Faith and Mission
From the Mission Team
Our Liturgical Life
Welcome Back to Term 4!
Led by staff, the Junior School welcomed in Term 4 with a liturgy of gratitude for all that has been this year and hopeful anticipation for the final term of 2023. Including prayers for the people of Israel and the people of Gaza and ongoing prayers for Russia and Ukraine, the community prayed for world peace.
Our Week 2 liturgy was facilitated by the year 6 Blue class. Paying tribute to the remarkable potential that girls hold within our global community, the International Day of the Girl liturgy reminded us of the rights of girls, gender equality and the gift of education, freedom and basic human rights which are still denied to many girls in our world.
The year 12 Graduation Mass led by Bishop O’Kelly was indeed a special occasion. It was a beautiful ceremony where we as a Loreto community could farewell our students in the spirit of friendship and love. The year 12 students chose readings, prayers and songs that reflected their time together and showed appreciation for the many relationships that they have built together throughout their time at the College. We wish our year 12 students all the very best in their whatever path they choose as Mary Ward women of the future.
Applying the Mary Ward Value of Justice in the Local Community
Mary Ward, a 17th-century English Catholic nun and educator, left a legacy that continues to inspire us today. Among her core values, justice stands out prominently. To apply the Mary Ward Value of Justice in our local community is to embrace a commitment to fairness, equity, and righteousness in our actions.
Embracing Mary Ward's Value of Justice in our local community was a call to action for us this year for our students, as we endeavoured to become a catalyst for positive change. Through the Morning Tea Program our Year 12 students have shown compassion, and genuine care for other people. They have spent each Thursday over Term 3 visiting the parish and ensuring that a cup of tea and a chat was available to anyone who needed it.
Additionally, our Year 11 boarders gave up their Friday night to support the parish with their night of thanksgiving for the parish volunteers. They helped with cooking, serving and with conversation. In embracing our passion for justice, we honour the enduring legacy of Mary Ward and contribute to the creation of a more just and compassionate society.
World Day of Prayer for Peace
Pope Francis has declared an additional day for prayer and fasting to bring an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict. "I have chosen to proclaim a day of fasting and prayer on Friday, October 27," the Pope announced following his general audience on Wednesday morning last week. This day of penance is an open invitation to individuals from various Christian denominations, as well as those from different faiths, and anyone who values the cause of global peace, to participate in a manner they find suitable.
Prayer for Peace
While often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, the Peace Prayer wasn’t written by the saint. However, it remains a popular traditional prayer.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.