Mission News

Prayers

We pray for our Year 12 students as they begin their external exams this week. May the Holy Spirit and Mary our Good Mother guide these Marist men as they diligently apply themselves and strive to do their best. 

We pray for those who are experiencing bereavement at this time. May God be a source of strength and hope for the living and welcome those who have died into everlasting peace. 

Community Mass

Community Mass

We will celebrate Mass on Monday and Friday first break and Wednesday at 8:00am. During Fridays Break 1B Mass, we will celebrate All Saints and All Souls - All welcome!

Gospel and Reflection

Gospel from the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Luke 18:9-14 (JB)

Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else. 'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get." The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.'

Gospel Reflection 

The Marist quality of humility points us to Marcellin whose humble beginnings and lack of formal education grounded him and fired his passion to bring God’s love to young people, especially the poorest children in his pocket of rural France. Marcellin’s humility was undoubtedly inspired by the person of Jesus whom he directed his love and energy towards through the Sacred Heart of Mary. Jesus’ teaching on humility is beautifully illustrated in our Sunday Gospel as the two characters in the parable are starkly contrasted. On the one hand, we have the Pharisee who performs piety, but can’t see his own sinfulness due to his self-satisfaction. The tax collector, though, is a sinner who knows he has sinned and is humble in his plea to God for forgiveness. 

Time and again we are reminded that our words and actions as Christians call us to go deeper inward and further outward. To go beyond ticking boxes and certainly to go beyond appearances and grandstanding. If we believe that God sees us for who we are, no matter the masks we wear, wouldn’t we rather meet God honest about what is in our hearts? Like the tax collector of the Gospel, may our prayer be based on showing up with honesty, humility and a readiness to listen to God’s presence in our lives.

+ God of truth,

You see into our hearts and our lives

Teach us the way of humility and honesty.

May we seek out your mercy and love 

When we stray from what we know is right.

Be our hope and our light,

So that today and tomorrow

We can live your good news.

Mary our Good Mother – pray for us

St Marcellin Champagnat – pray for us

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – pray for us

And may we always remember – to pray for one another

Amen.+

Ozanam Leadership Program 

Written Hamish Ansell and Harry Cootes

In March, I was accepted into the Ozanam Leadership Program, with the intent of developing my leadership and advocacy skills, and improving myself as a person, with 25 other like-minded Year 10 and 11 students from all around Brisbane.

In May, the Brisbane OLP group joined with the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba groups, to go to Emu Gully for a 3-day retreat. Here, we carried people in stretchers through mud pits, took blindfolded people through underground pipe systems, and other activities that tested our teamwork and resilience.

Since then, I have taken part in six leadership development sessions to learn more about how to be a better leader in the community. The sessions included guest speakers, activities, and discussions, with each night covering a different area of leadership, helping me get a better, more well-rounded understanding of what it means to be a good leader.

OLP also provided volunteering opportunities, which included being part of running a Buddies Day for kids, which was really rewarding. It allowed me to use what I had learned about leadership in real life scenarios. I was also part of advocacy events like the CEO Sleepout. Meeting people involved in these events and seeing the impact of certain social justice issues and homelessness helped me better understand what it means to be a servant leader.

OLP has been an amazing, eye-opening experience. The skills I have learnt are some that I will use for the rest of my life, and the lessons I took away have helped develop me as a person, improved my advocacy and leadership skills, and I learnt more about modern social justice issues in the community. 

Marist College Christmas Appeal

27 October – 14 November

Our 2025 Marist College Christmas Appeal is underway!

The Marist College community comes together once again for our annual Christmas Appeal. This year, we are proud to support The St Vincent de Paul Society and Downs and West Community Support, two organisations making a real difference for those facing hardship.

The appeal will run from Weeks 4 to 6. Students are encouraged to bring in Grocery Gift Cards or donate online via Monitor or Humanitix. Cash won't be accepted for the appeal. Students, families and community members can donate using this link:

2025 MCA Christmas Appeal Donation Link

Extraordinary Ministers of Communion

Last week over 30 of our current Year 11 students spent their Wednesday break to complete training to become Extraordinary Ministers of Communion. Fr ‘Alatini Kolofo’ou took time to remind the students of the importance of the sacrament and the reverence and responsibility that distributing communion requires. We’re pleased to see our students take on this important role for future Masses. They will be commissioned at this Friday’s Mass during first break, enabling them to take part in our upcoming Graduation Mass in November. Our thanks to Fr Tini!

Immersions

Our 2025 Cambodia immersion group will be jetting off in late November! With this immersion facilitated by Catholic Mission who will be leading a Phase 1 workshop on Tuesday night. Students and staff will be sharing their initial insights about Cambodia, including the people, history and culture, to better prepare them for their time away. 

Meanwhile, plans are in motion for next year’s Timor-Leste immersion in June/July and Cambodia immersion in Nov/Dec. The 2026 immersions are open to Year 11s, so current Year 10s and their parents/carers have received information about the application process. Although the application process is nearly closed, if you are interested in the 2026 immersions but missed the email, please contact Clare Locke, Campus Minister: lockec@marash.qld.edu.au.

Stationery Aid 

Term 4 is peak time for Stationery Aid as they prepare the book packs for the start of next year! We will need all hands-on deck on Friday mornings from 7:30am in Room 801! Thanks to Ms Palmer’s PG Class for joining us last week.

Reminder, if you have excess stationery, you’d like to get rid of, please drop it into the yellow bins outside the Mission Office! To find out more and to check the list for what can be donated, please visit: https://stationeryaid.org/.