Rector's Report
Greetings to you all!
I know you will have a sense of sadness as you realise that this is the last newsletter for 2025. (HA! HA!) However, it has been a pleasure keeping you up to date with what is happening around the college particularly from the faith, charism and mission perspectives. I am also aware that many of you have enjoyed the fun aspect of the cartoons that I provided at the end of the newsletter. Where possible, I tried to associate them with what is happening in the broader context of life around us.
I know it is a little early, however, as this is the last newsletter for the academic year I pray that your family and extended family will receive all the joy, peace, hope, and love that the Christmas season offers. May it be a time to relax and spend time together.
This Sunday's Gospel
This weekend we begin the first Sunday of Advent with Matthew’s gospel calling us to stay awake and focused as our days are filled with activity work, appointments, sport, caring for children or ageing parents, managing responsibilities and trying to keep everything moving. Like the people in Noah’s time, we can get swept up in the ordinary and miss the quiet ways God is working in and around us. Advent interrupts that pattern. It invites us to slow down enough to notice, to listen, to be present to what matters most.
For families this Gospel is a gentle but urgent nudge to prepare our homes, not with perfection, but with openness and love. These weeks of Advent are a chance to rekindle hope, to reconnect with one another, to notice who might feel lonely or forgotten, to reach out beyond our comfort zones and to welcome others with generosity. Advent awakens a shared sense of responsibility for one another and invites us to walk together with hearts that are expectant, courageous and ready.
As we begin this season may we resist the temptation to rush through these weeks and instead remain awake to the grace unfolding around us. Advent is not just a countdown to Christmas it is an invitation to live with attentiveness and hope, trusting that Christ is already drawing near.
Let this Advent be the time we choose to stay awake to God’s presence and be willing to act with generosity and courage. This is our time to prepare not just for Christmas but for Christ moving among us right now.
Adore Advent Program 2025 - De Mazenod Family
Adore Advent Program for 2025 is now available to download! ✨
This year’s resource invites you to journey through the key moments leading to the birth of Jesus:
🌿 The Annunciation to Mary
🌿 The Angel’s visit to Joseph
🌿 The Visitation
🌿 The Nativity
Designed for parishes, schools, families, or personal reflection, Adore offers a simple way to pause amid the busyness of life and prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord.
Season of Advent
This Sunday we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year with the Sunday readings from Year A. The Weekday Cycle will be Year II. Advent is the start of the four-week period of preparation for Christmas. The Advent wreath symbolizes God's infinite love and the hope of eternal life, represented by its circular shape and evergreen branches.
The four themes of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love. These themes are often associated with each of the four Sundays of Advent, with hope typically being the focus of the first week, peace the second, joy the third, and love the final week. Some traditions also assign specific candles on an Advent wreath to each theme.
The traditional colours for Advent are purple and rose, representing prayer, penance, and joyful anticipation respectively.
Purple: Used on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. It symbolizes a time of prayer, penance, and spiritual reflection as people prepare for Christmas.
Rose (or pink): Used on the third Sunday of Advent, known as "Gaudete Sunday" or Rejoicing Sunday. This colour marks a shift from penance to joy, reflecting the anticipation of Christmas drawing nearer.
National Oblate Youth Encounter
The annual National Oblate Youth Encounter will be held from January 4-7, 2026. The gathering will take place at the new St Eugene’s Centre for Mission in Newborough, in the Latrobe Valley. This gathering brings together young people from around Australia who wish to share their Catholic faith in the spirit of the Charism of St Eugene de Mazenod. It is designed for young people (those entering Year 12 in 2026 through to age 30) to grow in and reflect on their faith, as well as to share plenty of fun and community time with one another.
The theme for NOYE 2026 will be “On the Road”, inspired by St Eugene’s call to form young people into humans, Christians, and saints. I invite parents to encourage their young people to consider attending this encounter. Further information can be found at: www.oblateyouth.com.au
St John Vianney Parish Celebration
On Sunday November 23 at the 10.00am Eucharist the parish community of St John Vianney, Springvale North, celebrated the blessing and opening of the newly renovated foyer, sacristy areas, and new accessible toilet facilities. Bishop Thinh Xuan Nguyen DD, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne blessed the renovated areas and presided at the Eucharist. Fr Andrew Chen OMI Provincial of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate performed the official opening.
A joyful and blessed Christmas to you all.
May the spirit of Christmas carry you and your loved ones forward into 2026 with good health and hope for a better world for all. Enjoy the Christmas Season, the holiday time and a Happy New Year.
Fr Harry, Fr Dominic, Fr David, & Fr Anthony
See you in 2026.
Yours in Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate
Fr Harry Dyer OMI