BY FRANCES FAIRS The Jubilee Year has been spoken about far and wide—homilies, articles, conversations over tea after Mass. It’s been a blessed year for all members of the Church, but for Catechists, this sacred year has also been a great opportunity. If the Church invited all members to be Pilgrims of Hope, then Catechists, in a special way, became companions on the road—guiding children and families toward the heart of our Triune God and the life of the Church. It has been a beautiful, grace-filled journey. Helping Catechists Walk the Jubilee Path From the beginning, we wanted this Jubilee to be something Catechists could live, not just read about. So through our CatechistNET newsletter, Zoom sessions, in-person meetings, and our retreat, we shared practical ways to participate as Pilgrims of Hope. Pilgrim passports made their way into classrooms and parishes, and diocesan Jubilee events saw a wonderful number of Catechists and families taking part. Sue Clark and I created online resources and lesson plans to help you bring the Jubilee alive in your lessons. With permission from the Catholic Education Office, the Archdiocese of Brisbane, and the Diocese of Broken Bay, we passed on classroom pilgrimage materials—posters, stickers, and more. Your enthusiastic feedback told us they hit the mark. Thank you! Expanding Our Online Resources Even Further This year also gave us special moments in the life of the Church that were perfect for classroom teaching. We created special online resources for the canonisations of Sts Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, for Lent (Caritas), and as mentioned, for the Jubilee Year. In addition, we updated the COLAL resources to include our new Holy Father, and Sue continued to enrich our CatechistNET newsletter with storytelling tips, craft ideas, and seasonal lessons for Easter and Advent/Christmas. If you ever need to revisit something, all past newsletters are available on our website—your very own treasure chest of teaching ideas. Welcoming Pope Leo XIV This year held a profound moment of transition as Pope Leo XIV was elected in May and succeeded Pope Francis. To mark this historic moment, we created new prayer cards for Stages 2 and 3, and updated the Year 1 fivefinger prayer card to share a lovely image of Pope Leo XIV and a prayer with a reminder of God’s love for the children. A Gift for Our Year 6 Students: My Catholic Prayer Book For years, we struggled to find a Bible of suitable quality for our Year 6 gifts. Then Jude Hennessy made a suggestion that I wasn’t expecting: Why not create something ourselves? So we did. Sue and I got to work in shaping My Catholic Prayer Book, and I could not be more pleased with the result. The book offers well-loved Catholic prayers, prayers for special intentions, inspiration from the saints, scripture verses and guidance for living as young disciples. And at the very front, a heartfelt message from Bishop Brian Mascord encouraging each student to pray daily. It is a gift we hope will accompany them into the next chapter of their faith journey. Courses, Formation, and a Retreat to Remember With the Jubilee theme of hope illuminating our formation this year, our courses offered practical tools for teaching as well as adult formation in our Catholic faith. We felt encouraged: • Approx. 150 Catechists participated in Safeguarding and Level 1 courses • 95 catechists and parishioners joined us for our Level 3 course in May • Excellent feedback on all CCD events & courses, including the creative resource days and Jubilee Zoom sessions Furthermore, we were delighted to welcome catechists from other dioceses across NSW to our courses—something we hope to continue next year. One of the shining moments of the year was our Catechist Retreat, which was held in the week of the Jubilee of Catechists. Over 110 Catechists attended across two pilgrimage sites. The day was spiritually rich, intellectually stimulating, and a lot of fun. Our gratitude goes to Jude Hennessy, Fr Bernard Gordon VG, and Sr Magdalen Mather OSB for their wonderful sessions on Faith, Hope, and Love. But for me, the highlight was the celebration of Mass—surrounded by you, the saints of our diocese—and listening to the inspired preaching of Fr Bernard Gordon and Fr Chris Sarkis. To be fair, the food was also pretty good… Thank you to Sue Clark and Helen Bennett for your excellent support. Thank you As we come to the end of this Jubilee Year, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks for your selfless service, your steadfast faith, and the hope you bring into classrooms each week. You are Pilgrims of Hope for the young people of our diocese. May these summer months bring you rest, may this Advent season draw you deeper into the quiet hope of Christ’s coming, and may Christmas fill your homes and hearts with the peace and love of our Saviour. With gratitude and prayer for each of you—Have a blessed Advent, a very merry Christmas, and a refreshing summer break. A YEAR AS PILGRIMS OF 8 | CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE • CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF WOLLONGONG
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