Catholic Identity & Mission News

This week, St Peter’s staff are participating in their annual Staff Spirituality Day. This day is a full day of professional learning centred around the Catholic Identity and Mission of the College and so it’s ‘my baby’ so to speak! Over the past couple of years, we’ve had keynote addresses on St Peter, Pope Francis, St Paul, the Synodal process as well as a wide range of workshop sessions involving music, Catholic Social Teaching, pilgrimages, recent encyclicals, Enhancing Catholic Identity and so on. These sessions have all been facilitated by some of our very talented College staff members and their efforts have been enthusiastically received by their colleagues. 

This year, Staff Spirituality Day will feature two presentations which will conclude a 4-part theology professional learning package that has centred around the statement: “Everything you need to know about Jesus, you’ll find in John chapter 6.” Despite him not remembering saying it, I (definitely!) heard this statement in a homily given by Fr Mark Reynolds some years ago. As we are currently in the liturgical year of Year B, and John 6, features in Year B, we’ve been trying to unpack ‘everything we need to know about Jesus’ – a big ask! 

We’ve first learned about the Gospel of Mark, the ‘host’ Gospel for John 6 in the Sunday readings and how the liturgical year itself works. Then we’ve had a session focused on a general introduction to John’s Gospel – it’s context and some key themes and passages. On Staff Spirituality Day, we will undertake a close study of John 6 and then we’ll hear from Mark Reynolds with whom I’ve filmed an interview, and he will set out to unpack just some of the ‘everything we need to know about Jesus in John 6’. As one who knows what he's going to say, I feel extremely confident that staff will find his talk very interesting and engaging! 

                                 Fr Mark Reynolds with Fiona McKenna and Chris Black

One person who Fr Mark made a special note of in John 6 was our own patron saint, St Peter. Jesus’ teaching in this chapter is complex and very challenging to many in his audience, some of whom stop following Jesus as a result! But Peter ‘gets it’ and when Jesus asks him if he too is going to abandon Jesus and his vision for humanity, Peter replies, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn 6:68-69) This is Peter at his best - he is fearless and loyal, and faith filled! 

St Peter inspires our work at the College every day. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary this year, our Art Ministry students have reflected on the person of Peter and have responded to his life and example through their artworks. This past week we’ve launched our rotating Art Ministry exhibition in our Cranbourne campus reception area (with Clyde North coming on board soon) and I’m delighted to include a photo of our first featured work: “Peter” by Chiara Quattrocchi from Year 11. In her artist’s statement, Chiara wrote:

“This acrylic portrait is inspired by the 30th anniversary of St Peter’s College. St Peter is one of the most recognised saints in Christianity. Jesus established St Peter as the first pope. Jesus also gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which is why he is often depicted at the gates of heaven in art and popular culture. I decided to include the keys in this painting as they are significant to his importance in the church. I chose to paint a portrait of Peter’s face as I believe that how a person represents themselves helps others to understand what they stand for. I depicted Peter as a strong and powerful individual as his positioning shows his role of leadership amongst others. His eyes are bright and stand out as they convey the wisdom he holds. The gold leaf adds texture and captures the high status that he has over our religion. Gold, unlike any other colour, has the ability to radiate a warm, glowing light and when viewed, gold shimmers with life. As a result, since the 6th century, Christian artists used gold to represent divinity. My aim was for my painting to be inspired from the past Christian icons, mosaics, triptych panels and architectural settings that are admired globally.”

With enormous thanks to Chiara, and our Art Ministry teachers, especially Ms Michelle Kollarics, this stunning portrait will grace Cranbourne’s reception area for the coming weeks. It has already received high praise from many who have seen it and I hope that it will not only inspire those with artistic leanings, but that its subject will inspire us all to treasure and emulate St Peter even more. 

Ms Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal - Catholic Identity & Mission