The Gospel (John 8:1-11) for the fifth Sunday of Lent tells the story of a woman who had broken the laws. The Pharisees wanted her stoned according to the law, and asked Jesus what he thought. They wanted to see whether Jesus would disobey the law and show the woman mercy. Jesus knelt and wrote on the ground with his finger then stood up and said, ‘Let the first person who has never done anything wrong throw the first stone at her.’ He showed mercy towards the woman without disobeying the law. This reading reminds our students that not everyone is perfect all the time; we all make mistakes. Therefore, we should not judge others but treat them the way we would like to be treated.

This week at Holy Spirit Catholic School, we value respect. Having respect for someone means you think good things about who a person is or how he or she acts. Respect also means that you accept somebody for who they are, even when they are different from you or you don’t agree with them. We often use the value of respect in schools when we are speaking with children and how they treat others. We reinforce that showing respect to someone means they act in a way that shows they care about their feelings and well-being. This week, we pray that our students show respect for others by thinking and acting in a way that shows others they care about their feelings and their well-being, not calling others names, treating each other with courtesy and caring about themselves. 

Sacramental Programme Update: An email was sent to all families in Years 3 and up with the following information:

• The Parish Programme will occur in Term 3 of the 2025 school year - approximate dates between 21 July and 14 September
• Confirmation has been confirmed for the evening of Tuesday, 9 September (venue to be confirmed)
•  First Eucharist Mass on the weekend of 13 and 14 September - held at the 3 Churches (Holy Spirit Church @ 6pm)
•  Lessons for participants will be conducted at each of the Catholic Schools on set days at set times - Holy Spirit students workshop time Tuesdays @ school from 3:15 - 4pm  (TBC)
•  The parish will also host a session later in the week if children are unable to attend the after school session with students not attending Catholic Schools
• 5 lessons in total that students must attend - 1 x Reconciliation; 2 x Confirmation and 2 x Eucharist

Thank you to those families who have indicated they are interested. Numbers will be gauged for the workshops here at school. A reminder that the programme (notices and forms etc) is run through the Parish, not the school. 

Thank you to all our families who have purchased raffle tickets for Project Compassion. There will be many children excited for the draw on Friday hoping to win one of these wonderful prizes. Your generosity in supporting this fundraiser is much appreciated. All Project Compassion boxes can be returned to the Office or class teacher this week to be included in our donation to Project Compassion. 

Have a safe and enjoyable break.
God bless.
Caroline Fuller – APRE