ENewsletter

Key Dates

Friday 3rd July	Last day of Term 2
Monday 20th July	Frist day of Term 3

Gospel Reading

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Ref:Liturgyhelp.com

Gospel Reflection

When we hear the term, yoke, we tend to think about the yoke that is used to harness oxen together or the yoke that someone might carry on their shoulder to balance a heavy load. This yoke across the shoulder was adopted into tailoring and so the shoulder piece set into a shirt is also called a yoke. However, in the Jewish tradition there is a completely different meaning to the term. The yoke of a rabbi was his particular interpretation of Torah (the Law); his particular teaching. Disciples who followed a particular rabbi sought to take on his yoke; his particular interpretation. The yoke of any rabbi was best identified by asking him, ‘Which is the greatest commandment?’ A rabbi’s answer to this question revealed his interpretation of Torah. When Jesus is asked that question, he answers, ‘Love God and love your neighbour,’ and goes on to say that all of the rest of the Law and the prophets flows on from these two commandments. This is the yoke – the interpretation of Torah – that Jesus taught.

Living the Gospel – Shoulder my yoke

Jesus invites us to shoulder his yoke and learn from him for he is gentle and humble in heart. The yoke he invites us to shoulder is the deceptively simple teaching: love God and love your neighbour. To love God is to consciously make a place in our lives for God. The busy spin that tends to be characteristic of so many people’s lives today does not allow room for God; does not allow room for prayer and quiet; does not allow room for compassionate response to others. To love God and love our neighbour we must first make room for them.

Thank you

As we come to the end of Term 2, I thank all the staff and students for their hard work and effort throughout a very challenging term. Also thank you to all our families for your support during this difficult time.

Term 3

Term 3 will commence on Monday 20th July. For safety purposes we will continue with our current hygiene practices. Our morning drop off and afternoon pickup arrangements will also remain the same as this term. We will, however, begin to ease some of our playground restrictions throughout Term 3.

Deepest Sympathy

We ask that parents keep the Wen family, Mrs Yeou Ling Wen, Christopher 3D and Chloe KM, in your prayers . Mr Wen, father to Christopher and Chloe, passed away this week after a time of illness. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

SkoolBag App

We ask that pareents down load the SkoolBag app (see attached) to access the school newsletter.

Trial of the Draft NEW Religious Education Curriculum in Term 3

Religious Education in the Diocese of Parramatta has undergone much change in the last two years. Term 3 2020 marks the next step towards a new curriculum that will replace ‘Sharing Our Story’, the current curriculum that has been in place for over 20 years.

The process of developing a new approach, currently known as the Draft New Curriculum, has been a collaboration with students, parents, teachers, clergy and system leaders. This innovative and ambitious project has led to the development of Learning Cycles (one per term), that apply scripture and tradition in a meaningful way to the contemporary life of young people. This endeavour supports our students to grow in faith and understanding through prayer, reason and action in daily life.

In Term 3, using experiential learning through student inquiry, students in Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) will engage with the Learning Cycle(unit of work) “Why is it important to learn from History?” from the Draft New Curriculum. In preparation for the 2021 implementation, teachers are continuing to participate in theological formation and professional learning.

This is an exciting opportunity for our faith community of Our Lady of Lourdes in continuing our commitment to empowering all our young people to discover a meaningful and flourishing life.

We look forward to sharing this journey with you throughout the term.

Religious Education in Kindergarten

During Term 2, Kindergarten’s Religious Education unit has focused on the characteristics of the parish as people who celebrate, serve and grow in faith and love together.

Kindergarten have been reading the scripture passage Feeding the 5000 from Matthew 14:13-21. The students discussed how they can serve others just as Jesus did. The students deconstructed the passage using the three senses. They were able to retell the story and then link the message of this scripture story to their own lives.

Here you can see us acting out the main parts of the scripture passage.