26 February 2020

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for Catholics around the world.

We begin our Lenten journey by marking ourselves with ash. Traditionally, this ash is produced from burning the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. In response to the devastating bushfires in Australia over recent months, the community at St James the Apostle School, Hoppers Crossing North, has combined the burning of last year’s palms with a fundraiser for the St Vincent de Paul Society’s bushfire appeal.

In a liturgy with Parish Priest Fr Jude Pirotta MSSP and the school’s Religious Education Leader Michael Polh, students and teachers added their blessed palms to the fire not only as a symbol of renewal as we enter Lent, but also as a symbol of solidarity with those who have suffered through the recent bushfires.

‘It may seem like the fires were a long way from Hoppers Crossing but, with the air filled with ash and smoke, it was something that really connected our students with the tragedy that had occurred’, said the school’s Principal Mary Abbott. ‘As a Catholic community, we look for ways to connect our faith with ways of supporting people who have lost so much.’

The community at St James raised $400 through the event.