­­St Mary MacKillop and why Catholics Recognise Saints?

Everyday people who have dedicated their lives to the loving pursuit of God are sometimes recognised as saints by the Catholic Church. The Church has made the process of ‘canonisation’ more rigorous in the last few centuries, requiring evidence of a highly virtuous life and miracles that can be attributed to the blessed candidates.

Essentially, as Catholics, we can pray to saints to intercede on our behalf. They also provide inspiring stories of how everyday people lived an extra-ordinary life of dedication and service to the Gospels. Saints are often people who faced great adversity or hardship but through their great faith in God, triumphed over these challenges to overcome them. Saints are heroes of the Church and people to learn from and admire.

This week, we celebrate the life of Australia’s first saint Mary MacKillop. Mary was a remarkable Australian. Like Edmund Rice, who worked in Ireland to establish schools for the poor; Mary was a pioneer of schooling for the most marginalised children and a key figure in establishing universal education in Australia. Mary and her Sisters of St Joseph showed great resilience in overcoming the many obstacles placed in their path as they established their order.

The work of the Sisters of St Joseph was very challenging. They faced harsh conditions in some of Australia’s most remote areas and worked with many of the most vulnerable families. Mary demonstrated “relentless determination” and was an inspiring leader. She lived by her motto “Never see a need without doing something about it”.

The Josephite sisters, in support of the poor, lived simply, often struggling to provide the basic essentials and relied heavily on the support of others. This vulnerability resulting in Mary clashing with the local Bishop who saw their commitment to living in poverty as ‘unbecoming’ and ultimately led to Mary’s Josephite order being banned  from the Church and Mary personally being excommunicated. 

Ultimately, Mary was accepted back into the Church. She never lost her sense of faith or strayed from her mission. Mary and her Sisters established a network of services for families and, in particular, troubled women and children that continues today through 440 schools in the Josephite tradition and a network of community services nationwide, in rural and regional, as well as metropolitan areas. She was canonised on October 17, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. Her selfless contributions deserve fitting recognition. Mary MacKillop is a woman for all Australians who, through her example, remains relevant to us today as a woman of foresight, resilience and faith. We celebrate her incredible life. May we draw on the strength of Mary MacKillop to help guide us, give us courage and show compassion to others, as we navigate our way through our own challenging and uncertain times. 

May God to Continue to Bless You

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal

It is hard to believe that we are already in Term 3. So much has happened since last term and it is always nice to recap why we do what we do here at St Francis Catholic College. Our touchstones of Inclusive Community and Justice & Solidarity affirm the values of Gospel Spirituality that our Religious Education programs, outreach initiatives and advocacy provide to our students and staff. 

The St Vincent de Paul and SFCC Winter Sleep Out was held on Friday 29th of July and had roughly 110 students from Years 4-12 and 25 volunteer teachers in attendance. Students and teachers participated in evening activities centered around issues on homelessness in the community and social justice.

The younger students built cardboard shelters and there were presentations and activities encouraging advocacy and awareness for the remainder of the evening. The older students packed hundreds of snack packs for kids in need as well as male and female hygiene packs which will be delivered to the NAGLE Centre in Campbelltown - a family care and support service helping families and individuals experiencing crisis in the Macarthur area. Teachers cooked and served a delicious simple dinner of pasta and bread for the students with the evening activities ending in a movie for the 7-9's and an Amazing Race for the 10-12's.

Thank you to all those families who sponsored our community in raising $1,578.75 for the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Congratulations to the Year 4 students and teachers for completing the Year 4 Religious Literacy Assessment. One of the aims of Religious Education (RE) in our Catholic schools is to develop students' ‘Religious Literacy’ – that is, the way children use their literacy skills to communicate their understanding of the religious tradition to themselves, their peers, teachers and members of the wider faith community. The Religious Literacy Assessment program in the Diocese of Wollongong provides information about the way children process and express their religious knowledge. Year 8 students, will sit their assessment next week. 

Monday will be a special day for staff as they prepare to participate in their Staff Spirituality Day. This day coincides with the Soleminty of the Feast of the Assumption. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven is the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. This day is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Australian Church’s calendar. Staff will be attending mass and then hearing from guests speakers about how to be of service to others and ourselves from a Catholic perspective. Serving others is part of our church’s teachings, the living out of Christ’s love and following in the footsteps of Mary, St Francis and Blessed Edmund is what we strive to do here at the college.   

A reminder for families of both students and staff to submit a photo of their child/children with their father/grandfather or special male in their lives. Photos uploaded are to be jpeg files. Please be aware that photos supplied will be used for various presentations including prayers and slide presentations and  may also  be used on the schools social media platforms. It is not compulsory for families to supply a photo. Cut off is Tuesday 23/8/22. Please use the link to upload your photo. Using a computer/laptop is advisable not a smartphone when submitting forms. The Junior Years assembly prayer in Week 8 (September 5th) will be a thanksgiving for fathers, grandfathers and significant males in our lives. All are welcome! 

Sincerely,
Mrs Alexandra Mediati

On Friday 29th of July and 5th of August, our secondary and primary student athletes respectively represented St Francis at the Diocesan Athletics Carnival. These students competed against the best of the combined schools within our diocese at Campbelltown Athletics stadium. All our student representatives did an amazing job on the day and should be extremely proud of themselves. A special congratulations to Alyssa B. (Primary) & Nicolas C, Nikolas K & Emil A. (Secondary) who will be representing our Diocese at the upcoming CCC Carnival. 

Sport Coordinators,
Sebastian Diaz, Amber Meadley

Last Friday, a very excited bunch of Year 3 students took a long bus ride to Bundeena National Park for their excursion. Throughout the day the students were immersed in Aboriginal culture. The day began with a smoking ceremony. The children participated in this and learned why smoking ceremonies take place. The wonderful tour guides from Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience, Uncle Steve and Sam, then spoke to the students about bush tucker, bush medicine, and Aboriginal artifacts and weaponry. Did you know that the official Aboriginal name for the didgeridoo is 'Yidaki'? The students learned so many new things about Aboriginal culture and listened respectfully and enthusiastically. After lunch, Year 3 went down to the beautiful beach to engage in a variety of hands-on experiences, including boomerang and spear throwing, ochre painting and Aboriginal dancing! It was a wonderful day of learning!

Would you fold a thousand paper cranes for a wish?

In Japan, the art of folding paper to make various shapes is known as origami (折り紙), in which ‘ori’ stands for folding and ‘gami’ stands for paper. The form of paper artwork can range from simple to complex. Cranes, samurai hats, flowers, and animals are among some of the most common and traditional origami creations you may come across. 

The Japanese Club has been working in Weeks 2 and 4 on creating origami shapes, with a focus on the creation of the origami crane. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe that folding one thousand origami cranes also grants you a long life or recovery from an illness or injury. The origami cranes are now seen as a symbol of peace in Japan and around the world, in reference to their use in petitioning for peace after World War II.  

The origami cranes are a reference to the story of Sadako Sasaki, who was a Japanese victim of the long-term effects of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. During her time struggling with an illness as a result of the atomic bomb, Sadako folded 1000 origami cranes in a bid to wish for world peace and the end of nuclear war.

August 6th and 9th, 2022, are the 77th anniversaries of the world’s first atomic bombings on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Japan and around the world, people gather in early August to remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as all other victims of war. The 10 Days of Peace, from August 6-15, are our opportunity to pray for peace and reaffirm our commitment to building a better future without the impacts of war. 

The Japanese Club at St Francis created origami cranes for each homeroom from 7-11 to aid us in our prayer for peace. On Tuesday 9/8, homerooms from 7-11 prayed for the continuation of world peace and remembrance of all those affected by war. 

Below is a prayer for peace that you might like to say with your family during this time:

God, Father, and Mother of this world, 

We come to you from the midst of a broken world where nations raise weapons against nations and mothers and children are the innocent victims of violence. 

We pray that you would inspire us to create a peaceful world. Help us call our leaders to accountability and to remind them that more weapons and war do not bring peace. Make us a peaceful people in a peaceful world. 

Amen. 

Why not try your hand at making some origami for yourself? What would you wish for if you folded a thousand paper cranes?

Kind regards,
Ms Tooby 
Classroom Teacher