Mission & Identity

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John: 7,15-16)

God is love. All knowledge, all values, all notions of human authenticity, come from this most wonderful revelation. In his book, God is Love: The Heart of Christian Faith, Australian Redemptorist priest Fr Anthony Kelly, explores seven key beliefs of the Catholic faith for what they reveal about the meaning and value of love.  

• There is One God, who is Father, Creator, and Almighty: Love is the origin and end of everything. Therefore, the beginning and end of each day is to know and act for the good of those we encounter. As God is love, so too we must be witnesses to love.  
• The Incarnation: Jesus is one divine person with two perfect natures, human and divine: Love is self-giving. Jesus the Son is the personal self-gift of the Father to the world, who enters our life as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Our knowledge of love comes from both faith and reason. Therefore, we must make a gift ourselves to those we encounter. 
• Jesus died on the Cross: In infinite wisdom and perfect love God chose to remove from the world the presence and impact of human evil not by an act of power but by transforming those evils into a supreme good through an act of unconditional love (Bernard Lonergan SJ). Love is unconditional. As we pray in our Assembly prayer, may we be freed from all the things that stop us loving. 
• Jesus rose from the dead: Jesus did not come back from the dead, but through his Resurrection entered a new life where fear and death has been vanquished. Love is Transformative. The Resurrection is Love’s victory and transformative power for all creation, and this transformative power is offered in and through friendship with Jesus. 
• God is the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who Jesus promised he would send, so that God remains with us always: Love is Communicative. The Holy Spirit is the continuing outpouring of love for every generation and when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we desire to share the faith and hope that are the gifts of love.  
• The One, Catholic, Holy, and Apostolic Church: The Church is where God’s love, through the freedom of the human person, has brought perfection to creation. The Church is Love formed in history. The Church is the gathering of those who believe in the love revealed by Jesus and freely and joyfully surrender to it and actively cooperate with it. 
• Eternal life: Love is stronger than death. Love consummated. The eternal life that God’s love promises is sharing in the indwelling of eternal love. That is, we are invited to abide with God in eternity and so possess the eternal joy that satisfies the deepest desires of our heart.  

Our Lenten Season is a constant invitation to contemplate the truths of our Catholic faith and meditate on how our choices and actions can be transformed by the power of God’s love. Fr Tony Kelly has given us seven moments to reflect upon: seven ways that love is lived in the personal and inescapable events of our lives. This is a call to each one of us. May our hearts hear and respond to Jesus’ invitation to love. 

Project Compassion

Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.

You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes and online by clicking on the QR code below, visiting St Patrick's College - Ballarat - Caritas | Project Compassion Schools or by calling 1800 024 413.

In addition students can donate to the Faith in action volunteers that will visit classrooms. 

May God bless our Lenten Season.