Faith & Mission News – 19 May 2022
16/05/2022Staff Spirituality Week
Following our Spirituality Day at the start of term, our staff embarked on a week of spiritual opportunity during our Spirituality Week. Throughout the week, staff selected from a range of sessions designed to raise awareness, nourish the spirit, develop connections with our interfaith community or spend some time in quiet reflection. Several sessions focused on planning for upcoming events such as Laudato Si’ Week, National Reconciliation Week and Refugee Week. Many staff enjoyed a yoga session with Ms Watts. Included in the week’s sessions was a Community Mass celebrated by Fr DJ, a Praxis in the Pub session led by our Principal, Mr Brian Turner, a Staff Retreat held at the Quality Lakeside Conference Centre led by Maria Forde and an Interfaith Dialogue session with representation from the Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. Other sessions included an introduction to the Orientation to Mercy program and an opportunity for our F.I.R.E. Carriers to meet and plan for their commissioning at the commencement of National Reconciliation Week.
As a community of faith, the opportunity to share and express our spiritual connections is one to be savoured. We all need to nourish our spiritual selves to sustain us in the work we do as members of the Catherine McAuley College community.
Master of Education and Theology
Approximately thirty teachers from around the Sandhurst Diocese have begun studies for a Master of Education and Theology through Catholic Theological College. Of these thirty, ten are staff from Catherine McAuley College! Last week saw the completion of four days of intensive learning about understanding our impact as teachers in a religious education context and formation of young people in a recontextualised Church. The unit focused on the Catholic identity of schools in contemporary church. Under the direction of Dr Rina Madden, each student in the course has completed tasks demonstrating their understanding of the cultural shifts that have taken place in the Church and in Catholic schools and how we can respond to them in authentic ways.
Year 12 Class Masses continued this week
We are indeed fortunate to be able to offer our students the opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist together. Three of the Year 12 Living Mercy classes attended Mass last week with Fr DJ. We had to relocate the Mass to accommodate the number of students. Fr DJ discussed with the students the importance and meaning of the Eucharist. The students led the various readings and processed the Gospel book and message stick. The students are commended for their respectful participation throughout the Mass. Later in the term, the remaining classes will attend a Mass with either Fr DJ or Fr Brian.
Cathedral Masses: Tuesday 31 May
On Tuesday 31 May, each campus will celebrate Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. The Masses will be held during National Reconciliation Week. Coolock Campus will be celebrating Mass at 10am and St Mary’s will follow at approximately 11.45am. It is a fantastic opportunity for our community to celebrate the Eucharist in the Cathedral.
Laudato Si’ Week
This week saw the College acknowledge and raise awareness of our need to work together for a sustainable future. Laudato Si’ Week is prompted by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on caring for our common home. Pope Francis’ prayer is a wonderful reminder of the goodness of God’s creation and the responsibility of each of us to care for it:
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
Mr Michael Goss, Director of Faith and Mission
