​​Keeping Calm and Connected: Mindfulness Sessions

CatholicCare has made available Keeping Calm and Connected: Mindfulness Sessions, offered as recordings and accessible through the website below. The website also includes an audio recording of the mindfulness reflection exercise 'A time to reflect with pride, love, and gratitude during COVID-19'.

Mary MacKillop

Sunday 8 August we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of the Cross- Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.

Assumption

Sunday 15 August we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, when she was called to heaven by God

Family Week 

Catholic schools across Australia will celebrate Family Week from 8 – 14 August 2021, to recognise the significant contribution parents, carers and families have made to the foundation, growth, and continuity of Catholic schools in Australia over 200 years.

Family Week coincides with the Feast Day of Australia’s First Saint, Mary MacKillop, who was a passionate educator and advocate for children and families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Pope Francis’ Pray to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendour of true love; to you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalised find ready comfort and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth, make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan. Amen.

Dear parents, carers and families of today’s students of our Catholic school,

The celebration of the Bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the role families have played in the history of Catholic education in this great south land of the Holy Spirit. We especially acknowledge our First Nations families, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders and leaders past, present and emerging, for their significant contribution to Catholic education and the wider Australian community.

With your support, Catholic education from its humble beginnings in a small schoolhouse in Parramatta in 1820, has grown to 1,755 schools serving over 777,000 students in faith, excellence and access to Catholic education. Today, we acknowledge all families as the first educators and ongoing partners in the education of your children and thank you for your contribution to our school as we celebrate families during this Bicentenary year.

“As our Inspiring Spirit, you lead us into the future. In the century ahead grant those teaching and learning in our schools, those planning and leading, and the families and community that entrust their young people to us, a love of learning and a willingness to be the face of Christ in the world of tomorrow”.   

- Extract from Faith in the Future 200 years prayer