On Tuesday the 13th February we gathered as a whole College community to celebrate our Opening of the Year School Mass, led by Fr. Martin Jeramias from St Anne’s church in Seaford. Fr. Martin welcomed us to communion together, blessing each of us and making a special welcome to all new members of our community. Fr Martin also highlighted that we were about to enter into the season of Lent, the most important time in our Catholic Liturgical calendar.
On Wednesday 14th February, we celebrated Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Lenten season, in pastoral groups, in House groups or in Year level groups. On Ash Wednesday we are reminded that we are people who are called to reflect on our lives, to serve others and give of ourselves, and in order to do this we need to turn back to God. We are marked with the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads.
You are dust and to dust you shall return
The ashes are traditionally created by burning the previous year’s palms from Palm Sunday, and they remind us of our mortality - ‘You are dust and to dust you shall return’ (Gen 3:19). We make our commitment to Lent on Ash Wednesday and prepare ourselves for the 40 days of Lent, a time of renewal and growth — spiritual, relational, personal — in the lead-up to the new life of Easter.
During Lent, we focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We asked our students what they wanted to pray for, what they could give up (fasting), and what they could give to others (almsgiving) as they journey through this time of reflection. Often giving something up we take for granted, and giving something back or extending kindness to others, reminds us how fortunate we are and opens the space for gratitude to fill our hearts. In this way we turn back to God. We reconnect with God, with ourselves and with others.
A short prayer for Lent:
May this Lenten time be one of focus;seeking you in those we often ignore.Help us live a Lent focused on freedom, generosity, and encounter,
Amen.