The Influence of a Catholic Education – Building Optimism and Resilience Through Spirituality

This week, Catholic Schools all over Queensland are celebrating something very important – Catholic Education Week.

My entire education has been shaped by the Catholic education system. My primary years were with the Presentation Sisters at St John Vianney’s in Manly. (Those views from the top of the hill to Moreton Bay!) My secondary education years were with the Sisters of Mercy at Mount Carmel, now closed, at Wynnum. The gap in the middle were executive roles in sales and marketing with global brands. Upon landing a business and marketing role at St Laurence’s College in 2012, I fell in love again with my Catholic upbringing and chose to do my Grad Dip Ed while there to become a Business Teacher in the Business and VET Faculties. So, my influence now was the Christian Brothers and their founder, Blessed Edmund Rice. (Full circle moment: Edmund Rice’s work in Ireland was greatly influenced by Nano Nagle, the founder of the Presentation Sisters.) Now, I am in the gentle hands of a Franciscan community and my spiritual cup is filled studying the work of St Francis and St Clare. How lucky our girls are to see the influence of Clare – a woman of courage who embodied the joy of a simple life and its benefits – who creates an offset to the era of consumption and ‘who has the most stuff wins.’

I thank our Mt A parents and carers who have chosen a Catholic Education for their girls with us. My parents worked very hard to afford my education, and I am forever grateful for their sacrifice. I know your daughters will feel this way too.

My time in the Catholic education system taught me many things beyond Maths, Science and English. It taught me about the importance and benefits of religion. Not only my religion, but many of the religions of the world. It made me a global citizen. I could travel with ease in countries respecting religious traditions with care, compassion and curiosity. My schools taught me the power of prayer – time in silence and mindfulness – in times of gratitude, petition and sorrow.

As a member school of the International Coalition of Girls School (ICGS), I refer to the plethora of resources available to us to guide our wellbeing programs for students. In their podcast series, ‘On Educating Girls: Creating a World of Possibilities’, Dr Lisa Miller’s contribution, ‘Building Resilience Through Spirituality’, provides evidence of the power of religion. It was such an engaging podcast, I ordered her book and read it from cover to cover.

“For a girl, spiritual life is even more important as the mooring, the deep embedded compass through which she guides and governs her life.” — Dr. Lisa Miller

Miller speaks about the scientific basis for spirituality’s role in resilience, especially in girls. It is a spiritual core that provides meaning, purpose, and connection.

Her research shows that children with a well-developed spiritual life are:

Happier
More optimistic
More flexible
Better equipped to handle trauma

Nurturing this spiritual foundation in girls helps them navigate life’s challenges.

Remember the time – still a widely held thought today – that in our interests to be equal and equitable, religious symbols were removed from the town square. Dr. Miller argues that removing religious or spiritual symbols from that village—meaning the shared cultural and communal space—can lead to a loss of meaning, connection, and resilience. She emphasises that:

Spirituality is innate and biologically embedded in the human brain
Communities thrive when they honour transcendent relationships, whether through religious symbols, rituals, or shared spiritual practices
When these are stripped away, especially from youth culture, it creates a vacuum often filled by materialism, transactional relationships, and despair

In one interview, she compares this loss to the influence of smartphones, saying they often transmit a culture that is ‘radically transactional’ and devoid of spiritual depth—like a ‘public square minus a spiritual core’.

At Mount Alvernia College, our village is filled to the brim with imagery, architecture, curriculum and symbolism of our beautiful Franciscan heritage. Whether you arrive on campus from Somerset and walk past our San Damiano Centre, or the Cremorne gates that commence with La Foresta, our ‘Assisi in Kedron’ is everywhere. Every homeroom has a prayer box. Our three schools – Francis (Year 7), Clare (Years 8,9) and Elizabeth Hayes (Years 10,11 and 12) honour our patrons. We partner with the Islamic College of Brisbane for interfaith dialogue to acknowledge the moment Francis embraced the Sultan during the 5th Crusade. We commence the teaching of world religions as early as Year 7. We are grateful for our Mt A Mob and First Nations partner programs to keep us grounded on our land that has been a teaching and learning space for centuries. God bless Richard Rogusz, Deputy Principal for Catholic Identify and Religious Life, for much of this good work and the reflection days – grounded in our Catholic faith – designed to strengthen our cohorts.

So, when I reflect on the research of Dr Lisa Miller and the religious identify of Mt A, the benefits of spirituality - those four bullet points of happier, optimistic, flexible and trauma-resilience – brings to mind that these very attributes are the ones that build positive relationships with people and make our girls more resilient to the negative impacts of bullying and harm. These attributes draw them towards connection over consumerism and simplicity over stuff. May this always be our way.

It was wonderful to see so many families at our Catholic Week Mass at Little Flower on Sunday. To hear our choir sing and our readers speak with such confidence brought so much joy in our Franciscan year of joy.

Every blessing,

Michelle Licina

Deputy Principal Student Development and Wellbeing

Works cited:

Miller, L. (Guest). (2025, March 26). Building resilience through spirituality with Dr. Lisa Miller (No. 1000700887602) [Audio podcast episode]. In R. M. Moulton (Host), On educating girls: Creating a world of possibilities. National Coalition of Girls’ Schools. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-resilience-through-spirituality-with-dr-lisa/id1440844946?i=1000700887602

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