Reflection

Welcome back.

As we welcome back many of our community we pay attention to the words used in John O’Donohue’s book ‘To Bless the space between us.’

May I live this day compassionate of heart, clear in word, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought, generous in love.

This and every day. Amen.

Champagnat Day Celebrations

While our celebrations for the feast day of our founder St Marcellin Champagnat will be modified this year they will be no less important in focussing our attention on the spirit of Champagnat in our community and the Mission of the institute to make Jesus known and loved. We are reminded, as Champagnat did to place our trust in Mary, our good mother.

Mass will be celebrated and lived streamed to all classes on Friday 5 June.

National Reconciliation Week 2020

In 2020 Reconciliation Australia marks twenty years of shaping Australia’s journey towards a more just, equitable and reconciled nation. Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We strive towards a more just, equitable nation by championing unity and mutual respect as we come together and connect with one another.

Reconciliation Prayer

Holy Father, God of Love,

You are the Creator of all things.

We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history and the sufferings of Our peoples,

We ask for your forgiveness.

We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures.

Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus to reconcile the world to you.

We pray for your strength and grace to forgive, accept and love one another, as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.

Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history so that we may build a better future for our Nation.

Teach us to respect all cultures.

Teach us to care for our land and waters.

Help us to share justly the resources of this land.

Help us to bring about spiritual and social change to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities,

Especially the disadvantaged.

Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem by your Spirit.

May your power and love be the foundations on which we build

our families, our communities, and our Nation.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer from Wontulp Bi-Buya Indigenous Theology Working Group, 13 March 1997

Mission and Ministry

While we cannot do all the activities that make up our MATES program at the current moment, this doesn’t mean we cannot be Marists in solidarity with others. We often don’t realise all the good we can do in small ways - a kind, encouraging word or helping hand and as a Marist community we are known for our capacity to look out and stand up for each other and we can do this in new ways in this time – checking in with friends, doing that extra task at home, staying on top of our school work, exercising patience and courage. These are all ways we can keep St Marcellin’s legacy alive. We are incredibly proud of the ‘Brotherhood’ initiative that our Year 12 Captains have taken on board for 2020. During the weeks of home learning (which continues for so many of our community) this imitative was a point of contact and relationship that as a simple act of solidarity, kept us and will keep us united as a Marist family.

Come and see us in the Mission Office for further details or to discuss MATES.

Game Changers Continuing

Game Changers is a new Mission program that has started for Year 7’s and Year 10’s.

Game Changers is for students who want to learn more about what it means to be a Marist boy, become better leaders and who want to make a difference in our community alongside their mates.

Mr Burns is continuing to keep the Game Changers activities alive online. To register for Game Changers or for more information please email Adam Burns (College Youth Minister): burnsa@marash.qld.edu.au.

Wednesday morning Mass

Don’t forget we are live streaming Wednesday morning Mass – check Facebook or the Student portal for the link and for details.

Don’t forget our Facebook page Marist College Ashgrove Living the Mission page has a weekly prayer.

Chaplain’s Corner: May

It is with great joy, and indeed privilege, that I have this opportunity to communicate to you.

The month of May is traditionally known in the Catholic Church as the Month of Mary. Not just a day but a whole month, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin May, Mother of God. It is a time when the People of God express with a particular intensity their love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The ways Mary is honoured in May is as varied as the people who honour her. However, it’s common for parishes to have a daily recitation of the Rosary during May, and many erect a special May altar with a statue or picture of Mary as a reminder of Mary’s month. Additionally, it’s a long-standing tradition to crown the statue of Mary during May – a custom known as May Crowning. Often, the crown is made of beautiful blossoms representing Mary’s beauty and virtue. It’s also a reminder to the faithful to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtue in our own lives.

In response to the recent worldwide crisis, Pope Francis wrote a special letter to the faithful, urging everyone to pray the Rosary in May. The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this “family” aspect of our lives and gives us a clear spiritual point of view. For this reason, Pope Francis wants to encourage everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May.

Pentecost Sunday is approaching and this marks the end of the Easter season and the beginning of the Ordinary time in our liturgical calendar. However, we are reminded that the Paschal mystery, which is the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, is not something that we experience only in faith but also in life. The COVID 19 pandemic has brought the world to experience the somewhat similar effects of suffering and death. No words to explain and the mind cannot fully comprehend the destruction and the pain the pandemic has brought into the world. It will also leave its mark on the new world as it unfolds. As for Christians, though suffering and death are real, they cannot be victorious. Christ has risen from the dead. And whoever is with Christ also shares in that victory. We have witnessed countless courageous acts of love and have also seen signs of life in the midst of suffering and even death. Our Christian faith teaches us never to lose hope. We are grateful indeed that we are seeing signs of hope around the world.

We ask Mary, Our Good Mother, to pray for us.

We fly to your protection,

O Holy Mother of God;

Do not despise our petitions

in our necessities,

but deliver us always

from every danger,

O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.

St. Marcellin Champagnat. Pray for us

St. Mary of the Cross. Pray for us.

Mary, our Good Mother. Pray for us.

May we always remember to pray for one another.

Fr. ‘Alatini Kolofo’ou, SM

Chaplain.

Headmaster's Notes

O'Connell Place - Private Road