Faith & Mission

At our College End of Year mass, our Co-Justice Captains, Harriet Berman and Hannah Cullen, were invited to prepare and present the homily. 

The first reading was from Romans and expressed the powerful Pauline theme of ‘one body, many members’. The Gospel was the Magnificat from Luke. 

Hannah and Harriet delivered a sermon that beautifully related the themes of these readings to our 2023 College Theme, ‘Many Voices, One Community’ and to our 2024 College Theme, ‘Stronger Together’. Below is an abridged version of this sermon. 

Every one of us here today comes with different lives, different thoughts and opinions, different passions and dreams, and importantly different skills to offer. We are all blessed with gifts, each different but each with its own place and relevance in the world and each able to fill a gap that when joined together, makes us a formidable force - stronger together. The first reading reminds us that we are given these gifts by God and it is our responsibility to use these gifts, in collaboration with others, to play our part to serve each other and our community. 

This task may seem daunting to many of you. Impossible even. Alone, this line of thought may very well be true. However, maybe we just need to re-evaluate our scale. There are so many small acts of servitude that you can undertake to tackle current world issues, and so many groups and organisations that have been formed with the intention of doing so, assisted by the strength of a community. In fact, our very own Justice group works on this basis, with the combined drive, passion, ambition and compassion that allows us to be constantly working towards the changes that we want to see.

The Gospel today is a message of hope and humility. Mary’s words reflect on her appreciation of God’s justice and mercy, and how belief in this can be the catalyst needed to make change in the world. We can look at it like a magnifying glass - from our singular perspective it appears we can do little alone but when looked through the lens of others, it is apparent that our actions can have widespread effect. Gratitude and humility are intertwined and resonate throughout this prayer. They can’t be separated as to show humility is to admit we have more than we need, that we are materialistic by nature and strive to have the finer things in life. This doesn’t mean we have to get rid of our worldly possessions and live with nothing; but rather that we show gratitude every day. We are thankful for all that we have and do everything we can in our power to help and support those who do not have what we have. We do this through giving, accepting, and showing compassion and love.

Our Gospel reading today forms the basis of a prayer that is known as The Magnificat. It may surprise you to know that this prayer has been an issue an issue of great contention in many countries, even Christian countries, around the world. At various times in history, this prayer has been banned in liturgy or public settings in countries such as India, Guatemala and Argentina. 

Mary is so often depicted as a subservient, obedient and meek young woman who blindly follows the instructions she is given. However, this prayer tells us this is not the case. This is the longest set of words spoken by a woman in the New Testament. It shows the real Mary - a poor, young, unmarried 15-year-old with revolutionary ideas of bringing justice to a world that was full of corruption and greed. To rid power and riches from those who rule and give it to those who have nothing. 

As we approach Christmas, we should take this time not only to simply enjoy the presence of our loved ones but also to appreciate that which we have in life. More so, it is also a time of reflection, of our own living role and power regarding the state of our world and our communities, seemingly insignificant on our own, but stronger together. 

Homily Harriet Berman and Hannah Cullen 

Merry Christmas 

I would like to wish all members of the Academy community a happy and a holy Christmas season and a relaxing summer break. I want to acknowledge the wonderful support of Ms Pina Nicolazzo, Ms Kerri Ruff, Ms Jessica Synaphet and Ms Anne Marie Allan who have variously attended to a vast array of administrative and creative tasks required to support my work as the Director of Faith and Mission. 

Finally, I want to thank all the teachers for their dedication, professionalism and the positive manner in which they worked throughout this year.

Mr Mark Hyland

Director of Faith and Mission