Mission

As the year comes to a close, we reflect on what we have done with our wild and precious lives. For our Year 12s, as they attend their final events at the College and begin writing their next chapter, it is a time of reflective nostalgia!

At the Graduation Mass this evening, we hear the Gospel of the day from the Book of Luke. It is my privilege to pass on my thoughts and words in the hope of inspiring our young Christian men about to take their place in the world, to think deeply about their faith:

The Gospel reading for today comes from the Gospel of Luke and tells the story of Jesus entering the Temple and finding the merchants using it as a marketplace. Whenever I hear this story, I remember Matthew’s version where it says that in his anger Jesus overturned the tables of the money-changers. 

In our everyday lives, we are surrounded by tables. 

In my family, the desk is an important table! There is one in the study and each of my sons received one as a gift as they entered high school. During your time at Greg’s, you have sat at many desks and developed skills in writing, reading and critical thinking. 

Another important table in my home is the dining table! Most of us share at least one meal a day here, with family or friends and it is through these experiences that we grow socially and emotionally. During your time at Greg’s you have developed bonds of mateship as you shared meals in the dining room or gathered in your friendship groups around the yards. 

Then there’s the coffee table and in my home, this table is pretty crowded. There are remote controls for everything, magazines to flick through, half-finished projects, often a coffee mug or two, or even a glass of something a little stronger. It’s a place to watch a movie or a footy game and while reading a book, the coffee table sometimes becomes a place for the feet. The time we spend doing these things are important times – restful and contemplative times. 

And of course, there’s the Games Table!  It seems like a long time ago that we were gathered in the Hall for our Opening Mass. As I introduced the theme of one wild and precious life, I used the metaphor of the poker table. I suggested that every hand you were dealt at that poker table was a winning hand if you were able to play the cards well. None of us would have been able to predict the COVID card which was like a Joker in the pack! 

So, what’s all this talk of tables got to do with the Gospel we heard today? As Jesus entered the Temple, he became angry and overturned the tables, not because selling was bad but because the table there had another purpose. The Temple was to be a place of prayer. In our Christian tradition, the image of Jesus and his disciples sitting around the table at the Last Supper builds on this.

In our everyday lives, tables are important. Throughout your life, we hope that the desk will be a table at which you continue to sit; that you will be lifelong learners. We hope that you will continue to be people who share meals with others, that you will join in fellowship with others and be invitational in welcoming others as your neighbour. We hope that you have alone time - contemplative at the coffee table. And we hope that you will respond to the invitation from Jesus to share the Eucharist around the altar. 

Tonight the table is set up on the basketball courts and you are always welcome to come back and celebrate Mass with us. But it doesn’t matter where you gather. What matters is that the Mass is an opportunity to distance from the everyday and to connect with the transcendent. 

Gentlemen, as I have said to you many times over the last 6 years, you must own your faith. You have a responsibility to nurture it, to read, to talk, to pray and to act.

I hope that just like the desk and the dining, coffee and games tables, that the altar table is a constant in your lives. 

Mrs Cathie Clarke

Director of Mission