Catholic Identity

Reflection  

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary time – Year A – Sunday August 20, 2023

REFLECTION by Dianne Bergant CSA

The overarching theme derived from today’s readings is the question of insider-outsider. We see here that the divisions and barriers that emerge out of human experience have been shattered by the graciousness of God. Jesus’ openness to ‘the other’ finds a precedent in the prophetic tradition. Isaiah spoke of a time when outsiders would join insiders in worshipping God, thus dissolving the categories of insider and outsider. He was, of course, referring to the age of eschatological fulfilment. This age dawned with the coming of Jesus. Jesus him self moved out of the constraints of his own cultural worldview, and he directs us to do the same. People are either excluded because of gender, culture or religious perspective, or included only because they are able and willing to conform to discriminatory standards. In the reign of God, this should not be the case. People are accepted along with their own cultural profiles.

God’s embrace first enclosed even those who rejected Jesus, and then God’s plan of salvation unfolded in a new way. An invitation to enter the kingdom was issued to the Gentiles, those who had been considered outsiders. If outsiders are now insiders, what has happened to the former insiders? Paul insists that they are still insiders. God has not simply shifted the identifying boundaries; God has dissolved them. In the interim between the dawning of the eschatological age and the end of time, the invitation to be included remains open to all.

General Notice

It has been a very busy few weeks at St Anne’s College. We had our Feast Day Mass on the 26th of July, Fire Carrier commissioning ceremony on Monday afternoon and the College Athletics on Tuesday. Next Friday, 25th August, our staff will take part in professional learning with ‘Australians Together – Building Confidence workshop’, and Music in Liturgy PL. Each of these events and PL’s have been designed to build our school community, enhance and improve the learning and teaching experiences for your children during their time at St Anne’s College.

Fire Carrier Commissioning Ceremony

We welcomed and commissioned several new Fire Carriers to our team on Monday. The dream of the Fire Carrier program is to promote respect fairness and inclusion that is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Fire Carrier promotes, enculturation and reconciliation in our Catholic primary and secondary schools across Australia. Our Fire Carriers were commissioned by Michael Chisholm, Aboriginal Education Team Leader from Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd. The SOW students from years 1&2, led by Rebecca Bolger and Jorgi Alper sang ’Inanay’ in Yorta Yorta language during the ceremony to our whole school. A huge thank you goes out to Tina Thompson who taught this beautiful lullaby to our students and helped in leading the Fire Carrier Commissioning ceremony.

The Fire Carrier is to exercise an important leadership role in the school community. Fire Carriers are students and staff that share a passion for learning about Aboriginal culture and history and are committed to sharing this knowledge and promoting reconciliation within and beyond the school community. St Anne’s College also has a Fire Carrier Covenant that is updated each year setting out actions across the school for the next 12 months. We are blessed to have the assistance of a team of staff at St Anne’s College to develop and update this each year.

- Elizabeth Holligan, Religious Education Leader