CONFIRMATION

The new date for the confirmation retreat/workshop day is Friday, 20 August for all students (including those students not celebrating Confirmation) in the Nazareth school hall commencing at 9am.  Students are to bring along their own recess and lunch and they may wear mufti clothes and covered shoes.  Students are also asked to bring along their booklets that were part of their afternoon confirmation workshops. 

The sacrament of Confirmation will now be celebrated on Sunday, 29 August.  All session times will remain the same. (Pending COVID restictions)

GRANDPARENTS DAY

Saints Joachim and Anne were the parents of the Virgin Mary and grandparents to Jesus. With such amazing offspring, Joachim and Anne must share an extraordinary love. They have long been held up as exemplars for married couples, and in fact, they are one of the few married couple saints cannonised in the Catholic Church.

We know very few facts about Sts. Anne and Joachim, the only recorded stories of them are from a gospel dating from the 4th Century AD called the Protoevangelium of James. The legend told in this document says that after years of childlessness, an angel appeared to tell Anne and Joachim that they would have a child. Whatever their names or the facts of their lives, we can assume that Mary was raised in a Jewish family home faithful to God and to the religious traditions of her day such that she was led to respond wholeheartedly to God’s request with faith, “Let it be done to me as you will.”

The Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne is celebrated on Sunday, 25 July. This year sees the First World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. Pope Francis has announced a new celebration in honour of all grandparents and the elderly, who are so important to our communities and our Church.  This new World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will be celebrated every year on 25 July, coinciding with the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne.

At Nazareth students will be paying special tribute to all grandparents in their online learning.  Students will be finding different ways to communicate with their grandparents and reminding them how much they love and appreciate them.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you were nurtured and cared for by your grandparents, Saints  Joachim and Anne. We ask you to help us value the wisdom and knowledge of  those around us, especially our grandparents. May we love and cherish them,  value and respect them, and always be grateful for all they share with us. We ask  this in Jesus’ name. 

Amen