Mission and Identity
- Visit by Fr Frank O'Shea
- Eucharistic Ministers Course
- All Souls - Book of Remembrance
- Be Connected Program
Visit by Br Frank O’Shea
Brother Frank O’Shea addressed the College Assembly on 1 November about his 38 years of service overseas as part of the Brothers and now Edmund Rice Foundation to help the underprivileged. Brother Frank had a farming background before joining the Brothers in 1972. He has worked in Tonga, Tanzania, the South Sudan and most recently 26 years in East Africa, mostly at The Ruben Centre in the heart of the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The Centre is one of the institutions the College supports through such activities as the Junior School Walkathon or Founder’s Day.
Brother Frank explained that he felt ‘privileged’ to live the Gospel to help the poor, the sick and underprivileged around the globe. He said that when ‘people have nothing, a little bit makes a huge difference.’ Brother Frank has worked with prisoners, built schools and hospitals and provided practical care in the form of food, medical care, shelter and education in his mission. He now works with the Edmund Rice Foundation raising awareness of these projects. Accompanying Br Frank was Mr Jason Bongers from the Foundation. They visited the College Chapel and spoke to the Edmund Rice Society and also addressed the Junior School.
The Ruben Centre in Nairobi caters for some 3,000 students in a crowded disadvantaged community of around 350,000 people. The Centre has educational facilities, a hospital, a police station and a post office – a real community centre. College Principal, Mr John Couani visited the Centre in 2012 and spoke of how vibrant the school community was, particularly mentioning the wonderful singing and dancing that the students were able to perform. The College is privileged to be a part of such a worthwhile global initiative to help the underprivileged beyond our own comfortable environment.
Mr Tony Cunneen - Head of Publications
Eucharistic Ministers' Course
All Year 10 students who wish to be part of the Eucharistic Ministers' Training Course are required to complete the online application by way of Formstack. The link to the Formstack was emailed to each Year 10 student last week by Mr Pawlak. If students have any questions, please see Mr Mulheron. The applications close this Friday.
All Souls - Book of Remembrance
The Catholic Church dedicates the month of November to all souls, we call to mind and pray for the dearly departed who we keep alive in our hearts. At St Pius X College we dedicate the month of November to those in our community who have died and are now in the presence of Christ. We do this with our Remembrance Book in the College foyer. Students are invited the add the name(s) of family for whom they would like us to pray. During our College Chapel Masses for this term, the Remembrance Book will be taken to the Chapel to dedicate our prayers to.
Mr Nathan Mulheron - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity
Be Connected Program
Our Be Connected Program is going from strength to strength, and now enters its third six-week block, in partnership with Chatswood Library and Willoughby City Council. The program centres on young people assisting seniors in our community with technology. We were excited recently that the College was featured in some fantastic media coverage.
Our new set of student mentors have been trained and met their new mentees last week. Be Connected runs every Wednesday afternoon from 3.30 pm - 4.30 pm. Please reach out to Mr Balboa via email if you wish to be involved next year - rbalboa@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.
Mr Ryan Balboa - Social Justice Coordinator