Last Sunday’s Gospel highlights the challenge of what it means to be a disciple: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask, do unto others, lend without expecting repayment, judge not lest you be judged. These are all big asks especially in the time of Jesus where an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life, had been the practice for centuries.

Loving one’s enemies is asking a lot. The word ‘love’ is explained by the words that follow: ‘do good,’ ‘bless,’ and ‘pray for.’ Even today, blessing our enemies and praying for them might be all right for saints but expecting this of every Christian seems to be going too far. Asking for a blow on the second cheek while the pain on the first cheek is still hurting badly seems fit for a martyr. Not to try to take back what is stolen from us looks very foolish. Before we give up in despair and decide this type of Christianity is not for us, we need to look a little more closely at what this really means.

To love our enemy does not mean that we must throw our arms around them every time we meet them. It tells us that we must do all in our power to rid of our minds of hatred towards them. We should not and must not judge them or condemn them. We must look at the other person as the image of God and see the good in them. We must have spiritual attitude when demanding back property and not in any way injure or hurt them. If someone offends us they offend God which is much more serious. Our charity must help them to seek God’s forgiveness. That they should seek our forgiveness is of very minor importance in comparison with divine forgiveness. 

When we pray for those who do us wrong, we break the power of hate in ourselves and in others and release the power of love.  

While hanging on the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Lord, give us the strength to ask for help in praying for those who do us wrong.

Catholic Schools Week

Next week is Catholic Schools week. The theme for CSW 2019 is ‘The future has a name, and that name is hope.’ This has been inspired by the core values, “All who contribute to Catholic education in the systemic schools of the Diocese of Wollongong are called to act with: hope, integrity, justice and compassion”.

We will be participating in a number of events throughout the week:

Tuesday 5th March
Caritas Launch of Project Compassion at Gwyneville - a number of the Year 6 Mission Group will be representing the school.

Western Region Swimming Carnival.

Wednesday 6th March        
Ash Wednesday Mass 9:30am.

Thursday 7th March          
Staff attending the Diocesan Education Mass 6:30pm at Fairy Meadow.

Friday 8th March              
We will be holding a special prayer liturgy, followed by assembly from 2:20pm down in the prayer space on Friday afternoon.

During the week students will be participating in some activites in their classroom, some of which will be on display in an "art gallery" style in the hall for the following week's assembly.

P&F / Uniform Committee Meeting

The first meeting for 2019 will be help in the Library on Friday 8^th March from 1:30pm.  All are welcome to attend.

Have a lovely week everyone,
Kayleen Petzer

Next week several children will begin preparation for receiving the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) through their participation in four workshops. We will keep these children and their families in our prayers over the next few weeks.

Parents who wish to present their children (Year 6 or older) for the Sacrament of Confirmation can collect an enrolment form from Fr Sean after any Mass this weekend. All forms need to be returned by this weekend so that enrolment can be finalised.  Confirmation will be held on Saturday 18 May, 2019.

As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebrations in Week 6 (next week) we will gather together for Mass on Wednesday 6^th March at 9:30 am (Ash Wednesday) and also have a special prayer liturgy and assembly outdoors on Friday afternoon, 8^th March (weather permitting). All are very welcome.

This Friday is World Day of Prayer.  Year 6 and the Liturgy Group will attend a special ecumenical service in the Church.  Thank you very much to Miss O'Brien and Mrs Hamilton for organising our participation in this special occasion.

 Richard Tuckwell

Listed below are some important school dates.  The school calendar is updated regularly and can be accessed via the school website, Compass Parent Portal and Skoolbag.

FEBRUARY

MARCH

Regional & SHIPs Swimming Carnivals

We wish the students that will be attending these carnivals this week and next all the best. We hope they have a great day. Thank you to the parents who are helping out with transport at either event.

Wests Tigers Visit

Last Tuesday, Tyson Gamble, Kyle Williams and Oliver Clark from the Wests Tigers NRL team visited St Michael’s for a meet and greet with the students as part of the NRL Community Carnival program.  The Wests Tigers visit focused on ‘Celebrating Differences’ health and wellbeing as well as promoting positive and respectful behaviors with the mission to stamp out bullying.  We thank the Wests Tigers players for taking time out to visit St Michael's.

Parent Information Night

Thank you to those families who attended the parent information session last week.  Following evaluation and feedback, we will hold 3 sessions at next year's parent information session. 

Session 1:               Years 1 & 2
Session 2:               Years 3 & 4
Session 3:               Years 5 & 6

This should allow time for families with multiple children to be able to visit each information session.

COMPASS TIPS - Student Absences

How to add notes/approvals for your child being away from school. Teachers mark the roll first thing in the morning. If your child was not present and there are no absence approvals on record, you will be asked through Compass to provide an explanation.

Being Notified About Unexplained Absences
If your child has been marked as Not Present during the morning roll, then you will be notified on your Compass home page. You will have one of these notifications for each child that has unexplained absences.

Explaining Absences
To explain the absence, click on the notification and you will be presented with a list of unexplained absences for that child. To add an absence note, tick the box next to the unexplained absence. You will then be presented with the Attendance Note Editor window, where you should choose an absence type from the drop-down list:

And then you can enter some text to further explain the absence or illness. Once you’re done, press Save.  This information will automatically be saved in Compass and the student attendance records will be updated.

Planned Absences
If you’re planning to have your child away from school (e.g.: for a planned medical appointment) then you can enter absence notes in advance. However the school is not automatically notified when you enter these notes, so please let us know in advance. You can either contact the office, or speak to your child’s teacher at school.

If you have any problems with using Compass, please contact the School Office.

School Fees

Thank you to those families who have returned their school fee agreement. A reminder that if you have not returned your School Fee Agreement your school fees are due in full by the 28th February 2019 and will be followed up accordingly.

A statement will be emailed each month (a hard copy provided to those who do not have access to email) to families showing the payments received and balance outstanding.  A reminder to parents with a Hotmail email address, to check that your statement is not in your junk/spam email folder. 

We are aware that from time to time family’s circumstances change.  If you are unable to meet your agreed payment commitments, please contact the school.   If you are experiencing financial hardship please contact the school for an Application for Fee Concession form.  As always confidentiality is maintained.

Asthma

Thank you to those families who have provided the school with an updated asthma plan for their child. The action plan ensures the school administers medical attention which is specific to your child’s response to their health condition.   Please ensure that the school holds up to date ventolin and spacer.

Canteen Specials:-

Sausage Sizzle with sauce $3.50
Pancakes + icecream $3.00
Cheese toastie + popper $3.00

CANTEEN CLOSED MONDAYS/TUESDAYS 

Happy birthday to the following students who celebrate a birthday this week:

William F, Amelia M, Billly L, Abigail S and  Jorjee S.

Mittagong Netball Club                

Registration Now Open!

Find us on Facebook for links and information on how to register or go to Southern Highlands Netball Association web page and sign up as a Wildcat under 2019 Winter Registrations – Mittagong Netball Club.

For more information contact Vanessa Tasker 0402 075 770 or email mittagongnetballclub@gmail.com