Faith, Justice and Formation

SOL Service on Reports 

SOL Service will appear on the end of year reports. Some may be surprised to see that have not completed it. The main reasons for this are: 

• Older students doing service that is only for younger year groups. 
• Students doing nude lunches also had to complete another service as stated in the documents. 
• People didn’t follow the guidelines and point values as stipulated in the SOL Service documents (found on TASS Parent Lounge and on all Year Group CANVAS pages) 
• Students did not submit or show their Reflection 
• Submission was far too late. 

This is a lesson for next year – to ensure all documentation is read. I did speak to year groups and explain all of these things this year. 

It is clear there also needs to be some self-reflection, and as a family, for many students, looking at integrity and how we really serve ‘the other’. It is a 12-month process so my advice is don’t leave it to the end and don’t just get the bare minimum number of points. The new instructions will come out next week so pay attention and start early. 

Congratulations to all those boys who ‘let their light shine’ by giving of themselves for the service of others. You are following in the example of Blessed Edmund Rice and many others. 

Blessed Edmund Rice and St Mary MacKillop Extra Service Awards will be presented at Speech Night, and all Br Chanel Powell Awards will be presented in Year Group Meetings over the next week. 

Let’s give without counting the cost and make it a habit rather than a chore. 

SPC Christmas Appeal Conclusion

Our annual Christmas Appeal will conclude this Friday 29 November. All donated items will be collected as a Homeroom or Junior School class and sent to the Chapel in homeroom on Friday. Please DO NOT send donations in next week as all collections / deliveries will have happened.

All teachers have the lists of what is requested from the Christmas Appeal partners. Please do not send things you simply want to get rid of. We ask for all new items for the hampers.

• Years 5 and 6 are donating to St Vincent de Paul (groceries and gift cards)
• Years 7 and 8 are donating to the Women’s shelter for survivors of domestic abuse (groceries, toiletries and gifts)
• Year 9 are donating to St Merkorious’ Charity (food and hygiene products)
• Years 10 and 11 are donating to Catholic Care for adults and young people with disabilities (individual gifts).

You can see from most of this that the need at Christmas for so many is not fancy presents but basic items for living. Please give what you can and keep all who we serve in your prayers at Christmas.

Thank-you in advance for generosity and support.

Friday Morning Mass This Week 

This Friday, 29 November, is the last Friday Morning Mass for the year. We would love to see as many people as possible fill the Chapel with love and fun and community. Please join us for an 8.10am start as we pray together, prepare together, reflect together and sing together! We have much to thank God for and this is the best way to do it.  See you then! 

Our SPC Identity at Christmas 

We state it all the time, but what does it really mean? We are a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition. We are to give all that we do and say as a gift to God, worshipping Him and thanking Him for our blessings, and we are to see the face of Christ (God) in everybody we meet. Our faith is something that is both internal and external; faith and works must go hand in hand. This is what St Patrick’s College is all about – ‘let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’ (Mt 5:16). We are all about a holistic education that brings faith, justice, academics, sporting and cultural pursuits, relationships, citizenship and service together. 

Edmund Rice saw God in the poor boys of Waterford and changed their lives forever, sparking a movement around the world to do the same. All the models of our faith talk about not being passive in our faith. We come together in liturgy to enhance our communal relationship with God – this involves our words (spoken and sung) and actions. We give to others to ensure they know God in the world – through the Christmas Appeal due on Friday. We give of ourselves to others and the Earth to ensure we care for one another as Jesus asked us to do – love one another. There are so many ways we can show our faith and at St Patrick’s there are so many opportunities to do this. Our education allows us to follow the Edmund Rice Tradition. 

Tonight, we celebrate the Festival of Carols and Readings as we move into the Advent Season on Sunday. This is when we reflect on God’s great gift to us – sending His only son to be with us, as one of us. It is a mystery we cannot fully comprehend, but it is something we can remind ourselves of all the time. God’s love for us is beyond our knowing. To return the love, we take moments of worship and service to show our love for God.  

May each of you be blessed over the Advent and Christmas Seasons, and then throughout the holidays. May you travel safely and enjoy the company of family and friends, and may you take the time to be with and for ‘the other’. I leave you with one of the prayers from our celebration this evening…. 

God bless, 

Gillian Daley 

Director of Identity