ST THOMAS' DAY 2023

Dear Families

St Thomas’ feast day was on the 3^rd July. We are celebrating our patron saint’s life this coming Monday (17^th July).

Is ‘Doubting Thomas’ a fair call?

When we look at what the New Testament says about Thomas, we inevitably arrive at the popular story of Thomas the ‘doubter’. The tag ‘Doubting Thomas’ is a bit narrow, and to be fair, there is more to this person than just being doubtful. The fact that Thomas comes up a few times in the bible, tells us that he had something to offer. After all, some of the apostles were hardly mentioned at all, so for someone to be mentioned a few times… is a big deal.

In John’s gospel a friend of Jesus, Lazarus, dies. In this story, Jesus raises his friend from the dead but did you know that Thomas is part of this story too? As the scripture goes, Thomas is said to have courageously attempted to rally his fellow apostles to take part in Jesus’ work and says, “Let us also go that we may die with him”. In retrospect, we can see that his attempt is misguided. But, he was willing to give it a go. Thomas did not have two thousand years of hindsight to understand that his attempt was not in line with what Jesus was trying to teach. All of Jesus’ followers at the time, were muddling their way through his teachings and his parables. They didn’t get it, time and time again. The point is that Thomas was there, and he was willing to have a crack. He had the courage to try to understand.

Later in John’s Gospel we come to the famous story where he states, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Two thousand years later, we have the audacity to call Thomas out as being shaky in his faith. But if we actually try to imagine ourselves being there, we would see that he didn’t have the privilege of meeting up with Jesus the first time after he had been crucified. He was left out of that event for whatever reason. Thomas, quite reasonably, wanted some proof before making a huge leap in understanding. History has not shown that he was cut this slack. Let’s remember that it is human to ask questions. It is human to want to know more before believing in something that appears to be impossible.

Even more important news about Thomas was that he was actually the first follower to commit to an understanding that Jesus is ‘Lord and God’. This is also a big deal and really sends home the message that faith is about curiosity, exploration and wanting to know more. Faith for human beings takes many years of exploration and we never truly get it during our lifetime.

Our students are exploring this thinking about Thomas. He was courageous and inquisitive and these are excellent attributes of a faith finder! Students are exploring Thomas through artwork and making their own interpretations of his image and personality. There will be a competition to see what gems we can find among each learning community.

You will see the invitation via various means to attend our Prayer Service on Monday in honour of our patron, Thomas. We would love to see you there if you can make it.

Andrew McDermott
Religious Education Leader

Issue 5 is now out .

We are giving away up to 3 FREE books with all LOOP orders to help celebrate and spread the love of reading.  

There is a new feature in the catalogue BooksPlus to make browsing even more enjoyable. Families can scan the QR code on featured titles for additional content including sneak peeks inside the books, book trailers and much more.

July
Thursday 20th July - Pupil Free Day - Student, Parent and Teacher Interviews
Wednesday 26th July - First Communion Parent Formation Evening - 6:45 - 8pm - this is for Year 4 and above students who will be making First Communion in 2023
Saturday 29th July - Sacrament of Confirmation - 11am and 2pm
Monday 31st - Wednesday 2nd August - Dental Van Visiting School

August
Friday 4th August - Foundation - Milo’s Birthday Surprise
Monday 7th August - Pupil Free Day - Professional Practice Time for Teachers
Tuesday 8th August – First Communion Parent/Child Workshop 6:45-7:45
Wednesday 9th August - First Communion Parent/Child Workshop 6:45-7:45
Friday 11th August - Foundation - 100 Days of School
Friday 11th August - Year 1 - Excursion to Myuna Farm
Friday 11th August - Damascus Learning Expo - Parents Invited – 9:00am – 10:00am
Monday 14th - 18th August - National Science Week - Innovation: Powering Future Industries
Tuesday 15th August - Assumption Mass: Damascus Community
Wednesday 16th August - Year 2 - Mad about Science Incursion
Monday 21st - Friday 25th August - Book Week - Read, Grow, Inspire
Wednesday 23rd August - Bethany Science Expo - 2:15 - 3:15 -Parents invited
Thursday 24th August - Year 6 Excursion - Melbourne Aquarium and Immigration Museum
Friday 25th August - Book Week Dress Up Parade at 9am
Thursday 31st August - Year One Learning Expo - Parents Invited

September
Friday 1st September - Father’s Day Morning Event - 8:30am - 10:15am (including Mass
Saturday 2nd September - First Communion Mass at 6:00pm
Sunday 3rd September – First Communion Mass at 9:00am and 10:45am
Wednesday 6th September - Year 2 Learning Expo at 2:30pm - Parents Invited
Wednesday 6th September - Year 6 Students - Interschool Sports Day 2 - St Peter’s College Campus
Thursday 7th September - First Communion Retreat - Candidates only
Friday 8th September - Year 4 Learning Expo at 8:45am - Parents Invited
Saturday 9th September - First Communion Mass at 6:00pm
Sunday 10th September - First Communion Mass at 9:00am and 10:45am
Friday 15th September – Last Day of School Term