Year 10 Pieces to Peace Reflection Class

In preparation for the trip to Jewish museum and the Islamic museum, students were asked to make sense and build empathy for those involved in the war in Gaza, identify common ground in faith, and finally, pray for peace. Students explored a case study of sharing our school yard space, and considered the challenge of sharing with others. The Year 10 students in their subject 1 God and 3 Religions are learning about the Islamic, Jewish and Christian religions, and finding common ground in belief in one loving God.

The prayer was written by three students, Amos, Manuel and Jeremy from 10 Mannix to support the many innocent victims caught up in the conflict.

Lord our God, King of all kings, creator of heaven and earth, may you spare and have empathy for the innocent children who were killed in this conflict and did not get a chance to have a life. May you have mercy on them, in Jesus name we pray.

Amen

Celebrating great women of Faith on Mothers’ Day

In Term 2 Religion, Year 9 students are learning about Mary and the key role she played in selflessly being there for Jesus in good and bad times. In our classrooms we have a display of 12 women of Faith. As part of our assessment we are reflecting on the Great Women of Faith in our lives, our Mums, Aunties, Grandmothers. Each Year 9 student will  interview a woman of faith and the results were displayed at the Mothers’ Day Breakfast. Our faith is often passed onto us and is a valuable gift that we take with us through our lives.

The following prayer was read at the reflection:

Dear Lord,

We thank you for  our Mothers and all people who bestow our faith upon us.

We thank them for their  love,  commitment, care and kindness.

We thank them for their wisdom, for helping us grow and flourish.

We thank them for their strength,  sacrifices and for being there in times of need. 

And we thank them for their encouragement, and celebrating our achievements.

Lord, help Mothers know how much they are loved and appreciated. 

We ask that you bless all Mothers, including those who are no longer with us today.

Amen.

Another woman of great faith was Mrs Geeta Ramachdran who spoke at our CRC Mother's Day breakfast. Over the course of a lifetime Mothers do a lot for their children. Mrs Ramachandran had to flee her homeland of Sri Lanka, due to the genocide that was occuring there. Like many refugee families Mrs Ramachandran sought a safe country to raise her children. When she arrived at Christmas Island she was placed on a Bridging Visa, this meant her family was not given permanent residence and many of the rights of everyday Australians , such as a free education or permission to travel were not given to them. Many other refugees who arrived on Christmas Island were given the same visas. Mrs Ramachandran has lobbied the federal government to change this discriminative visa category. She and 20 other women walked to Canberrra to change this law. For those of you who don’t know, that is 634 kilometers and according to Google maps should take 146 hours. This year our school theme is Walk with me, and given the extraordinary walk Mrs Ramachandran has made to secure the future of her children, she was an appropriate choice for CRC St Albans Mother's Day breakfast.