Mission News

Prayers

We remember Maria Robles, the grandmother of Rafael 9E and past students Lucian and Matias Berkovich-Robles, who has recently passed away. May Maria rest in peace, and may her family find strength and solace during this difficult time. 

We pray for those in our community who are unwell and those who have died recently. May our loved ones who have gone before us be at everlasting peace with God. 

Community Mass

Community Mass will be held on Wednesday morning at 8:00am and Friday 1st break – all welcome!

Gospel and Reflection

Excerpt from 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday 18 August – John 6:51:58

…He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me and I live in him.

As I, who am sent by the living Father,

myself draw life from the Father,

so whoever eats me will draw life from me.

This is the bread come down from heaven;

not like the bread our ancestors ate:

they are dead,

but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.'

There’s scientific truth to the phrase ‘you are what you eat’, since what we consume becomes part of us, converted into energy for our cells. In John’s Gospel we hear of what it means to be transformed by taking in and taking on Christ. Regardless of what technology might be striving to achieve, we cannot meaningfully exist without bodies. And we know, no matter hermit-like we might wish to be at times, we cannot exist without other people. We are here because of our ancestors and because of the fabric of community in which we live. As Christians, we believe that Jesus’ offering in the Eucharist unites our many bodies as One Body through him. In the language of the Passover, Jesus is the lamb. But the story never simply ends with Jesus dying. Almost like a seed which dies in order create new life, the story of Jesus dying is the story of his rising. Life is transformed, and death is never the end. We can think this way about the people we have loved who have died who remain in our memories, in the traces of our own lives, in the faces of children, in the truth of our love which draws on the unfathomable depths of God’s own love. 

+ Loving God, through your son Jesus, you transform us and give us life. In our living memorial of your infinite love in Christ, may we be sustained and go out into the world as people of joy, truth and peace. Amen.

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. + 

Assumption Mass

Our Assumption Mass last Tuesday was a beautiful celebration highlighting Mary’s significance to our Marist Catholic community. In his Gospel Reflection, Br Neville shared a story about Marcellin Champagnat, who would turn to Mary in prayer for strength and guidance. 

We were grateful so many people could participate in our annual Assumption Mass, including guests who joined us to celebrate with our Champagnat and Services Awards recipients. Mr Christopher Shay (community member), Ms Rebecca Collyer (staff member) and Jake Edye (student) were all very deserving 2024 Champagnat Award recipients, each receiving a standing ovation as they took to the stage with family and friends. We also had the opportunity to recognise the incredible achievements of long-serving staff members, including Mr Peter Gaiter, Mr Tony Byrne and Mr David Meehan. We thank Fr Tini, Br Neville, our wonderful musicians and singers and all the staff and students who helped to make the Mass such a special event.

Years 5-6 and Years 7-8 Dances

Tuesday also provided plenty of fun for students with the annual Years 5-6 and Years 7-8 Dances. We were delighted to welcome students from All Hallows’, St Rita’s, Mt St Michael’s, Stuartholme and local BCE schools. As well as being a fun night of dancing, playing games and socialising, the dances are hugely important fundraiser for Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS). This year’s dances have raised approximately $16,000! Again, our heartfelt thanks goes to the many staff who volunteered their time to ensure the dances could run smoothly.

Wear it Purple Day

“Wear it Purple Day” will be marked this Friday 23 August as a way for our College to show solidarity for all people without discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender identity. Recognising that LGBTQIA+ people have endured prejudice and persecution within our society and our Church, a day like Wear it Purple Day is an opportunity to stand as a Catholic Marist Community to affirm the belief that we humans—in all our diversity—are made in the image and likeness of God, and that every person has dignity and is worthy of love. 'Wearing it Purple' symbolises our commitment to creating and supporting a safe, inclusive, respectful culture at Marist College Ashgrove.

Purple pins will be available for students and staff to wear on the day. Students are also welcome to wear purple socks or purple tie as a way of participating in the day and its message of support and inclusivity. 

Environment Group Update

Our donations of rice have been collected by truck to be transported to FareShare’s storage facility. The driver was amazed by the amount of rice we’d gathered! Thank you once again to all our families for so generously supporting this initiative. 

Do you have old or rarely worn shoes lying around the house? The Mission Office is gratefully receiving donations of shoes which will be sorted on Friday at a combined Marist-Mt St Michael’s Environment Group gathering. Shoes in good repair will be donated to be reused by homeless/vulnerable people through the Micah Project, while shoes unable to be reworn will be completely recycled through TreadLightly.

St Vincent de Paul and Environment group

The Vinnies group will be back cooking delicious $4.50 Bacon and Egg Burgers on Thursday morning (Week 7) before school. 

The group will be meeting Thursday Break 1 in Room 801.

Stationery Aid 

Stationery Aid will be busy sorting through highlighters on Friday 27 October in Room 801 from 7:30am to 8:30am. We hope to see you there!

To find out more, visit: https://stationeryaid.org/