Religious Education

GOSPEL: Luke 10:38-42
In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.'

REFLECTION
This week we have the familiar story of Martha and Mary. As we know Martha was the workaholic and Mary was the contemplative. When Jesus came to the town where Mary and Martha lived, he went to their home. Martha welcomed him and then immediately went to the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal for him. Most likely Jesus had not had a home-cooked meal in quite a while.

Mary, however, sat down at Jesus’ feet. She talked with him and listened attentively to him. Over time, Martha began to get angry. She was doing all the work! In Martha’s mind, the least Mary could do was ask her if she needed some help. However, Mary did not do so. Martha was upset and angry. Here she was slaving away at the stove while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet.

Finally Martha’s anger escalated to the point where she had to express it. She says to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that Mary has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me!” However, Jesus does not respond to Martha as she anticipated. Jesus gently scolded Martha for being so anxious and worried. He then tells Martha: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Now put yourself in Martha’s shoes. How do you think you would respond to this seeming reprimand? Would you react as Martha did (at least initially)? Or would you pause and reflect on Jesus’ statement and your reaction to his statement? Or would you think to yourself: am I jealous of Mary’s relationship with Jesus? Or are my priorities out of order?’

Today Jesus is asking each of us: What takes priority in my life? One way to answer this question might be to ask ourselves: How do I use my time? Do I fritter it away? Do I work 12 hours a day? Do I spend quality time with the people I care about? Do I make time for prayer? Do I spend time with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?

No one else needs to know the answers to these questions. However, your answers to these questions may give you some insight into your life. In our busy and distracting world, it is very easy to get “off-track.” Today Jesus is inviting us to come away and spend time with him. What a wonderful invitation! Will we accept this invitation? Or will we ignore this invitation? (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

VINNIES WINTER APPEAL
I would like to extend our gratitude to all families who contributed to the Vinnies Winter Appeal by donating canned food. We had such an amazing response that we were able to deliver fifteen overflowing baskets to St Vincent de Paul to distribute to those in need here in our own community.

NAIDOC PRAYER SERVICE

On Thursday 25th July, 5/6MA will be leading us in a prayer service to celebrate NAIDOC Week at 9am in the PAC.

NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself.

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. (https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/naidoc-week)

We extend a warm welcome to all members of our school community to join us in this celebration.

STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
On Monday our Mt Carmel Staff travelled to Goulburn to participate in a professional development day with Andrew Chinn. The day was broken into three sessions. The first session looked at music and daily prayer and music for special occasions in the life of a school. The second session looked at music and liturgy in the Catholic Primary School- how and why we choose the music. The third session looked at bringing scripture to life through music. The staff had a wonderful day and have brought back many new skills that they can implement within their classrooms.