From the Principal

Our Gospel this coming weekend is from Luke:

“Lying at the rich man’s door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the richman’s table.” Luke 16: 19-31

The story of the rich man and Lazarus needs little in the way of explanation but reminds us all, yet again, that we are called to show compassion to any person we encounter who is in need. One of the stark realities of this Gospel from Luke is the way in which the rich man seems to have totally ignored the plight of Lazarus, indeed it is not until he reaches Heaven that he 'sees' the other. One of the ways in which we are called to discipleship is to 'see' other in all of our daily interactions. We may not be exposed to poor people eating scraps from our table, but we are exposed in a multitude of ways to others who need our compassion and care. In this way the students of Killester constantly demonstrate their attendance to our values. Our theme this year of 'compassion' has been embedded in a multitude of ways as part of our community celebrations and actions. We are called, simply by way of our existence, to enshine compassion for 'other' in all we do; this was beautifully captured at our Brigidine Day celebrations. In the first instance our liturgy commenced our day with reflection on how we are called to compassion and action, then, as our day of fun commenced, our students showed their commitment to community, within and beyond Killester, by fundraising for 'other'. Specifically we ensure the fundraising efforts of our Brigidine Day supports our fellow Kildare Ministries works such as The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project and Wellsprings in Dandenong. We are indeed blessed to be part of a larger organisation that has at its heart the need to see and care for 'other' and to do so in a way that enables and empowers those with whom they work to ensure their dignity and self-determination. In this we see that we move away from being like the rich man, and ensure that in our existence here on God's earth, we see all in need and respond to God's call to help, this is the fundamental principle of our Christian humanity.

Our term ended with the first full Brigidine Day Celebration we have been able to have for 3 years; it was a day full of joy and celebration and I commend all students for their active participation as we celebrated our rich Brigidine tradition. These days do not happen without enormous amounts of organisation and preparation and I thank in particular, Mr Peter O'Neill, Ms Emma Neville and Ms Sam Powell for their oversight of the day. The Year Level Leaders also spent many hours ensuring the activities for the day were engaging and fun and, as always, our music staff contributed to the ways in which our day enabled participation and celebration of the many talents of our student cohort.

During these school holidays our students undertaking studies in Units 3/4 will be sitting their trial exams in the lead up to the final exams which will commence only a few short weeks into Term 4. Again these only happen due to the commitment and diligence of staff who willingly give of their own holiday time to prepare, supervise and provide feedback on the exams. I thank all those who will give up some of their well deserved break to enable this important learning experience for our students.

Term 4 classes commence on Monday 3 October; I very much look forward to seeing all of our students at the start of our final term for 2022,

Sally Buick

Principal