St Pius X College Newsletter

Mission and Identity

  • Father's Day Mass and Breakfast
  • Parish in Council 4
  • Chapel Mass
  • NAIDOC Mural - Uncle Morris
  • Kenya and Uganda Immersion
  • Youth Mass

Fathers Day Mass and Breakfast

'May God bless my Dad with the unwavering love of Isaac, the wisdom of Joseph, the integrity of David and the courage of Joshua.' These words of blessing rang out last Friday as St Pius X gathered to celebrate all who have answered yes to God’s call to the vocation of fatherhood. 

A ministry of love, of self sacrifice - an adventure of service. Approximately 600 fathers and sons gathered in Our Lady of Dolours Church to celebrate our Father’s Day Mass for 2024. We extend our gratitude to Fr Jack for celebrating the Eucharist. This beautiful celebration was followed by a ‘feeding of the five thousand’ as an enormous Father’s breakfast was enjoyed back on campus. We hope all who share the journey of Fatherhood were blessed and loved last Sunday.

Parish in Council 4

‘What could we do to help young people feel more welcome and support their faith journey?’

This was a focus question for our student panel from St Pius X College and Mercy College at the fourth Parish in Council on Saturday. As they recapped the recent Youth in Council journey, their answers surprised many at the depth of heart and truth seeking that was at the core of their answers. Some were moved to tears. Yearning for God, yearning for human connection and yearning to be heard and accepted were strong commonalities in the feedback. What beacons of light we have the privilege of accompanying in Catholic Education.

The Parish in Council at Our Lady of Dolours continues its courageous conversation in the Spirit methodology, as it seeks to respond synodally to where God is beckoning the parish.

Congratulations to Fr David and the Parish team.

Chapel Mass

On Tuesday Mrs Guerrera’s Year 9 RE Class celebrated their Chapel Mass with Fr Joey. The students unpacked the memorial of Pope St Gregory the Great. As the patron saint of teachers, musicians, epilepsy and England, he is remembered for bringing calm leadership during a time of chaos. He called himself the “servant of the servants of God.” As a result of his political skill, learning, talents, and deep devotion to God, Gregory was able to make peace with the invading Lombards, save the city from famine by reorganizing the property and granaries of the Church, and restore order within the Church. Gregory is called the “Apostle of England” which honours his role in bringing Christianity and the Word of God to England. He died March 12, 604.

As they celebrated his memorial, they reflected on what it is that we serve? Whether we place our talents, gifts and time at the service of others and of God?

Poignant questions to explore indeed!

NAIDOC Mural - Uncle Morris

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. 

The core focus of NAIDOC celebrations are the sharing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture in an authentic way. To this end, while on the Red Dirt Immersion, we were blessed to meet, to listen and learn from Uncle Morris (an elder from Ngemba Country) while visiting St Patrick’s Brewarrina. We are delighted to announce that Uncle Morris has agreed to join us at St Pius X to create a collaborative mural as a platform for sharing culture as part of our NAIDOC commitments.

This mural will stand as a beacon to remind us of our ongoing commitment to Reconciliation, and of our yearning to learn from the wisdom of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island sisters and brothers. 

Kenya and Uganda Immersion

An immersion is a powerful strategy in helping us understand and involve ourselves in Jesus’s mission. Through the immersion experience we come face to face with local people and recognise them as our sisters and brothers. We empathise with them and share their daily joys and sorrows, celebrating their richness and gifts, and feeling for their pain. We learn as much from them, possibly more, as they learn from us. It is a journey of accompaniment and encounter.

Guided throughout the experience by critical and prayerful questioning, we recognise that we are involved in and share responsibility for, their reality in this global society. An immersion is an opportunity for us to use our unique God given talents to invest them in the betterment of the lives of our neighbour, especially beyond our borders.

 

Staff Immersions

Here at St Pius X College , we take very seriously our commitment to the Gospels, to building a world of justice, solidarity and of God’s love. To continue the vision of Edmund Rice to liberate our brothers and sisters from poverty through quality Catholic education.

It is in this light that the College is sending four staff on immersions in 2024 and it is a blessed privilege to share with you what we aim to achieve through our immersion in partnership with the Edmund Rice Foundation and Edmund Rice Beyond Borders.

Mr Balboa and I will be departing this Saturday to Africa, specifically Kenya and Uganda. Our immersion will focus especially on the Ruben Centre in Nairobi which is an Edmund Rice Project dedicated to the people of the Mukuru slums that are home to 700,000 people living in abject poverty. The primary school as part of this project has nearly 3000 students. The Ruben Centre offers a birthing clinic that delivers more babies annually than the Brisbane Mater Hospital, a vocational secondary school to provide job ready training, a health clinic and sustainable crops.

Then in Uganda we will be visiting young fledgling schools offering the only education to villages in remote rural Uganda. 

Such services are only possible through the fundraising and support of Edmund Rice Schools that support the Edmund Rice Foundation Australia. By journeying side by side, sharing their stories and looking into the eyes of those who bear the crushing weight of injustice and poverty, we will return with first hand knowledge and understanding of how we can do our part to step up and truly support our sisters and brothers in need. Upon our return home, we will be seeking the collective support of our St Pius X family to help lead advocacy against global systems that sustain the poverty cycle, and energetic fundraising efforts to support the Ruben Centre on the front lines of poverty.

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek out Christ on the margins of society.

Please view the video below to learn more about the incredible work of the Ruben Centre and the Edmund Rice Foundation Australia:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZpbwmpE0ac 

Youth Mass this Sunday

This Sunday at 5:30 pm all are invited to share the celebration of the St Pius and Mercy Youth Mass at Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Church Chatswood. Pizza will follow Mass to continue the opportunity to share faith, friendship and food. Please take up the opportunity to refill your inner cup!

 

God bless,

Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity