Faith, Justice and Formation

Year 11 Father and Son Evening

Last Tuesday evening, 40 dads and their sons from Year 11 gathered in the hall for dinner and an evening together sharing their experiences and thoughts about being a man in today’s world. The evening followed the Year 11 Retreat Day earlier in the term that was built around the theme of The Spirituality of Men.

Wide ranging topics were discussed around the idea that “A boy cannot change into a man without the active intervention of the older men.” We also looked at Steve Biddulph’s steps to manhood which include the ideas of:

• “Fixing it” with your father
• Finding sacredness in your sexuality
• Learning to have real male friends… and not just the “bonding of the bar”…
• Finding heart in your work.

I would like to thank all the dads and young men of Year 11 who offered so much of themselves to this evening and to Mr Herro for sharing the leadership of the night.

Holy Week Liturgy

Earlier today all students and staff gathered in the gym for our Holy Week Liturgy for 2023. Last Sunday we celebrated Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Palm Sunday Mass begins with great celebration and a procession commemorating this event as the crowds cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. But these celebrations turn quickly to the events of Jesus’s betrayal, crucifixion and death. The joyful cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David” turn to the menacing snarls of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”. In our liturgy today we commemorated a small part of the great story of Christ’s death and resurrection as we reflected upon Jesus the servant and his new commandment: “That you love one another, even as I have loved you.” The liturgy was built around word, action, symbolism and music. There were parts of the liturgy for quiet and peace; there was drama and there was prayer. Where there are words for you to speak, you are asked to join in with conviction.

We heard the Gospel according to St John where he relates Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. This is the same Gospel that will be read tomorrow night at the evening Mass of the Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Supper. When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he was really telling a parable, not in words but in action. The story begins with the words, “Jesus knew that the hour had come.” In other words, he knew that this was the last meal that he would share with his friends before he was betrayed and handed over to the authorities to face death on a cross. In the action of washing their feet, he is trying to show them what is about to happen and what his final lesson to them is – the new commandment: “that you love one another, even as I have loved you.” But it is almost as though the atmosphere is so heavy with the enormity of what is about to happen, that there are no more words left to say. Instead, Jesus removes his outer robes, takes the place of the lowest of the servants in the house, and washes their feet.

At the beginning of the story, it also says that “He had always loved those who were his… but now he showed how perfect his love was.” In some other translations it says, “that he loved them to the end”, by which it means he loved them to the fullest possible extent. He loved them completely. And he demonstrates this in an act of extraordinary humility by washing their feet with water and drying them with a towel. And this is so astonishing that Peter refuses, “Never”, he says, “You shall never wash my feet.” Because Peter knows who Jesus is. He is his teacher; his master and he is the Son of God. But Jesus tells him: “If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.” What Jesus means by this is that to serve others we must be humble enough and open enough to accept service as well.

Jesus shows us that we all need to be servants of others. And the basic identity of all in service, is that we are all equal in dignity, and as St Paul says in our College theme, we are all united as one, and there should be no division between us. To follow Jesus, we must not follow our own ambitions or desires, but identify with the one who showed us how to be in right relationship with all.

Because Jesus is trying to show us through his actions how “perfect love” behaves. Perfect love is the service of others.

When Jesus says: “I give you a new commandment: love one another even as I have loved you.” This is what he is asking? That we love each other like this, to love completely and to respect the dignity of every person equally – men and women, young and old, rich and poor, people of faith and those of no belief. It is a simple concept, but so difficult for us to do, because we are human.

This act of washing the disciple’s feet has been reenacted throughout history as a reminder of what Jesus is asking us to do in taking on the role of the servant and humbling ourselves before others. This has traditionally been done by those in power. On Holy Thursday over the centuries, popes, emperors, bishops, and kings have washed the feet of the poor in public. In our liturgy today, we demonstrated the power of this parable in action as our College Captains and Vice Captains put away the symbols of their leadership, by removing their Senior blazer and black tie and washed the feet of some of the boys in Year 7 and Year 8.

May I wish you a Happy and Holy Easter.

Adam Leslie

Acting Director of Identity

Mother’s Day Mass

All mothers and mother-figures of the College are warmly invited with their sons to the College’s Mother’s Day Mass on Friday 12 May 2023. It will be a wonderful celebration of the relationship between mother and son, modelled on our relationship with God.

Following Mass all mothers are invited to Morning Tea provided by the College.

Please read the instructions carefully to ensure the booking process operates smoothly.

This is the Mass to celebrate all mothers/mother figures in the life of St Patrick's College, Strathfield.

It is for current students and their mother/mother figure ONLY. 

Please note the following:

• You must get a ticket for you and for each of your sons, including those in the Band and Choir.
• There is no cost for each boy's ticket however, it is $10 per mother to offset the cost of the hire of the venue.
• You are only to organise your own family’s tickets (as numbers per booking are limited).
• Siblings not from the College will not be able to attend (apart from babies who do not require a seat).
• If you book tickets for more than yourself and your son/s, we will cancel your tickets.
• If there is still room, we will open ticketing for Year 12 grandmothers in the first week of next term.
• The RSVP (ticketing) window will be open from Wednesday 22 March 6:00 PM to Thursday 6 April at midday.
• This is the link for booking tickets -  2023 Mother's Day Mass Bookings 

We look forward to this celebration of our faith which is central to our being as a Catholic school. We also look forward to honouring the role of all mothers and mother figures in the life of the College and more importantly in the lives of the boys and young men we teach.

Adam Leslie

Acting Director of Identity on behalf of Dr Lavorato and St Patrick’s College