From the Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Friends of Mazenod College

“Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, through the example of St Eugene, make our heart like yours”

St Eugene De Mazenod Feast Day Mass

It was a special pleasure to invite all members of our community to join us in marking the Feast of St Eugene De Mazenod last Wednesday with a whole College Mass celebrated by Fr Joe Antony OMI, and concelebrated by our Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Fr Mathew Raj OMI and Fr Meno Basti OMI who is currently serving as the Parish Priest and Rector of the Basilica of St Patrick in Fremantle. It was also terrific to be joined by our Board Chair, Mrs Mary Retel, Parent Association Chair, Mrs Daniela Tonon, Mrs Veronica Parker, the Principal of St Brigid’s College and her Principal’s Assistant Mrs Pauline Guerinoni.

In his homily, Fr Joe reminded us to look for qualities of St Eugene that enrich us to naturally focus on the endeavour that St Eugene and his Oblates feel is most vital to the development of our young people; education. Our challenge is to bring those inspirational qualities of St Eugene to the fore in the life of a student at Mazenod College – St Eugene is more the example than merely the patron and naming Saint of our College.

A special thank you to all of our parents who generously contributed to the morning tea that followed the Mass, shared amongst our special guests, staff and student leaders.

One of the reasons we celebrated this Feast Day Mass a week earlier was that our College Chaplain, Fr Joe Antony OMI spent the actual Feast Day on Wednesday 21 May this week, celebrating his Commissioning Mass at Iona College in Brisbane. Fr Joe is of course, commencing his role as the Rector at Iona at the start of next term and so it was special for the Iona community, the Oblates and Fr Joe to be able to mark his commissioning on the Feast Day of St Eugene.

Staffing Update

As we progress through a school year, it is becoming relatively common to farewell staff during the term. It is with sadness, but also congratulations, that we inform our community of the imminent departure of Mrs Kylie Eaton and Miss Cecile Infante. Mrs Eaton is concluding her time at Mazenod at the end of Week nine, having been appointed to a teaching role in Career Development at Guildford Grammar School. Miss Infante, who is currently on leave, will be commencing a new role soon as an IT Service Desk Officer at Catholic Education WA. We wish them both well in their new endeavours.

National Reconciliation Week

The coming week is recognised across our country as National Reconciliation Week, the theme of which in 2024 is “Now more than ever” and this theme “…is a reminder that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will —and must —continue”. National Reconciliation occurs at the same time each year (27 May – 3 June) marking two important dates in our reconciliation journey namely: the date of the successful referendum of 1967 (27 May) and the High Court MABO Decision (3 June). At Mazenod College, we will continue to recognise, celebrate and most importantly, to educate our community of these important messages.

I conclude with the following statement and part of a prayer that resonates with what National Reconciliation Week should inspire in us all;

“Now more than ever, the work continues. In treaty making, in truth-telling, in understanding our history, in education, and in tackling racism. To achieve this connection, respect, action and change are needed”. 

“God of all creation, as we journey together across our country we pray for healing, forgiveness and unity, creating a path of good will, with justice and compassion”.

St Eugene De Mazenod – Pray for us.

God bless.

Simon Harvey

Principal