Father's Day Liturgy & Light Breakfast

• Photos

  • Father’s Day Liturgy – Photo Request 

    This Father’s Day, we want to celebrate the amazing dads, grandfathers, and father figures in our school community!

    We need your help! Please send in a favourite photo of your child with their dad (or special father figure) to be included in our Father’s Day Liturgy celebration.

    The photos will be made into a slideshow shown at the liturgy as we give thanks for the love, guidance, and support of fathers in our lives.

    Please send your photos by Friday, 29th August to:

    info@stabdow.catholic.edu.au

• Father’s Day Breakfast & Reflection/Prayer
  
  
  • On Friday 5th September, we are celebrating Father’s Day with a short prayer reflection followed by a light breakfast. Prayer will commence at 7:45am.  Please note that breakfast will not be served until after the prayer reflection has concluded.  There will be a coffee van onsite.

Invitation to Become an Altar Server

Part of our mission at St Thomas Aquinas School is to help children grow in their faith journey. One way we do this is by encouraging and providing the opportunity for them to become altar servers. This important Church ministry helps children both understand and participate in the Mass in a deeper and more meaningful way.

I encourage you to have a conversation with your child. After your discussion, if you would like your child to take up this wonderful opportunity, please contact the school office.

Students will be rostered to serve about once a month at  parish Masses and also when needed at school Masses. To support them, I will provide a couple of training sessions to prepare the students.

We look forward to welcoming new altar servers into this special ministry.

Why Sunday?

On Sundays we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. According to the biblical story, on the seventh day God rested having completed the creation of the world. Appropriately, on the first day of the week Christians commemorate the ‘new creation’: the renewal of the world through Christ’s loving sacrifice. Traditionally Christians approach this day as a day of worship and celebration, focusing on their faith community and their family. This Sunday, take time out to give extra emphasis to this celebration. (E.g., Spend time with your children, take a walk with a friend, prayerfully review the Sunday readings.)

Why go to church when I can pray alone?

‘Why go to Mass when I can pray to God by myself?’ some people ask. To understand the Mass we need to understand the Church as a community, as a family. A simple analogy: Family members come together for meals, not just for physical nourishment, but as a way of sharing life together. The Sunday Eucharist is a bit like that for Catholics. It is the sacred meal, our ‘family meal’, whereby we come together to worship God, not just for our private spiritual nourishment, but to acknowledge that we belong to one another as God’s family, that we are a people who share in the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Prayer Corner

Dear God,
We pray for peace in our world,
especially in Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine.
Help us to be kind and gentle in our words and actions.
Bless our families with love and joy.
Amen.

Saint of the Week

St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) – Feast Day 5 September

Mother Teresa cared for the poorest and most forgotten people. She reminds us that even small acts of love, like a smile or kind word, can make a big difference.

**  Family Challenge: Try one small act of kindness each day this week.