THE HALL IS IN ACTION!

We are very excited to have now held various College functions in our new Hall.

The Opening College Mass, the Badging of our SRC students, our HSC 2022 High Achiever’s Ceremony, an Information Night for Year 11 2022 and Ash Wednesday’s Liturgy were all held over the last fortnight.

It is an impressive new space, and it affords us with a range of opportunities to celebrate our faith, our students and to also drive the academic culture at the College.

We look forward to an official opening by year’s end and inviting parents/carers and community members to various events across the year.

OPEN DAY

Open Afternoon and Evening is a fantastic College event, and one which I look forward to each year. This will occur this coming Monday – see the section below – especially relating to parents/carers who have children in Year 6 2022.

It’s wonderful to see our students demonstrating pride in their College. Already over 200 of our students have volunteered to assist on the night. Well done!

ASH WEDNESDAY

Wednesday marked the commencement of Lent.

The College partook in an Ash Wednesday Liturgy in the Hall, and Mr O’Neill, our Faith & Liturgy Councillors and our Youth Ministry Leaders led us through a reverent ashes service and launch of Project Compassion.

The three key features of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving – were all spoken about as being at the heart of what Lent is about - a deeper conversion towards the love of the Lord as we prepare over the coming weeks for the Season of Easter.

The following words from Pope Francis are most apt at this time of year:

Fast from hurtful words and speak kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.

We encourage students to support Project Compassion throughout Lent. The importance of Project Compassion was highlighted at our service in a message from Ukraine’s CARITAS representative and in a video from Anartecia, a 12-year-old girl from Mozambique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1UWEKHP5YI

PRAYER

In light of the horrible scenes of damage, personal distress and the extraordinary amounts of rainfall, flood and destruction in recent days and weeks, we continue to keep in our thoughts and prayers all those affected in our local region, Northern NSW and Queensland.

May our compassionate Lord, and source of all comfort, be with those in their time of need and may they be reassured and find strength in the coming days, weeks and months.

The College also continues to keep in our hearts those afflicted by war. In particular, the following prayer from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development holds the people of Ukraine at the forefront of our minds:

A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE

Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.

–        Amen.