Hope at Killester College

Richard Rohr says “Hope is a participation in the very life of God. This hope has nothing to do with circumstances or things going well. It can even thrive in adversity and trial. True faith,  which always includes hope and love, is a predisposition to yes.” 

And so, at Killester we continue to say in the face of adversity with so many issues of violence and struggle around the world. ‘In this light we set out to explore Hope’.

Our exploration of the KM theme Hope, started in the last week of 2023 when we presented to staff a number of stimuli.

We began with Scripture and explored the Magnifcat and Mary’s song of Praise for the child she would bear who would be the Hope of Israel. Through the practice of Lectio Divina we pondered and followed this process.

• Reflecting on the words or phrases we chose form the listening
• Allow your words to sink in more deeply. 
• Is there one word or phrase that shouts out to you?
• Savour these words - repeat them
• What do these words mean for your life today?
• Speak to God your personal response to what you have heard
• Tell God how it makes you feel, what comforts you and what challenges you
• Listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within you
• What conversion of mind, heart and life is being asked of me?

We then had a myriad of phrases and images to look at and followed in paired discussions, beginning with the Hope of Advent from Isaiah 9:2

“The people walking in darkness    

have seen a great light; 

on those living in the land of deep darkness 

a light has dawned.”

Paired discussions included :

• What do you think hope means?
• What are your hopes for this week?
• What are your hopes for the holidays?
• Our students?
• For Christmas?
• Next year?
• Who gives you hope?
• What gives you hope?
• Who do you give hope to?
• Have your hopes ever been dashed?

We finished with an exploration of the Hope offered in the Prodigal Son story of Luke. We continued with stories from our Patrons, Brigid and Nano. The discussions were animated and helped us flesh out the idea of our 2024 school theme finally arriving with our phrase for 2024 : 

- Hope: Patience, Faith, Possibility. 

Our Year Level Hope banners are adorned by the butterfly symbols of hope capturing the hopes for the year of every community member. These banners have been displayed at our three major liturgies so far this year.

This exploration was furthered on our Leadership Retreat in January thanks to our two wonderful staff members, Josie Dilettoso and Gavin Brown. It has continued on in our staff meetings and our celebrations.

We highlight are our actions for Justice. Nano’s mantra was “Deeds Not Words.” We have continued to find avenues for student action. Caritas and Project Compassion was a key focus for term one and this was launched on Ash Wednesday and followed through until part way through term two.

Complementing this was our Easter Liturgy which explored the theme of “Hope Rising.”

We dramatised the many injustices of our world and symbolically placed a black length of cloth on the cross bearing the various injustices of homelessness, domestic violence, poverty or refugees. 

The climax of the drama was the resurrection. Examples of our community service and awareness raising were read out and each set of phrases saw a black sheet removed from the cross. Finally, 30 students slowly lay a candle on the bare cross, as the words of resurrection appeared on the screens. It was a beautiful liturgy using three drama classes, a college band, choir, celebrations leaders and thirty volunteers. The Hope of the Resurrection was displayed in our images of service, action and awareness.

Our LJLP action of Walking in Solidarity has been extended in our Community Service Program. We have been able to connect our LJLP value of Solidarity by serving AMES and their community garden at year eight. We hope to embed material from Laudato Si into the RE program. At Year 10 we make weekly visits to Wellsprings assisting with language, computer classes, bicycle lessons, cooking and creche. At Year 11 we serve at the local Vinnies and at Year 12 we serve Aged Care in Springvale and St Joseph’s Primary School. These acts of service are practical ways to live out being people of Hope. More recently we raised goods from the local Vinnies for our Solidarity Mass and our liturgy focused on the meaning of Solidarity - to stand with the most vulnerable. Our closing action after the mass was to stand arm in arm and read out a series of commitment statements from signed petitions on climate change and domestic violence.

As people of Hope we also know that the work of justice is ongoing. So we continue to highlight Refugee Week and Reconciliation Week most recently.  We continue to unpack the meaning of Hope through our Mission Team and challenge our community to be people of Hope and action.

Peter O’Neill

AP Faith and Mission