Deputy Principal

Prayer for Peace

Yesterday we held our ANZAC Day Commemorative Service. Our reflection focused on the Gospel of John, Chapter 12, verses 25-33. 

John’s community believed that Jesus was the Son of God and through his glory on the cross, Jesus made God known to them. As followers of Jesus, they were members of the ‘new family of God’ who were called to live life to the full by loving one another.

This Christian ethic is revealed in verse twenty-six: “If anyone serves me, they must follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my father will honour them.”

In the New Testament, a servant - diakonos in Greek - is a person who carries out a ministry commissioned by God. They use their gifts to carry on God’s mission in the world: to serve God in relating to others in love. 

For this reason, Jesus endures suffering and death. His expansive vision of justice for the poor and marginalised was at odds with the ways of the world. The Gospel of Jesus was so radical and counter-cultural, that he had to be put to death by those who wielded power at the time. 

This contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, is presented in this reading in the image of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who will be crucified in order to “overthrow” “the prince of this world.” 

Scripture scholar, Father Michael Fallon, writes: “The peace which Jesus offers as his farewell gift is the Messianic peace promised by the prophets Isaiah, Zechariah and Ezekiel. Jesus is the ʻPrince of Peace,ʼ Godʼs messenger ʻwho announces peaceʼ, and who ʻshall command peace to the nations.ʼ 

In his message “For the City and for the World,” delivered on Christmas Day last year, Pope Francis said: “In the Scriptures, the Prince of Peace is opposed by the “Prince of this world” (Jn 12:31), who, by sowing the seeds of death, plots against the Lord, “the lover of life” (cf. Wis 11:26). We see this played out in Bethlehem, where the birth of the Saviour is followed by the slaughter of the innocents. How many innocents are being slaughtered in our world?...  They are the little Jesuses of today, these little ones whose childhood has been devastated by war.”

Pope Francis continues: “To say “yes” to the Prince of Peace, then, means saying “no” to war, to every war and to do so with courage, to the very mindset of war… To say “no” to war means saying “no” to weaponry… How can we even speak of peace, when arms production, sales and trade are on the rise? Today, as at the time of Herod, the evil that opposes God’s light hatches its plots in the shadows of hypocrisy and concealment… People, who desire not weapons but bread, who struggle to make ends meet and desire only peace, have no idea how many public funds are being spent on arms. Yet that is something they ought to know! It should be talked about and written about, so as to bring to light the interests and the profits that move the puppet-strings of war.”

“Isaiah, who prophesied the Prince of Peace, looked forward to a day when “nation shall not lift up sword against nation”, a day when people “will not learn war any more”, but instead “beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks” (2:4).” 

Today, we pray the prayer Pope Francis prayed on Christmas Day:

“May [peace] come in Israel and Palestine, where war is devastating the lives of those peoples… May there be an end to the fuelling of violence and hatred. And may the Palestinian question come to be resolved through sincere and persevering dialogue between the parties, sustained by strong political will and the support of the international community. Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace in Palestine and in Israel…”

May peace come in Ukraine. “Let us renew our spiritual and human closeness to its embattled people, so that through the support of each of us, they may feel the concrete reality of God’s love.”

May peace come to “the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Sudan, as well as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.”

As Franciscan people, may we embrace the call to be peacemakers in our world. We can do this by embracing the Gospel as Saint Francis did: through our love of God and our love of neighbour. Let us pray that God’s love fills our minds and hearts and shapes our words and actions for peace. 

ANZAC Day Services

The Kedron-Wavell Sub Branch RSL has extended an invitation to our College community to attend its ANZAC Day services on Thursday 25 April 2024. 

5.00am: Assemble for the Dawn Service at War Graves Section, Lutwyche Cemetery, Kitchener Road, Kedron. Students are to enter via the gate opposite Glentanna Street and check in with Mr Rogusz for roll marking purposes. The Dawn Service begins at 5.30am and concludes around 6.30am.

7.45am: Assemble on the oval near the Chermside Historical Precinct, 61 Kittyhawk Drive, Chermside, for the March. The March begins at 8.00am. 

8.30am: The Main Service at Kedron-Wavell Services Club, Kittyhawk Drive, Chermside. Concludes around 10.00am. 

Students and families are welcome to participate in any or all of these services. In order to register your child, please complete the ANZAC Day Registration Form. It is important that this information is completed by a parent/carer, specifically the consent for students to participate. Please ensure you indicate which services your child, or your child and family members, will be attending. Please complete a registration for each Mt A student from your family who will be attending these services. 

Students are required to wear their College uniform with hat and blazer. Students attending the morning service (8.30am) are encouraged to bring a water bottle. 

Please note: The College will not be providing transport for students on this day.  If your child is attending the Dawn Service and the March/Main Service, transport must be provided or arranged by your family from the Lutwyche Cemetery, Kitchener Road Kedron to the Kedron-Wavell Services Club, Kittyhawk Drive Chermside. 

Ponytail Project 

On Thursday 16 May, the College will be raising funds for the Cancer Council and people living with cancer by participating in the Ponytail Project. A total of twenty-three students are keen to donate their hair to this worthy cause. 

Every year an estimated 4000 ponytails are needed just to make enough charitable wigs for those suffering from cancer or alopecia. One wig requires 20 ponytails and can cost thousands of dollars. Sustainable Salons collects all ponytails 20cm or longer, both coloured and uncoloured, and sends them to charitable organisations and wigmakers. Uncoloured ponytails 36cm+ are the holy grail for charitable wigs. 

If you would like to support Team Mount Alvernia go to https://www.ponytailproject.com.au/fundraisers/TeamMountAlvernia388.  To support a specific team member, scroll down to the Team Members list and select the specific team member you would like to support. So far we have raised over $5000. A great start!