St Pius X College Newsletter

Mission and Identity

  • Moments of Grace
  • Matthew 25:40 Immersion Program

Moments of Grace

Recently students in Year 9 and Year 10 Religious Education completed assessment tasks that explore their image and understanding of God, with particular focus on how it has developed since childhood. The students are to be commended on the depth and quality fo their tasks across the board. Below is a tiny sample of the moments of grace that resulted from reading and viewing their tasks:

 

'God is no longer confined to sacred spaces or written scripture alone; I now find Him in the persistence of a koi fish fighting the current, in the small and often unseen acts of kindness between people, and in the resilience of those who rise after being broken. Each of these moments reminds me that I carry the image of a God who never gives up - not on me, and not on anyone else. That belief shapes the way I live: with greater patience when the waters are slow, with empathy for those caught in their own storms, and with hope even when the river turns wild. Like the koi, I trust that every struggle holds the possibility of transformation, and that in swimming onward, we are being drawn toward something greater than we can yet see.'

 

'Having grown up surrounded by natural landscapes in Frenches Forest, I have come to understand God as a presence united with creation itself, especially in places that are powerful, calm, and ancient - not as separate from the world, but as an active presence within it, revealed in its noise, rhythm, and silence.'

 

It is a gift to witness an incarnational awareness developing in our young people as they sharpen their frequency to connect with their ever present God.

Matthew 25:40 Immersion Program

There has been much preparation underway for the Matthew 25:40 Immersion Program that will see all Year 10 students depart on immersion in Week 7 of Term 4. 

The aim of the Matthew 25:40 Immersion Program is to provide St Pius X College Year 10 students with an opportunity to engage with the EREA touchstones within an in situ context, and to apply a Catholic Worldview to contemporary Australian expressions of justice, equity and poverty

 

Desired Outcomes:

  • Students witness the face of Christ in those they serve

  • Students broaden their understanding of poverty in contemporary western contexts

  • Students make authentic connections between Christ’s call to serve in Matthew 25:40 and needs of communities beyond the walls of the College 

  • Students engage in a pre and post immersion formation program

  • Students engage in reflection, prayer and discussion as part of their immersion experiences

 

Scriptural impetus for the Immersion Program:

'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 

And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

Matthew 25: 34-40

 

What is an Immersion?

An immersion is a powerful strategy in helping us understand and involve ourselves in Jesus’ mission. Through the immersion experience we come face to face with local people and recognise them as our brothers and sisters. We empathise with them and share their daily joys and sorrows, celebrating their richness and gifts, and feeling for their pain. We learn as much from them, possibly more, as they learn from us.

Guided throughout the experience by critical and prayerful questioning, we recognise that we are involved in and partly responsible for their reality in this global society.

 

Why an Immersion at St Pius X College?

As a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition, we draw our ‘why’ from Jesus, and how Blessed Edmund Rice responded to Jesus’ call to transform the world through love of God, neighbour and self. 

Edmund Rice encountered personal suffering through the death of his beloved wife. In this tragedy he experienced pain, grief and heartache. The joyous, secure and comfortable world he had once known was now visibly shaken. In his words, he described feeling as if half of his own soul was gone. He was left feeling alone, dislocated and vulnerable. In the wake of this event Edmund searched for new meaning.

Prayerful reflection and daily Eucharist supported him in this time of uncertainty. But above all, it was his baby daughter, growing and developing, that awakened him to new possibilities for expressing love, tenderness and care. Perhaps, it was this experience, born out of crisis, that opened his eyes and heart to see beauty and possibility in the faces of those who were so often forgotten and ignored by the community around him. It certainly offered him a new perspective from which to act! 

But like most of us, Edmund needed a purposeful nudge to get him to take that final step into action. When sharing his thoughts about potentially leaving Waterford to join a secluded Monastery, a valued woman friend led him to the window, threw back the curtains and, pointing to the streets of unruly young boys below, declared 'Can you see, Mr Rice – there is your Monastery in the streets.' From that moment, Edmund’s view from his window, motivated his work to bring hope to the lives of those young boys. 

By volunteering to engage in an immersion, we continue to transform the world through love by seeking out the forgotten and voiceless of our community and offering our time and talents in service of their needs. 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'  Matthew 25: 34-40

We are indebted to the cultural wisdom and generous hearts of Armidale Catholic Schools for partnering with us to develop a new Reconciliation Immersion as part of our Matthew 25:40 Immersion Suite. Seeds that were planted during the Spirit on Country Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference, have now grown into a harvest that will see St Pius X College send students and staff onto Country with Armidale Catholic Schools for a 5-day, residential immersion as part of the Matthew 25:40 program.

Information packages will be released to Year 10 students and their families in Week 10 of this term.

Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity