EVERYONE’S WELCOME AT A CATHOLIC SCHOOL.
Discover your local
Catholic school during
Catholic Schools
Open Week
August 4-10
Discover your local
Catholic school during
Catholic Schools
Open Week
August 4-10
Last week in the lead up to the Lenten season while working with a Year Five class, Adrain Brown, Deputy Principal at St Martin de Porres, Sheidow Park inquired of the students the meaning of Ash Wednesday. Upon asking the question “What is Ash Wednesday all about?” he got an instant response from one student telling him “It is about a big fire that happened in a big forest”. In a South Australian context, that is a very true statement given the destruction that happened in our state on the 16th February 1983. This was a long time before these children were even born but nevertheless still remains a significant fact for them worth recalling.
The children were able to go further back in history and talk about Jesus going into the desert for 40 days and fasting over this period. They were able to relate this sacrifice to doing something good for others and suggested their efforts should be channelled into Project Compassion.
Another student stated that the official start of Lent was Ash Wednesday and that we needed to begin Lent in the church. On asking “Why?” she replied, “The priest needs to bless our minds” while another student added “in the way of the Cross”.
In church this morning as children and adults gathered the community members were all asked to turn away from sin and to be faithful to the Gospel. It was an invitation to constant conversion, a reminder that life on earth is short and that we will be called to eternal life with Christ. In the St Martin de Porres Parish, as each person was marked with the cross, a sign of Catholic identity, it would seem that all are united in the meaning of Ash Wednesday and the significance of Lent, we just choose to put the meaning in our own ‘speak’.
To find out more about St Martin de Porres School, please visit their website
Catholic Schools Open Week is back for 2025 – and it’s your invitation to explore what makes Catholic education such a meaningful choice for your child.
About
Our Schools
News
Working With Us
