Mission & Identity

Within your will, O Lord, all things are established,

and there is none that can resist your will.

For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth,

and all that is held within the circle of heaven;

you are the Lord of all. (Cf Esther 4:17)

(Entrance Antiphon, Friday, Twenty-seventh Friday in Year 2)

Term 4 is here.

On Thursday night, the College conducted an information evening for families contemplating the choice of secondary school for their son.  Parents who only want the best for their sons heard our Principal, Mr Steven O’Connor, speak about his vision for SPC: Educating hope-filled, compassionate and confident young men for their place in the world. Families also heard from Head of Junior School, Mr Tom Nash, and Mr John Richards, Assistant Principal for Community. Both spoke to the mission of the College: 

Inspired by the good news of Jesus and the charism of Blessed Edmund Rice, St Patrick’s College educates the whole person – mind, body, heart and soul – and through this, liberates our students and equips them with resilience, good humour and character, commitment, compassion and wisdom which both enables and ennobles them to contribute significantly to the world. (from the Strategic Plan, 2022-2026)

Families also were offered a guided tour, led by current students at the College. I imagine it is only one night among many for families seeking to discern which community best co-operates with the values that parents wish to pass onto their sons. It is a privilege to be part of such an evening. 

St Patrick’s College exists on a fact and a question. That fact is that God loves us, completely and perfectly. As God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you (Jer 1:5)”. This loving God is the source of everything we are and every gift we enjoy. The question is, how do we choose to respond? It is a real choice – for one of the gifts of God’s love we have received is a real freedom. This freedom does not diminish the fact and truth of God’s love. In proof of this fact, only a loving creator could love us so much as to give us the freedom to reject his love. This echoes the increasing freedom that parents offer their children In Jesus, we have the perfect response to divine love – a love that transforms all the hurt and pain of this world into a renewed creation that accepts the law of love in the depths of the heart. 

Blessed Edmund chose to respond to this fact by creating schools offering an education in the light of this truth. That is why St Patrick’s College exists. It has been the reason from the start and will always be. But isn’t this also what parents hope for their sons? The love of parents has created a new life and offered their son the gift of family. As their son grows up, the deepest desire of parents is that their son will grow to take responsibility for their lives and make wise and loving use of their freedom. They hope that their son will know all the joy that this wonderful life offers and find others to share this joy with. 

The hopes of parents and St Patrick’s College thus coincide in the mysterious plans of God. Together we share the divine hope that young men will accept the truth of love, and so make responsible use of their freedom to create a world that overflows with love. May your Term 4 be blessed.