It’s been a very busy few weeks for Faith and Mission, with one event just rolling into another…

Fathers’ Day Mass
On Friday 2 September, we continued our tradition of celebrating Fathers’ Day with a beautiful Mass celebrated, quite fittingly, in St Joseph’s Chapel. St Joseph was Jesus’ earthly father figure and therefore, guardian, protector, provider and role model to Jesus throughout his early life. It was great to see some of our Fathers present in the chapel for Mass with their sons and daughters, along with those who celebrated from home via our livestream. The Mass was a wonderful prelude to our Fathers’ Day Breakfast and I am sure was a great way to kick start the Fathers’ Day weekend for all dads.

Year 12 Reflection Day 3
On Monday 5 September, we held the third of our four Year 12 Reflection Day Sessions. It was a great opportunity for the students to reflect over the year to date and consider how their faith has played a supporting role throughout the challenges of VCE and VCAL and to know that their faith offers them a source of strength as they edge closer to launching out into the deep beyond the protection of the school gates.

Year 11 Christian Service – C.O.T.S.
Over the past month, all Year 11 Religious Education students have participated in their Christian Service excursion. This excursion tied beautifully together their current unit of study and Assessment Task based on Catholic Social Teachings with their Year level Charity (for whom they fundraised during JJAMM Week). The activity involved, each class travelling to the city in the late afternoon to join with Christmas on the Streets (C.O.T.S.) to meet and chat with some of the homeless people of Melbourne. The experience was an extremely rewarding one and offered our students an opportunity to gain greater understanding and empathy for the homeless. Our students quite rightly learnt from the activity that these people are “homeless but not hopeless” and are deserving of respect and a sense of dignity, despite their circumstances.