Dear Parents and Carers

It's a racing week and in those terms we are past the halfway mark and on the home stretch for 2019. With just over 4 weeks remaining we are in good shape ready to make our move to end the year on a high.

The last few weeks have seen our students once again excel in the academic arena with some amazing results in the ICAS national competitions.  Congratulations to all the students who participated so enthusiastically.  This week it was announced that St Joseph's the Strand received an award for our efforts in becoming a more environmentally sustainable school.  Many small changes have been made this year to recognise our responsibilities in this area.  Congratulations and thank you to all involved in what has been a combined effort to achieve such a pleasing result.

It has been a very busy few weeks as our teachers prepare final assessments and report cards, and the school prepares for the coming year.  At this stage, the majority of our staffing for the coming year is falling into place and I am hopeful that we will be in a position to announce this to our school community in the very near future.  

Today we enjoyed the company of our 2020 prep class.  There were lots of very excited and happy faces and many requests to stay longer as their time came to an end.  It was great to welcome these new students and many new families to our school community.

With only a short time remaining in the term and many events still to take place please make sure you are checking notices and newsletters for the latest details.  We would not want anyone to miss an important or fun event.

Have a great week.

Tim

Sunday’s Gospel

Luke 19:1-10 - Jesus stays at the house of Zacchaeus, the tax collector.

In Jesus' day, tax collectors were not popular people. They were collaborators with the Romans and were despised by many Jewish people. The tax system allowed them to charge more than what was required so that they could make a profit for themselves. Thus, they were considered sinners by their countrymen. Observers in the crowd that day grumble because Jesus dines with a sinner. Throughout Scripture, Jesus' choice of dinner companions set him apart from other observant Jews of his time. In first century Jewish culture, to dine together was to show a bond of fellowship and peace among those at the table. Observant Jews did not generally dine with foreigners and sinners. Yet, Jesus chooses to honour the tax collector, Zacchaeus, by staying at his house.

Even before Jesus comes to his home, Zacchaeus shows himself to be someone in search of salvation. Zacchaeus, described as short in stature, climbs a tree in order to see Jesus. We know from Luke's description that Zacchaeus was no ordinary tax collector; he was, in fact, the chief tax collector and a person of some wealth. In his search for salvation, he humbled himself by making a spectacle of himself by climbing a tree.

Jesus recognises the faith of this tax collector exhibited in his search for salvation and calls him down from the tree. In the hospitality, he extends to Jesus and in his conversion of heart, Zacchaeus is raised up by Jesus as a model of salvation.

Remembrance Day

On 11 November 1918, German leaders signed an Armistice, and the guns of the Western Front fell silent.  For the four years of the war, from 1914 to 1918, more than 330,000 Australians had served overseas. More than 60,000 Australians had died while in this service. In 1918 alone, there were 48,000 casualties, which included 12,000 dead.

Each year at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, we observe a minute of silence.  Remembrance Day is a day of commemoration. We not only remember the dead and those who served.  We celebrate life, the gift of life, and the important work towards reconciliation of nations, unity, and peace and justice.  We remember not only Australians but ALL who were involved in this particular armed conflict.

In early 19th Century literature, poppies symbolised sleep or a state of oblivion. In the battlefields of northern France and Belgium, red poppies were among the first plants to arise from the ground. On Remembrance Day, the red Flanders poppy symbolises the sacrifice of bloodshed.

On Monday at 8:45am we will be having our Remembrance Day Liturgy which will be led by our Defence students.  We invite you all to join us in prayer.

A Prayer for Remembrance Day

God of love and liberty, we bring our thanks this day for the peace and security we enjoy, which was won for us through the courage and devotion of those who gave their lives in time of war. We pray that their labour and sacrifice may not be in vain, but that their spirit may live on in us and in generations to come. That the liberty, truth and justice which they sought to preserve may be seen and known in all the nations upon earth. This we pray in the name of the one who gave his life for the sake of the world, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Images of Mary by 5MC

Check out some of the images of Mary drawn by students in 5MC!

Have a great week

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Please let your classroom teacher know if you will be attending the Thank You Morning Tea.

We hope you can make it!