The Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent (John 4:5-42) describes the meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman beside a well. In Jesus’ time, the Samaritan’s and Jews hated each other but Jesus spoke to the woman kindly. This story reminds us that God loves all people no matter where they are from. God asks us to be like Jesus and to respect and care for all people no matter who they are. We encourage our students to also respect and care for each other and be a forgiving friend, especially during Lent.
This week we value Excellence.  Excellence often refers to greatness, the very best. Achieving excellence is a very difficult thing to do at times. It is a quality that people really appreciate, because it is so hard to find. Striving for excellence is trying to do our best at whatever task we set our minds to do. At Holy Spirit, staff are always looking for ways to help students achieve excellence. This, we pray that our students draw upon their many skills and show excellence in a given area.

ST PATRICK’S DAY 17 th MARCH:

Next Friday, March 17, is St Patrick’s Feast Day and is celebrated worldwide. St Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and the Irish. He was born about 389 A.D. in Northern Wales. St Patrick had an adventurous life. He was captured by pirates at the age of 16. The pirates brought him to Ireland to tend the flocks of a chieftain in Ulster. Six years of slavery made him a devoted Christian. He escaped to France and became a
monk. In 432, a vision led him to return to Ireland as a missionary bishop. He brought Christianity to Ireland and taught there for 29 years. He used the shamrock, a 3 leaf clover (Ireland's national flower) to explain the Blessed Trinity and we still use this as well when teaching about the Trinity. St. Patrick founded 365 churches, baptised over 120,000 people and consecrated 450 bishops.

ST JOSEPH’S FEAST DAY 19 th MARCH: St Joseph was the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. We know Joseph loved Jesus and when Jesus stayed in the Temple, Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus,  'Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22). He teaches us forgetfulness of self in the service of others. He is the patron saint of fathers and workers.

PROJECT COMPASSION:

Don’t forget to keep filling your Project Compassion Boxes. This year, Project Compassion features the stories of four inspiriting people from Nepal, Australia, Zimbabwe and Vietnam. This week we hear Laxmi’s story in Nepal. After losing her father at a young age, Laxmi was at risk of falling further into extreme poverty. But with the support of our partner Caritas Nepal, Laxmi joined a child's club, became a leader in her school and is now a mentor to other girls in her village.  Laxmi is now excelling in her studies and working towards her dream of becoming a civil engineer. She continues to be involved in the child's club, serving as an advisor and mentoring the next generation of young leaders at her old school.  Since 2018, Caritas Nepal has supported more than 5,000 children through the child's clubs.  To read more, visit: https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/pc23-stories/