Mission News
Mrs Anna Nasr
Prayers
We ask our community to remember in their prayers:
Rosa Eales, mother of staff member Bernadette Byrne, who sadly passed away last Thursday, and all the Eales family who have been such good friends and supporters of our college for many years.
May Rosa be held forever in God’s loving and gentle embrace.
Community Mass
Community Mass will be held on Wednesday morning at 8:00am and Friday during 1st break.
Rush House will gather for Mass this Wednesday 6 November at 8:00am.
Gospel
Mark’s Gospel from 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 12:28-34)
One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, 'Which is the first of all the commandments?' Jesus replied, 'This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.' The scribe said to him, 'Well spoken, master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.' Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken said, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' And after that no one dared to question him any more.
Sunday’s Gospel has Jesus reiterating Moses’ commandment from Deuteronomy of loving God “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength”. But he also adds to this the second of the two most important commandments “to love your neighbour as yourself”.
Each month, Pope Francis offers a prayer intention, and November’s intention is for anyone who has lost a child. The love parents have for children is one of the strongest of bonds, and to lose a child is surely the heaviest grief. There’s that Andrew Lloyd Webber song, Love Changes Everything. And it’s true, we are changed by love – that unconditional, full-hearted love for a child changes us all. So too the love for parents and other family members, life partners and close friends. But love is not all pure exhilaration or soft comfort. It’s demanding, it takes work – and because of love, as that song lyric says, “pain is deeper than before”.
There was a photo taken a few years ago of two little penguins at Phillip Island. Penguins mate for life. The photo shows a male penguin who lost his mate with an older female who also lost her mate. These penguins – widow and widower - now keep each other company, appearing to console one another in their loss. Without anthropomorphising penguin behaviour too much, isn’t that what love is? To be able to reach out to another in compassion—despite our own experience of pain and sorrow—to help bear another’s burden?
Jesus calls us to love God and love neighbour with all our hearts, minds and souls. This is tough stuff, particularly when our own hearts feel broken and beat up, or when the one who we are supposed to call neighbour is hard to love. So we pray, reflecting on the life work of love:
+ God who is Love
Grant us the knowledge and acceptance of your deep love for us
May it help us to keep reaching out from a place of love
Open our eyes to see your face in the hurt, anger and desolation of the broken-hearted
Give us ears to listen when love calls us to hear and bear witness to the painful stories of others
May the call to love lead us to never forget those who feel forgotten
When the easy choice is fear and contempt, help us to choose love and acceptance
Let your love lead us to hope to where the light of you dispels the darkness of despair
Help us to recognise that love is at the heart of everything that blesses our lives.
Mary our good mother – pray for us
St Marcellin Champagnat – pray for us
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – pray for us
And may we always remember – to pray for one another
Amen. +
Marist 2024 Christmas Appeal
28 October – 17 November
Our students have been busy promoting our 2024 Annual Christmas Appeal, with a presentation at assembly last week by our Mission Captains, and a fundraising BBQ on Monday. We are grateful for the support of our families as we once again raise funds for the critical work of St Vincent De Paul and Downs and West Community Support.
Students and Families can support the appeal by bringing in grocery gift cards to pastoral groups or make an online donation via Monitor.
Donations links:
Last year, we raised over $8,000.00 in gift cards and donations. Your donations can truly make a difference to those in need this Christmas.
Remembrance Day
Next Monday marks Remembrance Day, a day for us to reflect on the cost of war and the enduring hope of peace. The original name of this day, Armistice Day, recalls when the First World War finally ended. Signs of life were seen in the poppies that grew on the battlefields, yet the dead would not be forgotten, nor the horror of war. On Remembrance Day, we also remember those who suffer and are dying because of war and conflict in parts of our world today.
On Monday 11 November, our students will take time in their Period 3 class to honour, remember and pray for those who have lost their lives in war, and together will hold a minute silence at 11:00am.
Stationery Aid
Student help is always welcomed at Stationery Aid! Come along this Friday 8 November at 7:30am in Room 801.
A reminder that good quality unwanted stationery donations are welcome and can be placed in the blue bin outside the Mission Office. No ring binders, please.
Stationery Aid headquarters is in need of extra shed storage space. If you have storage space available, please contact the Mission office.
To find out more and to check the list of what can be donated, please visit: https://stationeryaid.org/
St Vincent de Paul and Environment Group
The Environment group will be meeting this Wednesday 1st break in Room 801.
Bacon & Egg burgers will be available this Thursday morning from 7:45am. Come along and grab one for $4.50!
