Mission and Identity
- Lenten Focus - Forgiveness
- Edmund Rice Centre for Justice Webinars
- Edmund Rice Icon in new Chapel windows
- Project Compassion Lenten Appeal - Assistance Needed
Lenten Focus - Forgiveness
Year 7 Religious Education Class 1 celebrated their Chapel Mass this week, with a focus on ‘Forgiveness’. During our lenten journey, we are called to give, fast, pray and forgive. When it comes to forgiveness, we are called to forgive without limit all who have wronged us, and to seek forgiveness from those who we have hurt with our words or actions.
Fr Richard Rohr says that among the most powerful of human experiences is to give or to receive forgiveness. Two-thirds of the teaching of Jesus is directly or indirectly about this mystery of forgiveness: God’s breaking of God’s own rules. That’s not surprising, because forgiveness is probably the only human action that reveals three goodnesses simultaneously! When we forgive, we choose the goodness of the other over their faults, we experience God’s goodness flowing through ourselves, and we also experience our own goodness in a way that surprises us. That is an awesome coming together of power, both human and divine.
He believes that eventually we will all forgive one another because we have been forgiven, but let’s do it now and not wait until later. Let us ask for the grace to let go of those grudges and hurts to which we cling.
Edmund Rice Centre for Justice Webinars
Please find below some excellent webinars available through the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice. One of which, in particular, involves speaking with the former president of Kiribati, Anote Tong who was a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement. His story is captured in the documentary film ‘Anote’s Ark’.
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice Tradition, we are called to build a world of justice. Joining one of these webinars can be a first step towards such positive change.
Friday 8 March, 11:00 am
Webinar: International Womens' Day webinar: Let Her Learn - Empowering women and girls through education.
Join us on International Women's Day for a discussion about women's education, with particular reference to women's experiences in Afghanistan and Iran. Speakers will include Najeeba Wazefadost, Co-founder and Director Asia-Pacific Network of Refugees, Azam Sadeghpour, Spokesperson Iranian Women's Association of Australia, Rita Anwari Founder and Director Women Empowerment and Leadership and Andree Brown, Executive Director Edmund Rice Community Services.
Registrations are essential here
Friday 15 March, 1:30 pm
Webinar: In conversation with H.E. Anote Tong - Climate Change and Pacific Island States: The Geo-political Landscape in the Region
Join us to hear His Excellency Anote Tong, former President of Kiribati (2003-2016) and current Chair of the Pacific Elders' Voice, explore emerging geo-political dynamics in the Pacific and how these interact with the climate crisis. H.E. Anote Tong will be joining us as part of his tour in Australia to engage directly with Edmund Rice Centre supporters.
Registrations are essential here
Tuesday 2 April, 6:30 pm
Webinar: In conversation with Reverend James Bhagwan- climate and faith in the Pacific
Join us to hear Reverend James Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, explore the role of faith and church in the climate crisis. Reverend Bhagwan will be joining us as part of his stay in Australia for the Epeli Hau'ofa Annual Public Lecture, co-hosted this year by the Edmund Rice Centre, the Australian Association for Pacific Studies and the Australian Museum.
Registrations are essential here
Edmund Rice Icon reflected in new Chapel Windows
A unifying image amongst the global network of Edmund Rice schools is the Icon of Blessed Edmund Rice. The Icon was created by Irish artist Desmond Kyne and was unveiled in Liverpool, England in 1986. The original is about the size of a household door, and uses the principles of Byzantine and Celtic iconography.
The College is very proud to have taken the icon and reconfigured it as a series of 9 panels that now adorn the College Chapel windows. These windows tell the physical story of Edmund, but also his spiritual journey that details an ever present God of accompaniment with him on his journey.
Each week we will highlight an element of the Icon and windows to unpack its meaning for the community.
The great whirling spiral is a symbol for God as creator bringing everything into being and calling others to help in that creative process.
For thousands of years this has been the favourite way of the Celts to depict their sense of the Sacred. This great whirling spiral has an abundance of energy - something that Edmund was remarkable for even into his old age. The spiral is also in flames representing the action of the Holy Spirit which set Edmund on fire with love for all, especially the poor. It acted like the fire which draws us to its warmth when everything about us is cold.
Now imagine the vortex in the middle having no beginning but spiraling out to embrace everything. Edmund lived in that presence, finding it in church, personal prayer and particularly among the poor.
The Icon of Edmund Rice celebrates his life as a love story into which are woven the joy and pain, the good and evil, the energy and stillness, the success and failure, the agony and ecstasy of Edmund’s journey in life. But this journey is permeated by the everyday, practical spirituality that was so characteristic of Edmund.
Project Compassion Lenten Appeal: Assistance Needed
Project Compassion fundraising efforts continue across the College, and all funds raised go to support the work of Caritas.
Parents and families are invited to donate via the link below. These donations enable critical relief projects to go ahead that are operated by Caritas that provide education, water and emergency healthcare to the most vulnerable people globally, and here in Australia.
https://schools.projectcompassion.org.au/o/st-pius-x-college-chatswood
‘Tap and Go’ facilities are available on the verandah on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Cash donations are collected Monday through to Friday. Please assist the College to meet a significant target as we seek to remain true to the vision of Edmund Rice and reach those who are most vulnerable on the margins of society.
Students are also welcome to donate or purchase through the Compassion Cake Stall on Tuesday mornings. The committed team from the Edmund Rice Society continue to cook up a storm.
Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity