Sacramental Information Evening

There is an Information Evening on Thursday 17^th February for families with children who are wishing to receive the sacraments this year. This is for those families who have children in Years 3, 4 or 6 and you are interested in having them receive the sacraments of:

• First Reconciliation (Yr3),
• First Communion (Yr4) or
• Confirmation (Yr6)

The Information Evening will be via zoom at 6:00pm. It is vital you attend this information session to learn more about the process and preparation required from families this year in our parish. Fr Loi looks forward to seeing you all there. The zoom address is  https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/j/67225195932

Religious Education around our school – Spotlight on 1/2

In 1/2 students are learning more about prayer. They have been practising different ways to pray and how we give God our full attention with a still body and a focused mind. I was fortunate enough to join them for a special time of Christian Meditation last Friday.

1/2B wisdom about prayer:

Hannah – You need to be sensible and sit still for prayer

Lauren – We block out distractions to hear God

Leo – Let God be in your heart

Aaliyah – You have to love God when you’re talking to God

Emma – We pray to God

Valentina – Let God talk to you, not just you talking to God

Sofia – Listen to your heart when you pray

Maddy – We connect with God in prayer

A Reflection on our year theme Faithful in Prayer.

 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”  Romans 12:12

“Don’t pray when you feel like it.  Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.  A man is powerful on his knees.” – Corrie ten Boom

Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom’s life (April 15, 1892-April 15, 1983) is a beautiful and powerful display of the Apostle Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:12.  Having been arrested by the Gestapo for helping Jewish men, women and children escape the Nazi genocide during World War II, Corrie ended up in Ravensbruck – a German concentration camp.  She, along with many others, was victimized and forced into hard labor.  The injustice she suffered there was unspeakable, yet she testified years later how she learned that God’s love is deeper than any pit of evil or suffering we can face.

Of the 130,000 prisoners that passed through Ravensbruck, Corrie was one of only 40,000 who survived the camp and was released.  She spent her post-prison life preaching about God’s love.  In 1947, one of the former prison guards approached her and asked for her forgiveness.  Corrie recognized the man, remembering that he was one of the more cruel guards who had committed horrible acts of cruelty against Corrie and her sister.  Corrie testifies that by the power and love of God, she took the man’s hand and said, “I forgive you everything.”  There is no doubt that Corrie ten Boom was, “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”

Do you think it is possible to bear the fruit of faithfulness without a vibrant, healthy prayer life?  Although few of us will face the suffering and hardships that Corrie ten Boom did, is prayer any less important in our lives?  There are brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world who do face such atrocities because of the gospel.  Don’t we owe it to them – and to Christ – to faithfully pray for them?

Do you pray only when you need something?  Do you pray when you feel like it, or have the time?  Faithfulness in prayer means praying regularly and often.  Our prayers should be saturated with praise and thanksgiving to the Father.  It is a time to commune with Him by both talking and listening.  There is no quicker way to experience a heart change than through prayer.

Begin today by setting aside a time daily to spend in faithfulness to God through prayer.

Dear God, Thank You for the privilege of prayer.  Please help me to be faithful in my prayer life.  May my prayers be full of faith and in accordance with Your will.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

From Touching Lives by James Merritt

https://www.touchinglives.org/devotionals/faithful-in-prayer