FAITH MATTERS

Next week we celebrate a very important event on our school calendar -  JJAMM Week. JJAMM stands for Julian, Joseph and Mary MacKillop, three very significant people in the story of our school. Our school was established in the tradition of the Josphites the first religious order for women established by an Australian woman. This woman was Mary MacKillop who, along with Fr Julian Tenison Woods founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Though we are not certain that Mary MacKillop herself ever traveled through or stayed here in Swan Hill, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart had a strong connection with our school for many years. We remain today an AJASS affiliated school, a school that has links with the Josephites. 

Throughout this week our school community comes together to celebrate the Josephite charism, or way of being, through a number of activities, prayers and reflections. Our celebrations begin on Monday with our tradition of JJAMM doughnuts. On Tuesday we have the Feast Day Mass at 12pm and at lunchtime there is the Staff vs Students Netball match. Wednesday is pyJJAMMa Day, where students and staff can opt to wear pyJJAMMas. This is not a casual day but we encourage students to dress up in pyJJAMMas, dressing gowns, Oodie’s and the like. On Thursday we have a Walkathon and this will be a casual dress day. Finally we  finish our celebrations on Friday with a new activity, MacK’s Tracks.

Each year on the 8th of August the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. On this day we celebrate the important role she played in making education accessible for children in our country. Mary MacKillop devoted her life to ensuring a holistic Catholic education for children, especially those from rural, poor families.

St Mary MacKillop’s impact on Australian education was remarkable. She was a trailblazer and leader who passionately advocated for the needs of others. Fr Julian Tension Woods supported Mary in her work with the Sisters and they named the order after their patron, St Joseph, a model of humility and hard work. Like Fr Julian and St Joseph, Mary was an ordinary person, who responded to God’s call to live in an extraordinary way. We can all learn much from this humble woman who ‘never saw a need without doing something about it’.