Religious Education News
Refugee Awareness Day
The theme for Refugee Week this year is Celebrating the Year of Welcome
This week Trinity celebrated National Refugee Week in classrooms with lessons to educate our children about who refugees are and why they have come to Australia
On Thursday, the whole school celebrated a day of Refugee Awareness. Teachers and students participated in activities to promote awareness and understanding of the many challenges that refugees face coming to Australia and to celebrate the contribution refugees make to our community.
The activities covered four main themes:
- Cultural food – the children learnt about the many foods we now enjoy in Australia that originate from the Middle East and made tasty Falafels with Mrs Lucas and Mrs Birks. Yum!!
- Cultural music and dance – the children listened to a personal account of the journey made by a woman from Zimbabwe to Australia and found out about African music and dance, learning to ‘shimmy’ to African music with Miss O’Brien and Miss Wade.
- Cultural Art – children learnt about the journey’s refugees take to start their new lives in countries like Australia and shared their learning through art with Miss Corcoran and Mrs Cooper.
- Sports from other cultures – children learnt about the many different sports and games children from other countries participate in, and had a lot of fun learning to play these with Mr Niddrie and Mrs Burns
- Stories – in Library this week children listened to stories and participated in activities to develop understanding of refugees in Australia with Mrs Doolan.
At the end of the day we all gathered in prayer for HOPE led by our Year 6 Ministers.
Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5
We are encouraged to take action by praying for refugees and asylum seekers located all around the world. We pray in hope for a world where all people are welcomed.
God of hope,
Continue to reframe our world through your boundless love.
Continue to point us beyond our current experience to your glorious promises.
Continue to inspire us to be pointers to hope.
Make the hallmarks of our lives, hope-filled prayers, hope-filled actions, and hope-filled love.
Continue your work of transformation in us, for the hope of the world, and for your Glory.
Amen
Readings this Weekend – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time A
GOSPEL: Matthew 10:26-33https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A26-33&version=ESV
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops.
Living the Gospel
One of the messages of Jesus to his disciples and, through him, of Matthew to the original community, is to have courage and to have pride in their belief. No matter what threat or persecution they are to endure, the command is to proclaim the message of Jesus from the house-tops. They are to be proud of what they believe and be prepared to share it with others. In a world today that is not always open to the message of Jesus, we too are called to be proud of what we believe and not whisper it in the darkness.
Reflection
‘Do not be afraid’ is one of the most commonly repeated sentences in the Bible. In one form or another, the command to ‘be not afraid’ or ‘fear not’ appears several hundred times throughout the Old and New Testaments.
The passage is a reminder of the abundant love of God who cares for them and sees all their efforts to continue to live out the message and ministry of Jesus.
It is equally a message for us, today. We are called to continue the spread of the gospel message; continuing the work of those early Christian communities, the Twelve and Jesus himself.
Thought of the Week
Wishing everybody a wonderful week.
God bless,
Donna Wade