Box 720 DUBBO NSW 2830 HOME PHONE: MOBILE: hcryan@nsw.chariot.net.au Vicki Mair 169 Keppel St BATHURST NSW 2795 HOME PHONE: