Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday). The word “Lent” comes from the same root as the Angelo-Saxon word “lengthen”. It was a word for springtime when the daytime lengthens rapidly. Therefore, Lent is in essence the Church’s springtime.
We are encouraged to look at this period of Lent as a journey. Lent reminds us that this is the season to turn away from our worldly distractions and journey home to God. This should be a time of inner reflection, and at the end of the Lenten journey, we should expect to find ourselves at a different place spiritually than when we started. At the end of our Lenten journey, if we have truly humbled and submitted ourselves to the Lord, the grace of God working in our lives should have conformed us more perfectly to the image of Christ, who is, himself, the image and likeness of God the Father.
“By the solemn forty days of Lent, the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.” CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 540
In order to assist us on our Lenten journey and to provide an opportunity for fellowship, the diocese publishes a Lenten Program book each year that includes daily reflections from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday for personal reflection in addition to longer-form Sunday Scripture reflections, readings, responsorial psalms, prayers and reflection questions that are traditionally part of group Lenten programs. The book also includes beautiful artwork from the Masters with accompanying artwork reflections.
The Lenten Program book is accompanied by a Triple CD resource that includes responsorial psalms songs recorded especially for the program as well as audio narrations of the Sunday Scripture readings and reflections.
The diocese’s Lenten Program continue to grow in popularity each year with 20,000 copies sold throughout Australia and increasingly around the world. The books and CD’s are also given for free to thousands of inmates in prisons throughout Australia as an outreach program.
The books go on sale around December/January each year. You can subscribe below to our Lenten Program mailing list and we will send you an email and links to purchase the books and CD’s when they go on sale.
You can also download samples of previous year’s books below.
Subscribe to the Lenten Program email list
Pietà Lenten Program 2024—on sale now!
Embark on a transformative Lenten journey with Pietà, an exquisite book and Triple CD Resource containing short daily reflections (from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday) perfect for individual devotional reading in addition to the longer-form Sunday Scripture readings, reflections, prayers, questions and visio divina that traditionally form part of Lenten group gatherings. Includes discount pricing for bulk orders and a GST free option for Australian Catholic Religious Groups starting from just $5.00 per copy!
Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited.
Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us, including the direct debit request.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a listed public holiday.
Debit day means the day that payment is due.
Debit payment means a particular transaction where a debit is made, according to your direct debit request.
Direct debit request means the Direct Debit Request between us and you.
Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.
You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.
Debiting your account
By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.
We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:
As authorised in the direct debit request; if the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following or previous business day. If you are unsure about which day your account has or will be debited, please check with your financial
Changes by you
If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.
This notice should be given to us in the first instance.
Your obligations
It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.
If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:
you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
you or your account may be charged a fee to reimburse us for charges we have incurred for the failed transaction;
you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method
Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.
Dispute
If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on 1800 047 703 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.
Accounts
You should check:
with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit
Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:
an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not
Confidentiality
We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.
However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
