A Message from Bishop Brian:

The Blessing of Ash Wednesday Ashes 

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ

In early January, I wrote to the faithful of the diocese at a time when many within our communities were still fighting the bushfires or trying to come to terms with the feelings of loss and grief associated with the bushfires. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of communities throughout our diocese in the Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly regions, seeing the destruction firsthand. Importantly, these trips gave me the chance to simply be with, pray with and listen to the many stories from shocked, impacted, overwhelmed and brave people.

There have been incredible outpourings of support for the communities impacted by these fires. I continue to be heartened by the stories of unity and generosity that continue to bring people together in the aftermath of the fires, from within the impacted communities, from our diocesan agencies, our parishes and wider communities who have sought to generously donate money, time, goods and services to help those impacted and to help communities rebuild.

As a way of continuing to prayerfully show solidarity with each other, we have collected ashes from areas representing the diocesan regions ravaged by fire. I have blessed them this morning at St Francis Xavier Cathedral and have invited my clergy to add them to the ashes of their own community to be used in Ash Wednesday celebrations.

I trust that they will be, as always, a powerful symbol of the start of our Lenten journey, but particularly this year, a powerful symbol of our journeying with others in our diocese, especially those amongst us in the recovery phase.

Yours in Christ

Most Rev Brian G Mascord DD

Catholic Schools Week (CSW) will be held from 1 -7 March. Our theme this year is ‘Embracing our future together’.

CSW is about celebrating the diversity and uniqueness of Catholic education and is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our school community. CSW also marks the beginning of the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong enrolment period. 

Please click here to access a CEDoW school enrolment package.

The week is designed to be a lively celebration and shared with members of our parish and the wider Catholic community.

Construction of Shade Sails on Infants Playground

You may be wondering what the construction fencing is for on the Infants playground. At  the end of 2019 Good Samaritan applied for a Local Schools Community Fund grant. We have been successful in gaining $20 000 in funds that will go towards the construction of some much needed shade sails on the Infants playground. The gap in the cost of the shade sails  is provided through funding from Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong.

Work is scheduled throughout this week so there will be some disruption to accessing the Year 1&2 building including Reading Recovery. This is a short term disruption for a long term gain.