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Dear parents, families and friends
This week we watched the installation of the new bell into our parish church. What an exciting moment that marks for the parish the upcoming completion of the church. We look forward to being able to celebrate mass next year in the building taking the wonderful community mass feeling that has been happening in our classrooms up until now into the new space.
As the year begins to draw to a close we begin thinking about classes for 2023. The teachers and students have been collaborating on finding good learning peers to identify for classes next year. If you have a specific and valid request for your child's placement (regarding their social emotional wellbeing or learning needs) you can email me on kdourley@cranbourneeast.catholic.edu.au. These requests must be received by November 25 to be considered in class formation.
Our 2023 Foundation students are getting excited and will soon begin visiting the school to learn about their new environment. We cannot wait to meet them.
I will email families next week about some of the important dates coming up in the calendar. We have sports days, masses and events that we hope to see families attending to share the experiences with their children.
I hope to see some of you at the Trivia night this Friday. Thanks to the FOST team for organising! Tickets are still available :)
Kind regards,
Kate
It’s Not About the Building…It’s About the People Coming to Know and Love Jesus
Our Mass this week, celebrated with the Bethany Community, landed on the feast of the Lateran Basilica. The St John Lateran Basilica is the oldest church in Rome. It was built in the 4th Century to cater for the growing Christian community back in the early church days. It’s a significant item on the itinerary if you’re ever in Rome, as it has a lot of history as well as being an impressive building.
We were reminded today that the church doesn’t hold a lot of meaning if it is not a place where the community of people gather and meet Jesus. It helps to have a roof over your head but the true meaning of Church is that it’s all about the people, not the bricks and mortar. Much the same as the difference between a house and a home. A house is made up of the floors, walls and roof but a home is where the family finds love, gives each other safety and comfort.
As well as being the feast of The Lateran Basilica, it is also the day our church bell was installed. Father Denis, Ellie & Kevin Lawlor and I were able to see the bell just before it was craned up to its proud position at the top of the tower. Ellie and Kevin, are foundational parishioners and donors of the special bell. The 600kg bell, cast in Italy is inscripted with their deceased son’s name, Adrian, who died in 2011 (see picture below). It was a proud moment to name the bell after their son and see it installed finally after many years of waiting for a new church in Cranbourne East.
Father Denis spoke about the tradition of having a church bell. In times before traffic noise, mobile phones and even watches and clocks, the church would alert the town community to Mass by ringing the church bell across the neighbourhood. We look forward to hearing the church bell next year when the church is ready to have the St Thomas the Apostle community gather and meet Jesus on a regular basis!