✝️Faith and Mission

Laudate Deum:

Your questions answered on Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation

The Vatican released the new Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis, Laudate Deum, to all people of goodwill on the climate crisis, on 4 October 2023. It is a document intended to follow up on his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home.

Laudate Deum means "Praise God".

Pope Francis states specifically that the title of this letter is “Praise God” because “when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.” (#73) By this he means that when we seek power for its own sake, we damage both ourselves and the planet. Power should be used to create a better world for all.

Laudate Deum is an urgent call to tackle the climate crisis, recognising that time is running out. And irreversible damage has already been done.

In this letter, Pope Francis states that the climate crisis is real and cannot be denied. It is caused by human activity.

But the Pope cautions against seeking only technological solutions, noting that although we have more and more tools to manipulate the world, we are still failing to protect the environment from destruction. The more we seek to increase power for its own sake, the less we use our power to protect life. As he states, “Not every increase in power represents progress for humanity.” (#24)

At the same time, he says, economic powers are not interested in solving the problem, because they want “the greatest profit possible at minimum cost” (#13). This pursuit of the greatest profit possible at minimum cost makes caring for our common home impossible.

We need political change on a national and international level. While Pope Francis states that individual actions and efforts to minimise waste are important, he also recognises that they are not enough. We are called to continue to transform society through our individual, family and community actions, but also to call on those in power to take urgent action.

Pope Francis is clear that we all have a role to play, pressurising the sources of power and demanding change. He calls us all to be involved and particularly urges that COP28, the next round of important UN negotiations on climate change, needs to be a historic event, with binding forms of energy transition. For the sake of the future of our children, we must take action.

Despite the gravity and urgency of the situation we face, Pope Francis reminds us that we must continue to hope because to “‘say there is nothing to hope for... would mean exposing humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change." (#54)

2024 Winter Appeal

Young Vinnies are running our Mazenod Winter Appeal. Our Appeal is drawing to a close so please give generously, by donating items to your Form Room. This year we are supporting The Shopfront in Bentley, to ensure that what we collect goes to those in need.

Below is a list of needed goods. Please ensure that all non-perishable food is still in the use-by-date. Any expired food will not be able to be used and will have to be disposed of by the College.

Hamper List

Food Items

Non-Food Items

Mother's Day Homily

Dear Mothers and Grandmothers, Parents, Teachers, and Students,

Today we gather to celebrate our yearly celebration of Mother's Day. By doing this, we consciously honour our mothers and grandmothers. When we utter the word "mother," we experience many feelings combined with thoughts and memories. Based on our various thoughts, feelings, emotions and memories, I like to remember the thoughts of two great men about the role their mothers played in their lives.

• George Washington once said, "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."
• Abraham Lincoln spoke similar words when he said, "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."

As we place ourselves in the context of our Mother’s Day celebration, I would like to share with you three points: The first is who she is in our lives; the second is what she is now; and the third is where she is in the future.

Firstly, reflecting on who she is in our lives.

Dear friends, let us remember that whether we are small or grown up, we are always a child of our mothers. Mother is also synonymous with home. When I go to see my mother, I mean I am going home/in other words, when I go home, I am going to see my mum —a deep sense of belonging and respect comes into our hearts. In the first reading, we heard, "My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching." Mother's love and futuristic care, combined with Dad's gentle commands, guide every person toward his or her destiny. For example, the mother is our school; we learn everything about life, and the teachers are guides who help us live life to our supreme expectations. Forsake, not mother's teaching. How can we forget our mother? She was the first face we saw, the first voice we heard, the first fragrance we smelt, the first woman we loved and continue to love. As the scripture says, "They will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you."

Mother's teaching is like a bitter medicine dipped into the honey given to the child for better health and living. We only remember the honey, not the medicine. It is because she embodies a powerful love, as Augusta Christie says in her novel "The Last Séance," "A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."

Our mothers are hidden in our lives like the meaning in the word, grace in the gift, a throb in life, lustre in the diamond, and glow in the gold. In the Gospel, we hear, " A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!' Such are the prices we can give to our mothers.

Secondly, what is she now.

Mothers never had a holiday in a literal sense. She gave us the wings to fly in freedom and the courage to climb the mountain of life. When we felt confident, we marched forward, but when we faced challenges and felt low, we returned to her. When a failure touched our lives, her loving touch changed everything. We see heaven in her eyes. In the gospel, we hear, "Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart." From her treasure, we draw life-giving teachings. We may not have seen God like the disciples, but in her, we hold his hand, hear His words, see His face, and feel His joy and His love.

And finally, where is she in the future.

No creature has ever lived without uttering the word "mother." Having all the power in Himself, the Creator needed her help to help us. What more can we tell our mothers? " She is the living manger, a tabernacle," where the shepherds gathered to adore". As we heard in the scripture, "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them". Even today, her sacrifices are laid bare on the altar. Jesus’s blood is drawn from his mother. Jesus’s flesh is her own. Jesus sacrificed His very being, like his mother, so that we could begin a new life in Him.

Let us return with shepherds glorifying and praising God for giving us our mothers.

Let us give them a big HUG, HONOUR THEM, THANK THEM AND EVER BE GRATEFUL TO THEM FOR ALL THEY DO. GOD BLESS!

Amen.

-Fr Joe Antony OMI

St Eugene Feast Day Mass

Wednesday, 15 May from 9:40 am to 10:30 am

We invite parents to join us as we celebrate the Eucharist during St Eugene's Feast Day Mass. Please RSVP for catering purposes using the link button below.

Term 2 Chapel Flower Roster

Expect God’s Secret

Deep silence leads us to realize that prayer is, above all, acceptance. When we pray, we are standing with our hands open to the world. We know that God will become known to us in the nature around us, in people we meet and in situations we run into. We trust that the world holds God’s secret within and we expect that secret to be shown to us. Prayer creates that openness in which God is given to us. Indeed, God wants to be admitted into the human heart, received with open hands and loved with the same love with which we have been created.

- by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Damian Wallis

Director of Faith and Mission