Veritas - From the APRIM

Year 7 Reflection Day

Our Year 7s spent Friday 16 March as a day of reflection about the balance in their lives, the journeys they have taken so far, and the direction they want to go in. They began the day by walking to the venue, North Adelaide Football Club in Prospect. Mrs Amelia Eagle led the students in a reflective prayer on the theme of balance, before Ms Anthea Osborne led a few ice-breaker games that also tested students’ balance. These were very much enjoyed by the boys.

The theme of balance was explored through considering the Power of Two Feet – a concept used by St Catherine of Sienna to illustrate the need for contemplation to accompany action and vice versa. These were linked to the Four Pillars; the contemplative ones of Prayer and Study and the two action ones of Community and Service.

The students then used their own feet to go to Rosary Church for Mass, followed by a Stations of the Cross Liturgy. I hope the boys recognised that Jesus used his feet on this tortuous journey.

We returned to NAFC for lunch and the final session, in which students meditated on their gifts and the journeys they have experienced so far, and where they would like to use their gifts in the future. This movement from contemplation to action was constantly reinforced, including through an activity in which students recorded their gifts on a body outline, and what they want to do with them.

Jerusalem and beyond

Since Ash Wednesday, the activities of the Church have pointed toward Holy Week and Easter. This Sunday is Palm Sunday which marks Jesus triumphant arrival in Jerusalem. It certainly was triumphant, even though a few days later the very people celebrating His arrival ordered His death! The burning of the Palms that are used to celebrate Jesus’ arrival is a good reminder of this, as are the Ashes from those Palms when they are placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.

Jesus' entry was triumphant because of the extent of conversion that took place on His journey to Jerusalem. People experienced personal liberation through Jesus, but it was short-lived as they again got caught up in a personal incarceration through allowing a Roman occupation to diminish the liberation Jesus had given them. They instead sought a political liberation, and chose Barabbas (the freedom fighter or terrorist, depending on your perspective). This did not end well for them as they were expelled from Jerusalem only a few decades later for acts of hostility against Rome. Incredibly, this exile still has ramifications today.

However, consider those that came to recognise the type of liberation Jesus gave – not immediately as He hung on the Cross, but over the ensuing weeks following His Resurrection when His message became clear: whilst their evangelistic journey was very difficult and often included tortuous death, we are assured as Christians that this is not the end; like Christ we are resurrected and join God in the after-life. When we are experiencing pain for our beliefs, or just because of what life can dish out, we are invited to have faith that God is with us and that paradise awaits. This is the gift of faith.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus sent his disciples ahead of Him to prepare His path, just as he did before heading to Jerusalem. We are his disciples today, sent forth by Christ to prepare the way for people’s path to God. When we die, we cannot take anything else with us but souls, so our first priority in life must be to gain souls for God. This is not by force, but through invitation, just as Christ invites us. It is through love, just as God loves us. It is through touching souls through good works of kindness, just as the good works of the Holy Spirit touch our souls.

Holy Week points toward the source and summit of our faith. The first Eucharist of Easter is that summit, and it is replicated every Sunday. I invite you – I implore you – take up Christ’s invitation every Sunday, but most importantly over Easter, where you can experience Christ’s Passion on Good Friday, and his triumph over death on Easter Sunday.

Mr Matthew Crisanti

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION

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