During the last School Holidays, I was blessed to be a part of a CEO delegation studying evangelisation and being part of a pilgrimage to England and Italy.

Our final destination was the town of Assisi, a beautiful town and also the location of the Basilica of San Francesco. Assisi is the place where St. Francis strengthened in his love for God, found a fellowship and also developed a deep connection with the world around him.

Those of you who have been to Assisi (I would recommend visiting) would know just how gorgeous it is – not just the buildings – but its natural features and beauty of its natural environment.

Pope Francis has written often of Saint Francis’ ‘love of nature’ and key features of this have been found in the 2015 encyclical Laudato Si (http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html)

In this document, Pope Francis reminds us that our common home (our Earth) is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.

There are numerous and important ideas which are contained within this document. By way of summary, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops recognises key features which Pope Francis emphasises. These include:

• “A Moral and Spiritual Challenge. The ecological crisis, Pope Francis writes, is a summons to profound interior conversion—to renew our relationships with God, one another, and the created world.
• Care for God’s Creation. God created the world and entrusted it to us as a gift. Now we have the responsibility to care for and protect it and all people, who are part of creation. Protecting human dignity is strongly linked to care for creation.
• We are All Connected. We are connected to the rest of the human family, to the created world, and to those who will come after us in future generations.
• Impact on the Poor. People in poverty have contributed least to climate change, yet they are disproportionately impacted by it. As a result of excessive use of natural resource by wealthy nations, those who are poor experience pollution, lack of access to clean water, hunger, and more.
• Called to Solidarity. We are one human family and have a shared responsibility for others and for creation. Wealthy countries have a responsibility to reduce consumption of non-renewal resources and should help poorer nations develop in sustainable ways.
• Technological and economic development must serve human beings and enhance human dignity, instead of creating an economy of exclusion, so that all people have access to what is needed for authentic human development.
• Supporting Life, Protecting Creation. Concern for nature is incompatible with failure to protect vulnerable human beings, such as unborn children, people with disabilities, or victims of human trafficking.
• A Time to Act. Pope Francis calls for a change in lifestyle and consumption. We can make important changes as individuals, families, and communities, and as civil and political leaders.
• Hope and Joy. ‘Injustice is not invincible’ (no. 74) and we act knowing that we seek to live out God’s vision of renewed relationships with God, ourselves, one another, and creation.”

A deep love for and connection with nature is something which we would hope all students at Magdalene aspire towards having. We are blessed to have our beautiful grounds at the College, and we should be thankful for these. We now encourage students to express this gratitude and thanks in the way they care for their environment both at and beyond the College.

I particularly commend our Duke of Edinburgh students who have included Environmental Stewardship as part of their service component within this programme.

YEAR 12 GRADUATION EVENTS AND FINAL WEEK

I spoke to our Year 12 students of 2019 this morning and thanked them for being such an impressive cohort. We are all very excited about the events of the coming week but I have stressed with students the need to really show their “A Game” across the week to really finish the academic year well (before the HSC commences in Term Four).

Mr Matthew McMahon

Principal