Acting Leader of Mission
“The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Job 33:4
Dearest Marian Community
I hope this article finds you in great spirits. There have been many wonderful moments this term that have given both students and staff an opportunity to grow and immerse themselves in their faith. We need not to look any further than the compassionate spirit that is constantly evolving at Marian Catholic College. The evidence to prove this is through the demonstration of the giving spirit at Marian. At the beginning of the term, I had the goal of collecting enough items to create 45 I-Care Kits. After our most recent count on Thursday, we have enough to make 50 I-Care Kits. The love and generosity of our College is truly remarkable to witness and be part of. I personally thank you all so much for your constant giving spirit.
I see this and can’t help but relate this to the Marist theme for 2021, “Breathe”. God’s Spirit breathes life into all of creation, and it is that breath that provides life to all living things. The Christian life is one powered by the breath of God, transforming and calling us to be people who participate in the mission of Jesus: of building and empowering others into freedom. “Breathe”, allows us to grow in awareness of our responsibilities towards creation and its members, especially humanity and in particular, the poor. Which is something that our College is doing and beginning to flourish as a collective.
Building on the Marist theme, our College staff had the opportunity to take part in our annual Spirituality day on Friday. The aim of our Spirituality Day is to explore how all Christians are called to grow together in unity and mission. Our hope is for staff to draw inspiration from the Holy Spirit and bring to life within our community the Lord's commandment for us to "live a life of love" (Ephesians 5:2). We were extremely fortunate enough to have Mark O'Farrell from Marist Schools Australia come to Marian and deliver the program. I believe that one of the key messages that really resonated with staff is that as we breathe-in, we feed and nourish our physical bodies and nurture our inner life. But we can’t hold our breath. After being fuelled by the breath of the love of God we are compelled to breathe out, to give life to others and creation (Ezk 37:1-14). We are challenged to take up Pope Francis’ invitation to become more consciously guardians of creation, as well as our brothers and sisters in humanity.
NAIDOC WEEK
As we approach the end of the term, there are still many events that will take place with our College community. One of these is our NAIDOC Week celebrations, which fall in our final week of our College term. There has been a lot behind the scenes work that has been happening in order to bring to life our NAIDOC Week. This year, the theme for
NAIDOC week is Heal Country. Heal Country calls for all of us to seek greater protection for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites, and the cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction. To our Indigenous community, the term Country is more than a place it is inherent to their identity.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people speak about Country like a person, it sustains their life in every aspect - spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and culturally. NAIDOC week is an opportunity for all Australians to come together to celebrate the rich history, diverse cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the oldest continuing cultures on the planet.
In 2021, Marian will have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of diverse activities that will enable us to celebrate NAIDOC week.
Dodge Ball
On Saturday 5th June it was the Feast Day of Saint Marcellin. To celebrate and honour his life, Marcellin House hosted a House Dodgeball Competition. This event highlighted our school’s community spirit and support of one another with participation and spectator numbers high.
The first game saw Patrick beat McAuley in a close encounter to earn a spot in the championship game. Hosts Marcellin fought hard but succumbed to a strong and determined Brendan team. Brendan looked to continue their momentum against a fired up Patrick team. After a see-sawing first few minutes, Patrick lifted and managed to dodge their way to victory. Congratulations Patrick House!
Marian, I thank you for your continued support and amazing efforts to date. Until my next article, invite the Spirit of Jesus to enliven, energise, empower and unite us: The Spirit of the Lord is upon us! (Lk 4:18).
“Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe”
Deepak Chopra
Faithfully yours,
Gabriel Abdala
Acting Leader of Mission