Mission News

Prayers

Yesterday we farewelled Br Frank McGrath, welcoming Br Frank’s fellow Marist Brothers, family and friends to the Chapel of Our Lady and St Marcellin. Br Frank was remembered not only for his scholarly achievements in the study of St John Henry Newman, but for his great skill as a teacher and his complexity, wit and sense of humour. As we celebrate Br Frank’s life and commend his soul to God, we continue to pray with the Marist Brothers community and all who grieve his passing. Thanks goes to our Year 12 students Ferg, Oscar and Isaac who gave their time as altar servers, and to our seniors who formed a guard of honour as the hearse departed the college grounds.

Community Mass

College Masses will be held Wednesday at 8am and Break 1B on Friday. All are most welcome! 

Mother’s Day Reflection by Clare Locke 

Thank you to the Mothers, Grandmothers and Mother Figures who attended the Mass last Wednesday with their sons. It was wonderful to share such a beautiful evening with you all. We share below Clare Locke’s reflection given during our Liturgy of the Word.

Proverbs 8:22-31 / Psalm 24 /  Luke 1:46-56

Since the Artemis II mission, there’s been a renewed interest in what (back in 1987) was called ‘the overview effect’—an astronaut’s experience of looking back to Earth with its thin, fragile atmosphere and realising this is it; this is our home. A tiny, fertile island in the great black ocean of the solar system—what Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover called an oasis and “A place we get to exist together”.

In the Old Testament, the story of Creation is told with dignity, authority and joy. In our first reading from Proverbs, the Spirit of Wisdom (or Sophia) accompanies God from the beginning, bringing life into being, order from chaos, light from darkness. 

In our Gospel we heard the Magnificat, Mary’s great hymn of praise. Mary, full of grace, is a poor Jewish village girl presented with an extraordinary choice: to bear the Messiah, the son of God. Mary, pregnant with Jesus, has travelled with haste to visit her older cousin Elizabeth who is also pregnant. 

The Magnificat is a song of justice and mercy. Soon to be a mother, Mary expresses her faith in a God who seeks out and lifts up the lowly, the poor and oppressed. This includes women like Mary. It still does today. The Magnificat calls us to remember refugee and immigrant mothers seeking safety and belonging. To have compassion for mothers on the margins who are socially invisible, struggling with family violence, with unemployment, with ill health, or with the burden of caring for others. Women who are exploited and enslaved. Who are imprisoned, institutionalised or addicted. And to walk with our indigenous sisters who bear the burden of intergenerational loss and trauma. Mary’s song challenges us to act to ensure God’s mercy and justice meets, liberates and gives life to these women, their families and indeed all people in our world in need. Grace is here too.

Our openness to receive God’s grace in our lives is something like the overview effect – an astronaut’s perspective of Earth from a spaceship, over 400,000kms away. It’s also a way of imagining God’s tender love for creation, for each of us – like a mother gazing on her newborn knowing she will love this little person forever, no matter what. In our families and faith communities, in our shared existence, we see how much we depend on each other. Through our encounter with the beauty, diversity and intricacy of the natural world, we recognise that life is a sacred gift, and that we must cherish it, and seek justice and mercy whenever and wherever it is trampled on.

Mary finds joy in a God who blesses her and who restores the broken and bruised to their dignity. Sophia, God’s spirit of wisdom finds a way into our lives, breathing grace, hope and healing. We share that hope with each other, within our communities – including here at Marist. 

The young men standing before me are a source of (and reason for) hope and joy. Especially to their mothers; of this I’m certain! In the daily efforts of their grace-filled lives, they offer hope and joy to a world ready to be transformed by courageous young people who have been raised in kindness, humility, gentleness. In expressing this faith in God’s grace, I think I’m also expressing a faith in humanity – a kind of ‘overview effect’ that looks at each of you, mothers and sons, grateful for your presence and grateful that we get to exist on this earth together.

To our mothers and all mother figures, I wish you every blessing for a very happy Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Breakfast Raffle 

Thank you to all those who attended the Breakfasts last week! We are happy to report that in raffle ticket sales alone we raised over $6,500.00 for Australian Marist Solidarity! That is a phenomenal effort and after hearing Br Neville speak, we know that money will be put to good use. Thanks again to our wonderful sponsors for your contribution!  

Marist Brother Community Visits 

On Tuesday 5 April, Paddy Keating and Rocco Ibrahim from Ridley house in Year 8 visited the Marist Brothers on campus. They shared chats, laughs, and some food, as well as an extremely competitive game of trivia. These visits occur with a different Year 8 house each second week- and continue to build connection between our brothers and the students at the College. 

Year 7 RE Class Masses

Our Year 7 students are reflecting on the theme of Celebrating Community in their class Masses being held in RE lessons this term. At these Masses and indeed all the Masses we celebrate at the college, students are reminded that the Eucharist (the Mass) is the “source and summit” of our Catholic faith and an important way of expressing (and being in) community at Marist. And whether Catholic or not, all are welcome!

Rosies Visit and Blanket Donations Welcome

This week three of our Year 12s along with two Marist staff volunteered an evening with Rosies. The night started with loading up the van with supplies before the group headed into the city to serve tea, coffee and snacks and (most importantly!) share conversation and friendship. 

With the approach of winter and nights becoming colder, the Rosies volunteers find an increasing need for blankets amongst unhoused people in Brisbane. If you have any blankets spare at home, we would welcome donations of behalf of Rosies. Donations can be brought to the Mission office, where they will be kept until our next Rosies visit. 

Vinnies Breakfast Burgers are back!

Our hardworking Vinnies group will be back at the BBQ from this Thursday morning selling deliciously warm bacon and egg burgers. Come on by the CLE from 7:45am and pick yours up for just $4.50. Payment via student ID card.

Stationery Aid 

Stationery Aid is on this Wednesday at B1 in room 801. We’re looking forward to seeing plenty of helpers this term as we continue sorting and cleaning stationery ready for reuse. 

 A reminder that donations of good quality unwanted stationery is always welcome and can be placed in the yellow bins outside the Mission Office.  

To find out more and to check the list for what can be donated, please visit: https://stationeryaid.org/