A reminder that items for Christmas Hampers are due by Wednesday 4^th December. Hampers will be blessed and presented at our Thanksgiving Mass on Thursday 5^th December. The appeal helps those less fortunate in our community over the Christmas and New Year period. Your donation will help provide support for these families facing food insecurity and struggling to put food on the table this time of year. The St Michael’s community is always very generous at this time of the year as they see greater needs beyond themselves. In advance, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of St Vincent de Paul and St Michael’s School for helping us collect these donations to support the needy in our community at this time. God Bless.

As a Church family, we have a calendar of events and seasons. The Church year begins with Advent and ends with the feast of Christ the King. On the 24^th of November we celebrated Christ the King and on the 1^st of December will be the first Sunday of Advent.

Advent is a season of waiting and preparing for the coming of our Jesus Christ. Like Mary awaiting the birth of her son, we too await the coming of Jesus into our lives in a fresh and new way. It’s a time to prepare our hearts and minds to receive Jesus anew. Advent is followed by the Christmas season which is a time of joy and celebration of the birth of Jesus our Saviour.

Over the coming weeks the students will be learning about Advent through scripture, stories and songs. They will explore the meaning behind the Advent wreath and calendar, Jesse Tree and other Christmas traditions. On Friday the 29^th of November, our whole school will be participating in an Advent liturgy led by some of our Year 6 students as part of our preparation for Christmas. All families are warmly invited to join us from 9.15am at St. Michael’s Church.