From the Rector

Over the past two weeks, our Year 4 students have attended information nights with their parents and sponsors to learn about their upcoming sacraments of Confirmation and first Holy Communion on July 30 and August 6. As we welcome these students more fully into the life of the Church and celebrate the presence of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their personal lives, we thank families, sponsors, and friends for the ways they guide children in their faith journey. We are especially grateful to Anne Mercorella and the Year 4 teachers for preparing our students for these sacraments.

If there are students in older year levels who have been baptised Catholic and wish to receive their sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion on either 30 July or 6 August, could they contact Anne Mercorella, Danika Tremonte, or me before the end of term so we can discuss this.

On Thursday and Friday this week, nearly 70 of our Year 12s and several staff participated in The Cage. It was the longest night of the year and unseasonably wet and cold. Our tertian, Fr Michael Ochwo, spoke of the refugee scenario in Africa, including the recent massacre of schoolchildren in Uganda. Old Ignatian Besmellah Rezaee joined in the evening to talk about his lived experience as a refugee. Besmellah is a lawyer who shared about his work in Detention Centres at Curtin, Darwin, Adelaide, Christmas Island, Yongah Hill and Brisbane. We also heard from Darryl Bullen, Committee Chairperson from St Vincent De Paul Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service. This input on refugee experiences deepens our understanding and enables meaning to surface so our efforts are not tokenism.

The Cage has been going for more than ten years and evolved from the former Winter Sleepout event. Over a 24-hour period, students and staff have an opportunity to learn more about the experience of people forced into detention camps. While it is only 24 hours, it is a reminder of what happens to many people every day in our offshore and onshore detention facilities. The Cage and similar experiences remind us that dispossessed and victimised people are at the heart of considerations related to refugees and forced migration.

We are about to enter the last week of Term Two. It is good to pause and reflect on what has happened in our family lives and College community. This term we consider winter co-curricular, the Tiwi immersion, Kairos 90, Generations in Jazz, High School Musical practices, Subject Conversations, strategic planning sessions, excursions, music performances, aerobics competitions, Careers Market, Mother’s Day morning tea, Year 8 and 7 Igxperiences, Year 8, 7, and 4 Days of Reflection, SAPSASA carnivals, Year 6 camp, Ethics Olympiad, Da Vinci Decathlon, Reception transition, Year 4 sacrament preparation, Maths-in-Residence, Reconciliation Week, Blue Week, Refugee Week, Pentecost and Sacred Heart Masses, and so many other activities that make up our College community. In the coming weeks we have the Ignatian Service Program for Year 11, work experience for Year 10, Year 11 Day of Reflection, Kairos 91, the Timor-Leste immersion, the Jesuits schools soccer tournament, the JACSA girls carnival, and the Jesuit schools debating. We thank God for all these opportunities and pray we give our best to them.

Thank you to all who have contributed to the annual appeal for the Bursary Program. To donate before the end of the financial year, please click HERE or contact Belinda Mears, Advancement Manager, on 8334 9356. Whether you are able to give $10 or $10,000, please know it creates an opportunity for students who need it most. The College Foundation is keen to attract donations to support more disadvantaged students and families though the Bursary program. Please click HERE to see the College Foundation impact report for 2022.

Fr Peter Hosking SJ
Rector

OREMUS (Let us pray)

We remember all in our College community. May our prayers comfort those suffering at this time. May God’s blessing be a source of support in their sorrow and loss, and bring courage, patience, and hope.

“Ask and you shall receive … knock and the door will be opened unto you.” (Matt 7:7)

If you would like someone to be remembered by the College community in prayer (even anonymously), please provide details to the Rector, class or Mentor Teacher, or House Leader.