Mission & Catholic Identity News

Christ has no body on earth but yours

This week we celebrated at both Clyde North and Cranbourne campuses, our Avila House Masses. Thanks must go to Fr Denis and Fr Joseph for celebrating these Masses with us and to House Leaders, Mrs Olivia Barret (Clyde North) and Mr Andrew McMellon (Cranbourne) for their preparation and support.

We can identify St. Teresa of Avila as someone who dedicated her life to God and someone for whom prayer was very important. St. Teresa insists that we must never give up in prayer.

St Teresa of Avila gives us one of the classical definitions of prayer.

‘Prayer is nothing more than spending a long time alone with the one I know loves me’.

St Teresa also wouldn’t allow herself to be content with where she was in her spiritual life. She was full of life and enthusiasm, and while this drew people to her she had to come to the understanding that God had to be first and foremost in her life.

Let us pray as a community a prayer by St Teresa of Avila:

‘Christ has no body now on earth but yours;

yours are the only hands with which He can do His work.

Yours are the only feet with which He can go about the world;

yours are the only eyes through which His compassion can shine forth upon a troubled world.

Christ has no body on earth but yours. ‘

Amen.

Stepping up and stepping out

On Tuesday, 22 October 2019 (Clyde North Campus) and Wednesday, 23 October 2019 (Cranbourne Campus) we will celebrate our Graduation Masses in St Agatha’s church. The Latin root grad means ‘step’. Our Year 12s have taken many ‘steps’ during their time at St Peter’s College. From their first steps onto the site to their final step while being an enrolled student, when they step into the ‘belling out’ ritual at the final assembly. Even after the ‘belling out’, each graduating Year Twelve student will always be a St Peter’s College student, albeit becoming a member of our alumni. Each time they step onto St Peter’s College land, they will be welcomed. This is a privilege and comfort that many past scholars enjoy, with the College in its 25th anniversary in 2019.

What is the hope for a graduating student from St Peter’s College, after their many years of study at the College? I have hope and a faith that our touchstones of the Petrine charism: have been instilled and are part of their character. That these touchstones are setting the table for our students to accomplish something great, in whatever way that is. That the College has developed young people who are hospitable. That we developed young people who are compassionate and unselfish. That they do not just think only of themselves and at the cost of hurting others or neglecting others. That they have a joy in serving others allowing them to experience gratitude, appreciation and a sense of community. That they ‘be not afraid’.

Therefore, the celebration of a graduation has several dimensions.

For Catholics and other Christians and persons of other faiths, graduation has a religious dimension. This calls for religious celebrations to accompany the academic and social aspects. A Graduation Mass is a time for students to give thanks for the presence of God throughout their years at St. Peter’s College.

It is a time as well to ask for God’s blessing and presence in their lives to come. It is a time to commit themselves to living the Christian life more seriously and intentionally in the days and years that lie ahead.

The graduation of students from a Catholic secondary school such as St Peter’s College, is also an important event for the local Church community to which they belong. It is an occasion to acknowledge the rich heritage of faith in and by which the graduates have been nourished during their formative years in their Catholic school. And as such we will celebrate this Mass in St Agatha’s Church, one of our Parish churches.

It was an occasion to celebrate the variety of gifts that manifest in our young people and to give thanks to God who is the giver of all good things.

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, 22 October 2019 (Clyde North) and Wednesday, 23 October 2019 (Cranbourne), St. Peter’s College Year 12 students will celebrate their Graduation Mass at St Agatha’s Church – 5:45pm.
Tuesday, 29 October 2019 (3:34 pm - 5:15 pm), Cranbourne Campus – ‘Footsteps of Paul’ session with Bernard Dobson. All welcome. Email here to register.

Matthew Williams

Deputy Principal - Mission & Catholic Identity