From Principal

The Space Between | Some Reflections on the Liminal

There is something particular about this time of year. The jacarandas bloom, the days stretch longer, the storms roll in (always at 3pm!), the rhythm of the College begins to shift, and we become increasingly aware that another year is drawing towards its close. This year, I am experiencing that season a little differently.

On Tuesday afternoon, I completed my final Principal’s Tour of Mount Alvernia College. It was one of those moments that might easily have passed as simply another entry in a very full calendar. Yet, as I delivered my final words to the keen prospectives before me, speaking enthusiastically about this community that I love, I was moved by the significance of the word final.

I shared with our staff in our weekly briefing on Monday, that I am currently inhabiting a liminal space: those thresholds between what has been and what is yet to come. They can be strange places to inhabit. There is excitement and possibility, but also uncertainty. There is the temptation to rush towards what is next, while simultaneously wanting to hold tightly to what I know and love. There is also the rounding off and finishing of work still undone at Mount Alvernia College, whilst regularly visiting and transitioning into a new school.

Every year, we ask our graduating students to do something enormously courageous. We ask them to leave a place that has become familiar, to step beyond the structures, rhythms and relationships that have shaped them, and to walk towards a future they cannot yet completely see. In an equivalent way, I have sought for the last 6 years to encourage our students to be bold, stretch themselves and take those leaps of faith we take when we are learning and growing.

This year, I walk alongside them.

Like them, I am preparing to leave a community that has shaped me profoundly. Like them, I am excited by a bold new chapter. And, if I am honest, like them I also know that new beginnings can feel a little daunting!

That is the gift of these in-between seasons. They remind us that we do not need to have everything figured out before we take the next step. We carry with us the people, experiences, values, and memories that have formed us. The next chapter does not diminish the one before it. In many ways, it is made possible by it.

So, as the season changes around us, I am trying not to rush through this liminal space. I want to notice it. To be grateful for it. To savour the ordinary moments that become precious when we realise there are fewer of them ahead. Our recent Assembly was one such moment of savour, and I think the wonderful Arts Faculty and Arts Students for their generous words and thoughtful presentation to me. Is this not the best card you have ever seen!

In a similarly powerful way, another moment for pause and pride was shared at the recent 40th Anniversary World Day of Prayer for Peace. Hosted by our Archbishop Shane Mackinlay and Padua College, this event was an opportunity for our Franciscan Community to walk alongside faith leaders from across Brisbane for a night of prayer, reflection, and breaking bread together. Interfaith dialogue is a hallmark of our Franciscan spiritual tradition and is an element of our charism which I will deeply miss but am committed to carrying forward. Peace is at the very heart of what is required for our world to heal. Thank you to Padua College, our student volunteers and Ms Michelle Licina for being part of such an important event.

It would seem, sometimes standing at the threshold is exactly where we are meant to be.

With a heart full of gratitude, I look forward to celebrating with our community our final events and rituals; Celebration of Excellence, Year 12 Graduation Dinner, and Christmas Liturgy.

This week we offer our prayers of love and thanks for the life of Sr Moya Byrne MFIC, who passed away on Monday 2 November – fittingly, The Feast of All Souls. Her spirit and legacy here at Mt A will continue to be felt for generations more. We will miss her immensely. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

Peace and all good,

In the liminal and beyond….

Samantha Jensen

Principal