From Br Steve
This week the College marked the beginning of Lent with the College Leaders and Lasallian Youth Leaders attending the Ash Wednesday service in the Chapel at 8:00am. Later in the day, these leaders ran Ash Wednesday para liturgies in Year Level and House Assemblies for the staff and students. What keeps amazing me about 缅北强奸 is the depth and breadth of faith and service that comes so naturally to our young men and women. Families ought to be proud and praised for the tradition of faith they have nurtured in their children.
Mardi Gra/Shrove/Pancake Tuesday and Lent
On Wednesday the Christian Church celebrated Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Lent is a time of renewal (renewal in its many forms, health and wellbeing, as well as spiritual, moral, and for Christians, one鈥檚 baptismal renewal) through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, atonement, and self-denial; a time of self-reflection and self-purification. A time to revise, rework, and redo our priorities and attitudes so that at Easter we can celebrate a renewed commitment to deeds and actions for the coming year.
This reminds us of our theme, Think 鈥 Give 鈥 Get RESPECT.
The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is called Shrove or Pancake Tuesday. The word shrove is a form of the English word , which means to obtain for one's by way of and doing . Thus, Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the custom for Christians to be 鈥榮hriven鈥 before the start of Lent.
From the 16th century in the Anglican tradition, and later throughout British colonies, the custom of Pancake Tuesday developed as a form of fasting and penance before Lent and as a means to clear the pantry of the last of any rich foods that could not be kept for the 40 days of Lent.
In the Latin cultures of Portugal, Spain (Latin and South America) and Italy the custom evolved somewhat differently into what is called 鈥楩at Tuesday鈥 or Mardi Gra鈥 or Carnival from the Medieval Latin carnelevamen meaning 鈥榯he putting away of flesh鈥. Although as you can see the two events, Pancake Tuesday and Mardi Gra are quite different they have the same origin and meaning.
Lenten Reflection: Seeing in a Deeper Way
I would like to share a reflection from Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI, an Oblate Father from San Antonio Monastery, Texas. I share it with you all as Lent is a time of reflection and prayer, a time of self-renewal:
One of the many kinds of healings Jesus performs in the Gospel is the healing of people who are blind. He is giving them more than just physical sight, he is opening their eyes so that they can see more deeply making the necessary changes in their lives so that they can be the change in their communities. How can the grace and teachings of Jesus help us to see in a deeper way this Lent and be the change in our families and in the 缅北强奸 community particularly in how we think 鈥 give 鈥 get RESPECT? Here are some suggestions:
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through familiarity to seeing through wonder.
G.K. Chesterton once affirmed that familiarity is the greatest of all illusions and that the secret to life is to learn to look at things familiar until they look unfamiliar again. We open our eyes to depth when we open ourselves to wonder and awe of the beauty and goodness and kindness around us. - By shifting our eyes from seeing through jealousy to seeing through admiration.
Our perception becomes distorted whenever we move from the happy state of admiration to the unhappy state of envy and jealousy. Our eyesight is clear when we look for and delight in goodness and kindness. - By shifting our eyes from seeing through bitterness to seeing through eyes purified and softened by grief, compassion and mercy.
The root of bitterness is woundedness from hurtfulness and the way out of bitterness is grieving, compassion, mercy and kindness. Tears, goodness and kindness clear our eyesight because they soften a heart hardened by woundedness. - By shifting our eyes from seeing through anger to seeing through forgiveness.
Nothing taints our eyesight as much as anger. It is the most debilitating of all cataracts. And nothing cleanses our vision as much as forgiveness. Nobody holding a grudge sees straight. - By shifting our eyes from seeing through longing and hunger to seeing through gratitude.
Longing and hunger distort our vision. Gratitude restores it. It enables insight. The most grateful person you know has the best eyesight of all the people you know.
Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI
These coming two weeks are busy weeks in the College calendar with Drama, Sport, and assessments. I encourage you to drop in and stay connected to your child鈥檚 learning by attending some of these events. There is much academic research that indicates that such connectivity even though indirect has a significant positive impact on your son or daughters learning.
Over the coming weeks we have:
- Pink Stumps Day, Saturday 27th February
- Year 12 Play Rehearsal for Murder from Tuesday 2nd - Saturday 6th March
- Open Day, Sunday 7th March
- International Women鈥檚 Day, Thursday 11th March
- CSSDA Zone Final, Friday 12th March
- ISA Basketball Finals Saturday, 13th March at Penrith
- Greatest Hits Night, Friday 19th March
- P&F Welcome to 2021 Social Event, Saturday 20th March
Br Steve Hogan fsc
Principal