Religious Education News

Last week was Catholic Schools Week. The theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week is ‘Our hope filled future’. Hope, in our Catholic context, is not some vague, wishful thinking that things might get better at some stage in the future. Instead, hope for us means that we are confident in receiving the blessing of God and that God’s promises to us will be fulfilled. 

On Wednesday a group of our students represented the College at the Catholic Schools Week Mass at the Cathedral. These students, including Year 10 Assistant Catechists, Year 11 Lasallian Youth Leaders and Year 12 student leaders represented the College to an excellent standard. Special mention must be made to Mrs Pardy and her music students who provided the music and singing group for the Mass. It was very well received by the students and staff from our local Catholic school community as well as students from Holy Trinity, Inverell. 

This week we welcomed our newest addition to the school community, Mr Miguel Oringo who has been appointed as our Youth Minister. Miguel has extensive experience in Youth Ministry in Sydney and Canberra, and will be a fantastic addition to our faith formation team, supporting our students with events such as the Vinnies Winter Appeal and Founders Day, all of which are happening this term!

The Gospel reading from the Catholic Schools Week Mass related Christ’s instruction to his Disciples that in order to lead, they needed to become the servants of all. Servant leadership is one of the key ideas at the heart of Catholic education. We all know that in many ways our world is hurting, and it is through putting ourselves at the service of others we can all do our little bit to bring healing to our communities. 

Here at O’Connor we offer many opportunities for all members of the school community to live out student leadership. Our Year 10 Assistant Catechists are an excellent example of the ways in which our students rise to the challenge of servant leadership. These students have volunteered to support Religious Education lessons in some of our local primary schools, and the feedback has been fantastic. Another form of student-led service is through our Lasallian Youth Leaders program, consisting of Year 11 students who help lead our STEP Day and retreat activities. Next week some of these students will be assisting at our second STEP day for the year, as well as our Year 10 retreat. 

Next Friday our staff will gather at St Albert’s College for our annual spirituality day. This is an important part of our calendar, providing everyone with the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to service through Catholic education. The scripture that we’ll focus on will be from the Gospel of St John, when Jesus tells his followers that he is the ‘living bread’ from heaven. Through our Catholic schools we share in the ‘living bread’, knowledge and understanding that stays with us throughout our lives, enriching them and guiding us. 

A reminder what your children (and our students) are learning this term: 

Year 7

This term our Year 7 students are learning about the key sacred scriptures that underpin our faith. Students will explore both the Old and New Testaments, understanding the structure of the Bible and its most important themes. Critically, they are learning that these texts are not irrelevant , but contain many valuable lessons that can be applied to their everyday lives!

Year 8

Our Year 8 unit of work this term will focus on important Disciples, martyrs and witnesses to our faith. Students will learn about the nature of Discipleship, as well as the life stories of significant Catholics who sacrificed their lives in the service of the faith. It’s through exploring these stories that our students can see that these disciples were not perfect in every way, and that just like us they had doubts and fears. We can learn much from exploring the lives of the saints, and see how we can use them as role models in our own lives. 

Year 9

Year 9 are learning about how our faith helps us to make sense of the world. Students will explore some of the enduring questions of existence and what our Catholic faith teaches us in response to these questions. These questions can be very confronting at times, such as ‘why does evil exist in our world?’, and students are encouraged to think openly about the causes of significant issues in our world, and how we can use our faith to find answers. 

Year 10

This term Year 10 are learning about the Sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders, the two ‘Sacraments of Communion’, and how they bring people together in community and service. They’re also learning about the different ways in which we can act as servant leaders through ministries and vocations. Their retreat next week is very much focussed on the idea of servant leadership!

To finish off, I’d like to make mention of Pope Leo’s statement on Catholic education from last year. In his letter, he stressed that Catholic education should never be an exclusive privilege, and stated that institutions must invent new pathways, warning that "losing the poor is equivalent to losing the school itself". These are not new ideas, following in the footsteps of our founding saints Angela Merici and John Baptist de La Salle, as well as Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop, and it helps to remind us that we should always go out to where we are needed most, as servants of the poor, just as Jesus did. 

Mr Andrew May

Religious Education Coordinator

Our Founders - St Angela Merici and St John Baptiste De La Salle

Saints Mary and Joseph Cathedral Parish

Keeping in touch with what is happening in the Cathedral Parish is easy through their website and Facebook pages.

With such a difficult year and a half it has been harder for parishioner's to give to the parish through the plates, particularly when the church is closed as it is at present. The Parish account details are available on the Parish bulletin. 

Cathedral Parish Website

Information about our founders

La Salle Website

Ursuline Sisters Website