Mission and Identity
From the Mission and Identity Team
The Year of Felicity: Learning to Notice Joy
This year, our community is invited into the Year of Felicity - a time to pause, to notice, and to learn again how joy takes shape in our everyday lives.
For Mary Ward, felicity was not about constant happiness or an absence of struggle. Her life was marked by uncertainty, opposition and hardship. Yet she remained deeply attentive to joy - a joy rooted in trust, courage, friendship and faith. Felicity, for Mary Ward, was the ability to recognise God’s presence even in complexity, and to live with freedom of spirit despite what could not be controlled.
In naming this a Year of Felicity, we are not pretending that life is always easy. Rather, we are choosing to pay attention: to the moments of connection, growth and hope that are often quiet, easily missed, yet deeply formative.
Felicity invites us to learn important lessons.
Firstly, it teaches us the value of attentiveness. In a world that moves quickly and often measures success by productivity or performance, felicity reminds us to slow down and notice the blessings that are around us already - the kindness of a peer, the encouragement of a teacher, the satisfaction of learning something new, the peace found in being known and accepted. These moments shape who we are becoming.
Secondly, felicity draws us into right relationship. Mary Ward believed deeply in the power of friendship and community, an “open circle.” Felicity grows when we include rather than exclude, when we listen generously, and when we recognise that joy is often shared. Our community becomes stronger when each person feels they belong.
Finally, felicity calls us to gratitude. Gratitude shifts our focus from what is lacking to what is present. It helps us recognise the gifts of learning, opportunity, service and relationship that surround us each day.
As we live the Year of Felicity, we invite students, staff and families to look for joy not as something to be chased, but as something already woven through our shared life. In doing so, we honour Mary Ward’s legacy and continue to form a community grounded in courage, compassion and hope.
May this year help us all learn to notice more deeply, live more generously, and recognise the quiet, enduring joy that shapes who we are.
Opening College Mass
Just a reminder that the Opening College Mass is next Thursday, February 12. You are invited to join our community in celebration of the Year of Felicity. The Mass begins at 9am, in the Brigid Jones Gymnasium.
Martina O’Connell
Assistant Principal: Mission & Identity