Mission and Identity
- Chapel Mass
- Calling Musicians
- Youth Mass - this Sunday
- Reflection of the week
- Dinner, Fundraiser & Advocacy Night - Save the date
Chapel Mass
It was standing room only on Tuesday morning as staff and students from both Mercy College and St Pius X College gathered for the first Chapel Mass of the year. We were blessed to welcome Fr Hien Vu as he celebrated his first Mass with our community since being ordained in August last year.
We celebrated the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. Celebrating this memorial enabled us to draw lessons from St Bernadette and what took place in Lourdes. As a young girl in the equivalent of Year 8, Mary chose to reveal herself to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, between February and July 1858. Mary continued in her apparitions to Bernadette and asked that a chapel be built on the site, for priests and the people to make pilgrimage there, and for Bernadette to dig the soil. After doing so, a spring of water has continued to bubble up to the surface for 167 years. Pilgrims flock to this site to wash in its holy waters with over 70 confirmed miracles having taken place with the most recent being in 2018. Making pilgrimage to this holy site is not simply about seeking physical healing, but igniting hope in times of when all seems lost. It is about making oneself completely open to God and embracing His gift of peace and spiritual healing during turbulent times.
Bernadette was a girl of significant poverty, in a place nobody cared about, who struggled with cholera and ill health. She carried no treasures or achievements to warrant Mary revealing herself again and again other than a deep faith.
May we carry a deep faith and nurture and protect it. May we remember to ask for Mary’s intercession and help when we pray, and know that her veil of protection and love will envelop all who seek the help of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Calling Musicians
We are delighted to offer the opportunity for musicians to take part in the canonisation celebrations of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, on 27 April this year. As shared previously, Our Lady of Dolours Chatswood is the only church in Australia to have a first class relic of Blessed Carlo. As such, there will be much celebration for our community when he is canonised in Rome. To assist with the celebration Mass, a specialised Orchestra is being formed for this Mass.
Any student musicians from both Mercy College and St Pius X College who would like to offer their talents in service of this celebration are encouraged to completed the expression of interest form below:
Youth Mass this Sunday
St Pius X and Mercy College will celebrate the first Youth Mass this Sunday at 5:30 pm for 2025 at Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Church, Chatswood. A pizza dinner will follow the Mass and is a wonderful opportunity to share faith, friendship and food. Please take up the opportunity to refill your inner cup!
Reflection for the Week from Br Frederick-James:
Faithfulness often costs us something - it may cost us comfort, popularity, or even certainty. But what we gain in return is something far greater: a life deeply rooted in God’s presence.
The world tells us to follow our own desires, to seek ease, to walk away when things get difficult. But faithfulness calls us to something different. It calls us to remain, to endure, to love even when it’s inconvenient. It calls us to trust that what we sacrifice in the short term is nothing compared to the joy of walking in step with God.
Saying yes to faithfulness means accepting that the path may be narrow, but it is filled with grace. It means standing firm in truth, even when the world wavers. It means choosing love, over and over again, when it would be easier to walk away.
May you find joy in the steadfast presence of God.
May you walk the narrow path with courage and grace.
May your faithfulness be a light in a world that longs for something real.
Year 5 Formation Day
Please keep Year 5 in your prayers as they engage in their first Formation Day at the College on Friday. Students will begin connecting with the story of Blessed Edmund Rice, how Edmund used the Gospels and the call of Christ to shape his vision and will work on developing the spiritual skill of stillness and contemplation.
Save the Date: Dinner, Fundraiser and Advocacy Night
On Friday 4 April at 6:00 pm, the College will be hosting ‘A Night of Hope’ as a dinner, fundraiser and advocacy night to support the recently visited disability school: Edmund Rice Centre Nairobi, Kenya.
Please place a date holder in your diaries as we offer a window into Kenya that will activate all the senses in support of our sisters and brothers in need.
Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity