Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
Lent at Santa Sabina in 2023
Lent has been marked in a number of ways at Santa Sabina since Ash Wednesday on 6 March. Each House in Years 7-12 has joined together for a Lenten Liturgy on Thursday morning in the chapel. These have been well attended and House Leaders have been focused on coming together as a community to pray and fundraise together. We were able to celebrate a Eucharistic Mass on Friday 17 March and other occasions we have marked with a Liturgy of the Word. Caritas fundraising for our students in Years 7 -12 has taken the form of pancake stalls on Shrove Tuesday and a staff vs student Basketball game.
At Del Monte, students have also been supporting Caritas with the collection of funds, marking Lent in various ways in the classroom and during assemblies. Students from P-4 will also mark Palm Sunday and Holy Week together as a community next week.
At Gioia House the Sacred Space in the foyer has continued to remind students of the opportunities Lent provides for us to reflect on and renew our faith. Our Years 5 and 6 students also organised a very successful cake stall to raise money for Caritas.
Our Social Justice Leaders in Year 7-12, ably led by Ms Sulis, have been selling tickets for a Caritas raffle during Lent and all three areas of the school have given full support to this fundraiser.
The focus of Lent in all of our liturgical and fundraising initiatives has been on the transformative impact of this Church Season. We have been focusing in our prayers and actions on the hope that forgiveness will make us better people in a better world.
Best wishes to the whole Santa Sabina Community as we celebrate the light of Easter after a season of transformation. We extend this blessing to our whole community:
May God surround us with gifts this Easter Season
– the gift salvation, the gift of hope, the gift of joy.
May all who are gathered here find
peace and goodwill in all that we do
May God bless and nourish us in the days ahead
and may our actions reflect God’s love
Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care