From the Principal

Faithful to God and others

This week we had a beautiful final assembly for our Year 12 students and a wonderful Valete evening recognising the Class of 2019.

Recently our Year 11 India pilgrimage students heard a moving homily during Mass with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries. It was inspiring to be in the presence of Mother Teresa’s Sisters and to celebrate the Eucharist with them.

I shared the homily from that Mass at the Day of Invitation assembly.

‘The story goes back to the late 1880s. One cold, rainy night, an elderly couple walked into a small hotel in Philadelphia to shelter from the storm. The clerk, a young man, tried to accommodate the couple, but unfortunately the hotel was booked out.

Not wanting to send them out into the rain and seeing no other alternative, he offered them his room for the night. He explained that he would be able to make other arrangements for one night. Hesitatingly, the couple took up his offer.

After a night’s rest, the gentleman—while paying the bill the next morning—told the clerk that he was touched by his gesture. “He would be ideal to run the best hotel in the US”, he said. “Maybe someday I’ll build one for you,” is what he is rumoured to have said.

Two years later, the clerk received a letter recounting that fateful night in Philadelphia, along with a ticket to New York. The elderly gentleman was William Waldorf Astor and he wanted the young clerk to manage his new hotel.

It is believed that the Waldorf Hotel changed the hospitality sector, introducing the concept of 24/7 room service and other excellent hospitality practices.’

The Priest alluded to the importance of attending to the small details in our lives and looking out for other people. It resonated beautifully with the life and example of Mother Teresa and her selfless example towards others.

‘It is more important to be faithful than to be successful’

(Mother Teresa).

For our Year 12 students that can mean faithful to God; faithful to family; faithful to friends and faithful to others. We congratulate them on their contribution to the College and wish them well for the future.

Robert Henderson

Principal