Liturgy & Parish Liaison

Sacramental Program
 'Family focused, parish-based, catholic school-supported'

Do you have a child in Year 3, 4 or 6?

If you have not already done so, you will need to enrol your child for the Sacraments in your home parish.

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© Image: Tony Kiely,
 Emmaus Productions

Year 3 - RECONCILIATION
Year 4 - EUCHARIST
Year 6 - CONFIRMATION

Is your parish one of the following?

Your parish has forwarded this information to assist you. Further information in the coming weeks, or see contacts list below.

CITY BEACH: HOLY SPIRIT

Enrolments Closing date - Thursday 5th February

For enrolment forms please download from this link: http://www.holyspiritcitybeach.com.

Further information please contact Michelle Rapkoch at: jmrapkoch@yahoo.com or 0405556026.

CLAREMONT: ST THOMAS APOSTLE

Enrolments Close - Friday 27th March

First Communion - Sunday 7 June, 9:30am
Confirmation - Thursday 3 September, 6:00pm (TBC)
First Reconciliation - Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st October, 3:30-4:30 pm.

Contact - kinder.silvia@cathednet.wa.edu.au

COTTESLOE: ST MARY STAR OF THE SEA

Enrolment Day - Tuesday 24th February, 3:315-5:30.

NEDLANDS: HOLY ROSARY

Parents' Information & Registration Meeting - Parish Centre

either Wednesday 11th February, 7.30-8.30pm

or Saturday 14th February, 11.00am-12.00pm

Further details: Parish noticeboards or 9386 1870

or www.holyrosarynedlands.org.au or hrpnedlands@bigpond.com

SUBIACO: ST JOSEPH

Confirmation Registration - Tuesday 10 March, 4:30pm, Upper Room

FAQs

Do I need to enrol my child for classes in the parish?

Children attending Catholic schools receive instruction on the Sacraments through the RE program, and are given a certificate of completion. Most parishes will request to see this certificate. In addition, some parishes request that students preparing for Sacraments (including students from Catholic schools) attend parish classes or retreats. Check with your own parish for further details.

What do we need to take to enrolment?

Relevant earlier certificates - eg Baptism, Reconciliation etc.

Where can I find more information?

This Sunday's Gospel

"(Jesus) cured many who suffered from diseases of one kind or another." (Mark 1:29-39)

The following is taken from Fr Richard Leonard's homily on this Sunday's gospel and is printed here, with kind permission. Fr Richard Leonard SJ is the author of Preaching to the Converted, Paulist Press, New York, 2006

In the time of Jesus almost everything they couldn't understand was put down to a demon or an evil spirit. In the Talmud, (a large book dating from around the time of Jesus that contains the collected teachings of the Rabbis), several pages are devoted to the healing of 'fevers'. Even though we have become more advanced in our medical knowledge, it's surprising how this thinking still persists. While most people don't blame evil for their ailments, they can think God has a direct hand in sending an illness or an injury. Such faulty theology cannot be reconciled with the New Testament.

There is not a single instance where Jesus inflicts pain and suffering on others. He regularly tells us we have to carry our cross and bear our burdens, but this is vastly different from personally laying a cross on our shoulders or giving us the burdens in the first place. By contrast, every time that Jesus encounters suffering and pain he works to heal it and restore the person to new life.

The differences between the healing of Peter's mother-in-law and the other healing stories in the first chapter of Mark's Gospel are striking. Rather than in a public space and in front of crowds this personal healing occurs in the privacy of Peter's house. By contrast to the command for the demons to be gone, in his bedside ministry Jesus never mentions a demon and uses no words. Instead he gently takes her by the hand and helps her to her feet. Unlike the others Jesus heals, of whom we never hear about their response, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law leads her to an act of service. Given all the details Mark give us of this encounter it's a pity he never tells us her name.

Sometimes we can think of Jesus' miracles, then and now, as acts of dazzling power. The problem with this idea is that if we see Jesus as going around 'zapping' people it's hard to figure out why there were times when he could not perform any miracles at all, or that they happened in stages. Whatever else miracles are, they are deeply personal encounters of faith.

As Catholics we believe in the power of miracles and that the source of them is always the grace of God. But we do not have to see them as something done to us from without. Rather, we can see them as unlocking something from within. For some people Jesus' word or touch set free the healing power God had placed in them. For others it came through another person's intercession. The same holds true for us today.

Furthermore, being anointed, celebrating Reconciliation or Eucharist, going to a place of pilgrimage, fasting, being prayed over or meditating can have a similar effect. Looked at in this way we can see why some people are healed and others are not. If a personal encounter with Jesus did not always lead to healing, then why should it surprise us that some other encounters these days do not always unlock God's healing within us.

Small and large-scale miracles are happening everyday. Today's Gospel reminds us that they do not happen for show or for the sake of the crowd. They are realisations of faith. Taking Peter's mother-in-law as our model we are healed and strengthened so that we can witness to God's saving power, serve the Kingdom of God in any way we can, and continue to wait on the Lord. ©

Community Mass

Every Friday during term time, members of the College Community gather in prayer, usually to celebrate the Eucharist together. All parents, students and friends as well as staff are invited. If you are new to the school, please accept our warm invitation. It is a 'user-friendly' joyous Mass. If you have any questions, please contact:

Lumley.mary-anne@johnxxiii.edu.au

Where: Chapel
Time: 8:00am - 8:30am
When: Fridays in term time

Ash Wednesday

Tuesday 17th February, the day before Ash Wednesday, the College will be preparing and blessing the ashes. Ashes are prepared by burning palms from last year's Palm Sunday. Students are invited to bring in the palm branches from last year to be burnt to make new ash. Palm will be collected in homerooms.