Principal

Dear Members of the Academy community,

In light of the ongoing crisis in Gaza, I share with you a prayer from Pope Francis that he first offered in 2014 and prayed again in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  It was deeply saddening to learn that the priest in Gaza with whom Pope Francis contacted daily to provide support, was injured in a recent bombing of a church and a number of parishioners were killed.  The church of the Holy Family was a place of refuge for families, most of them with children and elderly relatives.  

Pope Leo has reinforced on many occasions the need for peace.

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms.  How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried…  But our efforts have been in vain.

Now, Lord, come to our aid!  Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: "Never again war!"; "With war everything is lost".  Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.  Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.  Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarrelling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation.  In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words "division", "hatred" and "war" be banished from the heart of every man and woman.  Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands.  Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be "brother", and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!

Amen

While we feel helpless, when we see what is happening in our world today, we need to do our best to seize opportunities to raise awareness and contribute to offering support in some small way, hence the College's Feast for Freedom evening last week, where we were able to raise over $4,000 which will be sent to Jesuit Refugee Services and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Every Blessing, 

Sr Mary Moloney rsm 

Principal