Mission News

Year 12 Retreat 

Wednesday 13 July – Friday 15 July 2022 (Week 1, Term 3)

Information was sent to all Year 12 parents and students on Friday 20 May regarding the Year 12 Retreat. Consent is required for your son to attend – this can be done via Parent Lounge by no later than Wednesday 15 June.

Please contact Liz Spry in the Mission Office if you have any questions 07 3858 4582 or spryl@marash.qld.edu.au

Prayers

For those in our community who are unwell or suffering at this time.

May our loving God, with Mary and Champagnat, walk with all members of the Marist family. Amen

Reflection 

In a world often without hope how do we teach, engage, and have right relationship with the young people we are called to educate? 

Marcellin sees God in all things and believes all things come from God.

Like Marcellin, we can find God in every situation. Our faith does not limit the experience of God to moments of prayer or “sacred” places. We can experience God’s love in all of our life. From this viewpoint, the world is no longer considered an obstacle and becomes instead a place of encounter with God, of mission and of sanctification. (Water from the Rock p64)

From the Head of Religious Education 

As we pass the mid-point of term, our attention turns towards assessments, in which students have the opportunity to show their learning. Each class is fortunate to have access to a library research guide to support their own inquiries for their assessment, as well as supportive library staff who assist teachers to help students improve their work. 

More importantly, we also take time this term for each class to visit the chapel and have the opportunity for self-reflection and reconciliation. This lesson allows students to understand the purpose of acknowledging when they miss the mark and doing something to make it right. Fr Alatini prays with the class and each person is invited to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation. This moment of peaceful quiet time in the midst of a busy term is welcome!

Book Launch

Friday 3 June, 4:00pm for 5:00pm, at Marist Centre Ashgrove

142 Frasers Road. Launch by Br Peter Carroll;rsvp: Helen Quirk, 07 3354 0600, helen.quirk@marists.org.au by Wednesday 1 June.

Champagnat Mass 

https://events.humanitix.com/champagnat-mass

Ministry and MATES Acknowledgment 

Here at Marist College Ashgrove, we strive to live our lives following the Gospel and in the spirit of St Marcellin Champagnat. The mission of St Marcellin and his brothers, and the mission of this college, is to make Jesus Christ known and loved. One of the greatest ways we live out the Gospel and live out this mission at the College is through the MATES program. But what is MATES?

MATES is the name of our college’s community service and social justice program and it stands for Marists Are Taking Everybody Seriously. The program is a legacy of the 2004 seniors, who wanted to make sure that all students who come to Marist College Ashgrove know what it is to be a mate to another and what it means to take every person we meet seriously – regardless of the circumstances of their lives or the circumstances of our own life. And ‘seriously’ doesn’t mean that we are always serious – it means that we treat everybody with the respect and dignity that they deserve.

The seniors of the following years then came up with the MATES motto, “Faith To Believe; Courage To Do”, and in our College Prayer we express our desire for just that. In our prayer, we ask for faith to believe that God made everyone with dignity and so all people should be shown that dignity through the way we treat them. We also ask for courage to do the right thing by everyone we meet, wherever we meet them.

As Marists we believe, just as Champagnat did, that every encounter we have with another person is an encounter with God – an encounter to enter into a conversation, to listen and to take the other person seriously. We have no doubt that St Marcellin would understand the meaning of mateship.

When you get involved with MATES at the College, you receive “MATES hours” which acknowledges hours of service. At the following milestones, you are acknowledged with a MATES certificate and a badge at a college assembly. These milestones are:

Bronze:                         20+ hours

Silver:                           40+ hours

Gold:                             60+ hours

Gold Plus:                   80+ hours

Gold Marist:               100+ hours

Platinum:                     150+ hours and the Head of College’s discretion

Our thanks to Mrs Spry who ably keeps these records for the College. 

Well done to all the students acknowledged at last week’s assembly.