For many decades, the Catholic Church in Australia has taken part in National Bible Sunday organised on the third Sunday in July by Bible Society Australia. It is good that this is an ecumenical event since all Christian Churches hold the Scriptures in common. It is always listed among the special commemorations in the official Ordo, but I suspect in recent times it has been largely ignored in many Catholic parishes.

 Towards the end of 2019, Pope Francis instituted a Sunday of the Word of God. This was put down for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. He chose this date because it is close to when the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated in the northern hemisphere. This timing is quite impractical for Australia. The dates get mixed up with the final weeks of the summer holidays, the return to school and the celebration of Australia Day. This is why, many years ago, we moved the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to the time between Ascension and Pentecost, which is generally in May.

 This raised the question of our date for the Sunday of the Word of God. It cannot easily be near to the Christian unity week because all the Sundays are taken up with Easter, Pentecost and the solemnities which follow. Should it coincide with National Bible Sunday in July? In any case, the Australian bishops have decided to keep it close to Pope Francis’ day, so it will be the first Sunday in February. This means we can avail ourselves of any resources which the Holy See may produce.

 The Importance of the Word of God

 In fact, there were two documents about Scripture released by the Holy See on 30 September – one in 2019 and the other in 2020. They mark the 1600th anniversary of the death of St Jerome, the great Scripture scholar who prepared the definitive translation of the Bible into Latin. The first document institutes the Sunday of the Word of God, intended to help people to grow in religious and intimate familiarity with the sacred Scriptures. The second gives an account of St Jerome, his scholarship, his faith and his “living and tender love” of the Word of God. Jerome is proposed as a model for inculturating the Gospel and discovering Christ for our time.

 Most are no doubt familiar with the saying of Vatican II: “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she has venerated the Lord’s body ... offering people the bread of life from the one table of the Word of God and the body of Christ (Dei Verbum 21).” In the same vein, the second document quotes St Jerome: “We are reading the sacred Scriptures. For me, the Gospel is the body of Christ; for me, the holy Scriptures are his teaching. And when he says: ’whoever does not eat my flesh and drink my blood’ (Jn 6:53), even though these words can also be understood of the [eucharistic] Mystery, Christ’s body and blood are really the word of Scripture, God’s teaching.”

 Extract from an article by Fr Tom Elich published in Liturgy News

We welcome Fr Rex Curry who will be providing supply to our Parish while Fr Martins is away.  We warmly welcome him and hope his time with us is enjoyable.  Deacon Eden Langlands is also with us to provide ministry in this time.

LIVING FAITH IN THE EVERYDAY

Living in Hope

The Letter of St Paul to the people of Corinth last weekend spoke of the ‘three things that last – faith, hope and love.’ This week let us focus on Hope – a Christian virtue which we all need

during these continuing challenging times, not necessarily just the pandemic but perhaps more broadly in each of our lives.

So much of life at present can seem ‘topsy turvy’ and uncertain. Looking for good news stories

which bring smiles to our faces and warmth to our hearts can be challenging. Ash Barty winning the

Women’s Championship of the Australian Open by an Australian for the first time in 44 years has

been a ray of hope along with the daily stories of the many everyday heroes here in our own

community and more broadly, who simply make a difference in people’s lives – bringing Hope. 

An inspiration this week was a reflection of Joyce Rupp (a retreat leader and writer in spirituality)

entitled Hope – Who are Your Life-Shapers? It reminded me of the many people, here in our Parish

community, in our town and more broadly who influence our lives and of our potential to influence

others through small gestures of Hope and daily encounters. Joyce says, ‘we create one another – we

are intertwined with humanity and specifically with those persons whose presence shapes our lives and

influences our destiny.’

Pope Francis is his most recent book ‘Let Us Dream’ has cited this poem related to the pandemic,

from Cuban actor and comedian, Alexis Valdes

When the storm has passed and the roads are tamed and we are the survivors of a collective shipwreck, With tearful heart and our dignity blessed we will feel joy simply for being alive.

And we’ll give a hug to the first stronger and praise our good luck that we kept a friend.

And then we’ll remember all that was lost and finally learn everything we never learned. 

                         And we’ll envy no one for all of us have suffered and we’ll not be idle but more compassionate.

We’ll value more what belongs to all than what was earned. We’ll be more generous and much more committed. We’ll understand how fragile it is to be alive.

We’ll sweat empathy for those still with us and those who are gone. 

                                  We’ll miss the old man who asked for a buck in the market whose name  we never knew who was always at your side. And maybe the poor old man was your God in disguise. But you never asked his name because you never had the time.

And all will become a miracle. And all will become a legacy. And we’ll  respect life, the life we have gained

When the storm passes we ask you Lord, in shame that you return us better, as you once dreamed

Us.  AMEN

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the 2022 school year. I hope you had the opportunity to have some rest and relaxation over the holiday break. The children have returned to school in high spirits - it is so lovely being back together for another year of learning and fun!

The theme that comes from this week’s scripture readings is one of ‘Being Called’. I particularly like the reflection offered by Fr Michael Tate.

Fish in the Sea of Divine Life

Peter was a fisherman. Jesus had been brought up in a carpenter’s household. Jesus tells Peter when and how to fish. This gets under Peter’s skin. He tells Jesus a few facts of life about night fishing on the Lake of Gennesaret. But he gives in to this landlubber’s directive and casts out the nets and hauls in a very good catch.

Jesus wants to come into the rhythm of our ordinary workaday lives. Surprising things may then happen. You may be commissioned by Our Lord Jesus Christ to become ‘fishers of men’, fishers of human beings. But don’t fishermen fish the fish out of the sea and kill them?

Is being caught up in the net of Christianity to be a deadening experience? Having this in mind, St Luke used a word for netting fish for an aquarium. We who have been caught up in the net of Christianity are meant to be more alive than ever, ‘fully alive’. The best analogy I can think of is the stranding of pods of whales, thrashing around in the shallows, barely existing, doomed unless saved. People go down and put slings under them and haul them into deeper water.

We could pause a moment to thank God that we have been guided into the life-giving waters of baptism, and for the strength to help others swim into the Oceanic depths of Divine Love.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

All students in Year 3 who have been baptised (or would like to be baptised) are invited to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The enrolment evening for Reconciliation will be held on Thursday 17 February from 5.00-6.00pm. The meeting will be held on TEAMs.

We welcome Deacon Eden Langlands to the parish. Eden will be with us until April and will be supporting the preparation of the sacrament of Reconciliation. Father Rex Curry will assist with the reception of the sacrament on March 31.

Other key dates for Reconciliation are:

• An invitation to attend a Commitment Mass on the weekend of the 5th and 6th March
• Year 3 Reconciliation Retreat Day Friday 18 March
• First Reconciliation Thursday 31 March from5.00-6.00pm

If you have any questions about Reconciliation or other sacraments to be held this year, please contact me through the school office.

Theme for the School Year

Our K-12 student SRC met at the end of the year to choose a spiritual theme for the 2022 school year. They decided on the simple but inspirational quote by Mary MacKillop (1899),

“Find happiness by making others happy.”

Prayer

Loving God, you are great and holy, and we want to grow in holiness and goodness. Help us to see you and hear you in our everyday lives by finding happiness in making others happy. We ask this through Christ who is our Lord.

Many Blessings for the coming week

Sharon Beashel  REC

St Bernard’s School Captains for 2022, Erica S and Anthony N will both be striving to promote our school vision of 'Begin with the Heart' with all of the students at our school. I spoke to both Erica and Anthony about their hopes for the year ahead.

Erica wants to make others feel happy at school. She loves learning and wants to share her positive feelings about this with others. She would also like to make everyone’s day a bit brighter by being  friendly and positive. Erica is going to strive to make sure that all children at St Bernard’s school have a friend to play with at recess and lunch. One of the ideas that she will propose at the SRC meeting with the other Year 6 leaders is for students to receive a kindness note at the end of each week from another student.

Anthony would like to be a good role model to others this year. He likes to be involved in all activities at school, especially enjoying playing sport at recess and lunch. He hopes that this year he and his classmates will be able to attend school camps that were missed last year. Anthony is already thinking of ideas for the school like fundraising for a bus shelter because of all the rainy weather we have been experiencing. Anthony is very proud of the school that he has attended since Kindergarten and is excited for his final year of primary school.

We know that Erica and Anthony will be fantastic school captains.

This week the first of the Canberra-Goulburn representative sporting trials commenced. Throughout the year students from Yr 5 and 6 are invited to compete against students from Southern NSW Catholic Schools across a wide variety of sports. Henry A, John F and Ruby B competed in Tennis on Wednesday, playing a number of sets against various opponents. Congratulations to Ruby B from Yr 5 who was successfully selected in the Archdiocesan team that will compete against Catholic Schools from across the state at the MacKillop trials on Feb 25 in Wollongong.

Surf Life Saving Country Championships

The NSW Surf Life Saving Country Championships were held in Forster last weekend, with Keira and Mia A competing in the U/11 and U/9 events.

Keira came 7th in Ironwoman, 4th in 1km Beach Run, made the Semi-final in Flags and competed in Beach Sprint, Surf Swim and Board race. Mia made the Semi-finals in Flags and Sprint and competed in the swim. The event was over 3 days and held in some tricky surf conditions and hot soft sand. What an amazing achievement for these two fantastic students they are super fit and we are very proud of their efforts.

Follow Your Dreams Dancing

Kiera 0 and Erica S travelled to Adelaide over the holidays for the Follow Your Dreams Nationals Dance Concert. They travelled with other children from Ulladulla for Troupe and competed in four dances, placing first for three of those dances Jazz, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre. They are the National Champions for their age division and placed second for lyrical. They both described it as an absolutely amazing experience being able to compete on a national stage in front of crowds from all over Australia. Congratulations Kiera and Erica, we are very proud of your outstanding performance.

We were delighted to welcome the Year 4 students back to school for the 2022 school year on Tuesday!