Gospel of the Week

 Luke 14:25-33

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

All who do not renounce their possessions cannot be my disciples.

Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

This week the Gospel describes the text begins with two discipleship sayings that require absolute allegiance to Jesus (14:25-27). Then Jesus provides two brief stories or parables to illustrate the importance of “counting the cost” and giving up all for Jesus (14:28-33).

It means we need to release our love of our possessions in our hearts, recognizing that what we own has always belonged to God. We must agree that we are stewards commissioned to use all our resources and abilities as God wishes us to. That may mean to give it all away, to use it for ministry, or to meet others' needs.

Yesterday we held the Pakenham and Officer District Athletics carnival and from all accounts it was a great day. Once again, our students were very well behaved and represented St Patrick’s proudly. Thanks to all our wonderful staff who went along to support and to Louise Breeden our wonderful Phys Ed teacher for getting it all organized!

This Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day! This is a special time for any dads, grandparents, carers, guardians, uncles or brothers! Dads come to us in many forms these days and we celebrate all of them.

I hope as many dads as possible can join us tomorrow for our Father’s Day celebration on THIS Friday the 5^th of September from 8.30am onwards. Please come to the stadium. The gates will open at 8.20am!

The Avenue carpark

As you will have noticed, this has now undergone a major change. The whole carpark is one way only and all angle parking, which means there is NO REVERSE PARKING as well as a crossing from the carpark to the school that all families must use. Thank you to all the parents who have been respectful in understanding when staff have had to speak to them to ensure they are doing the right thing. This change has come about to keep our students, your children safe at ALL times.

There will also be a clear NO CROSSING zone as well which must be obeyed at all times. Please ensure that you continue to follow the rules in the carpark. Thank you.

Preparations for 2026

At St Patrick’s we continue to have school tours coming through for this year and 2027 which is great and next year, we welcome many new families to our community. This term, I will begin planning for 2026. It is during this term that I ask parents to put in writing any issues they would like to raise with me in terms of the new academic year. I wish to make this very clear that requests made by parents for particular staff etc will NOT be guaranteed. I would like to emphasize that the staff of St Patrick’s do an amazing job and are valuable entities in your child’s education, and I will not entertain any idea of ‘teacher shopping’. As professionals, we base the decisions on your child’s placement very carefully and there is serious consideration put into this each year.

This communication does need to be sent to me by the end of Term 3. Any requests made later than this may not be considered. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Thank you and God Bless,

Meg