Faith and Mission News – 25 January 2022

Welcome

A very warm welcome to all our students and families to another year. As we commence our school year, we are reminded that we are in ‘Ordinary’ time in our Church calendar. The idea of ‘ordinary’ does not always  fit comfortably in a society that appears to value the extraordinary, the sensational and the famous, and we forget that the vast majority of humanity simply goes about living, very ordinarily. We know that much of Jesus’ ministry was lived in the ordinary: family, work, prayer, community, meals, friends. This is how we come to know Jesus too in the ordinariness of our own lives. During these few weeks of Ordinary time, let us take delight in the ordinary things we do and acknowledge that all these things come from our loving God. The liturgical seasonal colour for Ordinary Time is green.

College Opening Mass

On Tuesday 21 February, the College will celebrate its Opening Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral with Bishop Shane Mackinlay and our priests, Father Brian Boyle, Father DJ Suguitan and Father Junray Rayna. As a community of faith in the Mercy tradition, the Opening Mass focuses on our College identity, launches our theme for the year and marks the official beginning of our academic year. Due to capacity limits, Coolock Campus and Year 12 students will attend the Mass.

Ash Wednesday and Project Compassion

Following our Opening Mass, our season of Lent commences on Wednesday 22 February with an Ash Wednesday liturgy where ashes will be blessed and distributed to students. Lent is a significant season in our Church, preparing us for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter. It is also the period during which we highlight the work of Caritas Australia and raise funds through Project Compassion. This year’s Project Compassion theme, “For All Future Generations”, reminds us that f millions of people around the world experience on a daily basis poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to education, unclean water, poor sanitation and increasing natural disasters. Our contribution does make an enormous difference to many communities around the world. More information about the work of Caritas and Project Compassion can be found at caritas.org.au/project-compassion.

Mr Michael Goss, Director of Faith and Mission