Faith and Mission

To Our Killester Community,

I would like to acknowledge the Yr 12 cohort who are working through their second year of lockdown experiences. I have the privilege of teaching school based RE at year twelve and my class have shown incredible resilience. Over the past few weeks we have been focusing on our school motto, “Strength and Kindliness.” I asked students last week to try and do an act of random kindness and report back this week. In breakout rooms students shared their experiences, then wrote them on a class, “jamboard.” I have shared some of the responses below.

I went on a walk with my friend and her two doggies.

I helped my parents make dinner...

…….giving my Dad a massage

I helped my Dad garden over the weekend

Bought donuts for my family 

I made my siblings food

Helped my sister clean her room

Washing the dishes one night for my Mum

Helped a friend with homework

Buying food for brothers and sisters

Doing chores around the house on a daily basis

Helped a man with directions while I was on my walk, I felt a bit guilty because I don’t think I explained well enough

I just wanna head back to school to see my friends again ( I assume this is a compliment for friends)

I hope your family has experienced some of this kindness this week. As our Yr 12 group gets down to their last six weeks of Killester (yes - six weeks!) we marvel at the young people they have become. We hope that they leave these gates emboldened with the Spirit of Brigid to live out “strength and kindliness.” To conclude, I would like to leave you with a few quotes students offered as their biblical guides.

Ephesians 4:32 “32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Luke 6:31 “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”1 Corinthians 13:4-7 

Thank you to our Yr 12 students who I am sure will be positive examples of strength and kindliness in the wider community.

Yours faithfully

Peter O’Neill  

AP Faith and Mission