The last week of Mercy is frantic but hopefully a second to none experience for our students. Year 9 Leadership Camp at Cool Waters, Yeppoon, Year 7 & 8 Activities week, Maths Camp to extend those students who love their maths and farewells to acknowledge the efforts of so many this year. Staff are pretty tired but immensely satisfied in the experience students have gained.
Lastly thank you to parents/guardians. We can't do it without your support at home. Thanks to volunteers who attend P & F and Board. Thanks to volunteers at the Tuckshop. Thanks to the parents/guardians who help at our various functions. "Life is a participation sport."
Merry Christmas
Mr Jim Ford
Badila Year 9 Leadership CampOraya Year 9 Leadership CampMr Ford - At the Tuckshop Christmas Lunch, wearing his special handmade apron Christmas stage performanceCarols on the stageMercy aqua park funSanta visits the stageYear 7 & 8 Week activities - making cookies for Christmas
News From the Parish
A Message From Father Don White
Will Christmas Be Different This Year?
Usually the true message of Christmas as we understand it from the Word of God, the Incarnation, has to compete with a lot of noise; we could ask - will it be different this year? Friends of mine in the United Kingdom, who are experiencing another lockdown due to COVID, have told me that they have to make some difficult decisions about Christmas. They have to think about when to gather and who they can invite to their homes. They can only ask five people to their home and having a big family they will have to give these questions a lot of thought. For them Christmas this year will even more be focused on who and what matters most. That will not be our experience here in Australia, but the year we’ve had in this era of the pandemic might cause us to think differently as the year comes to an end causing people to think more about the true meaning of Christmas.
For that reason, the Church invites us into the four weeks of the liturgical season of Advent. We are familiar with this time as the Church’s Liturgy brings forth some friends and guides for our faith. People like the prophet Isaiah, king David, John the Baptist, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary who in Advent we will encounter as Mary of Nazareth, the young woman of faith who was caught up in God’s plan of salvation. They all draw us to the true meaning of Christmas. It is a time to remember how the people of the Old Testament waited and waited for the promised Messiah who was finally manifest in the Incarnation. Advent is also about Christ’s second coming which is mentioned many times in the Gospel, and yet it truly is a mystery beyond our human sight.
At this time of the year we think about gifts and yet one gift matters most, Christ himself. St. Benedict, the founder of the Western Monastic Tradition tells us that the gift of Christ is eternal and comes to us in three ways; in his first coming in Bethlehem that we celebrate at Christmas and his second coming in the future that is beyond our sight, and the one we know best which is a result of Christmas - his daily coming to us in our hearts. St. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians that: God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice. Christ is a gift for all time, and a gift ever more welcome as such a challenging year ends. May we approach Christmas differently this year, encountering its true meaning that Christ is ever among us.
Fr Don White
Parish Priest of the Southern Cluster Parishes
2020 Virtual Lights of Christmas
You’re invited to step inside St Joseph’s Cathedral for 2020’s VIRTUAL Lights of Christmas using your Smart phone or Tablet.
Experience a digital 3-dimensional light show, wherever you are across the Diocese and beyond, by clicking on the link and moving your device to see the characters of Christmas within St Joseph’s sandstone walls and marble floors. Welcome the Holy Family together with a chorus of heavenly of angels singing in joyful harmony and please share this with your family and friends.
Visit the website on your device and click on the Youtube link from December 17th at 7.30pm www.lightsofchristmasrockhampt... The Cathedral Parish of St Joseph’s prays the true spirit of Christmas fills your hearts and home this year and looks towards 2021 with the hope of the community gathering once again for the Lights of Christmas.
