Faith and Mission

Since 1940, the Australian Catholic Bishops have released annual Social Justice Statements, guiding us to reflect on our Gospel call to justice. Social Justice Sunday, now observed on the last Sunday in August, highlights the Church’s commitment to world social issues and the ongoing development of Catholic Social Teaching. This year’s statement, 'Signs of Hope on the Edge: Serving Homeless People with Mental Ill Health,' addresses a growing crisis across Australia. Over 273,000 people sought help from homelessness services last year, with many also facing mental health challenges. The bishops remind us to notice, listen to, and walk with those on the margins, responding with compassion, just as Jesus did.

Our College’s motto, Seek Justice, calls us to recognise everyone’s dignity, prioritise the needs of the poor, and work for the common good. The stories in the bishops’ statement of Michael, Sally, Carol, and Luis challenge us to see each person as a neighbour and friend, not just someone to help. As a school community, we can respond in many ways: by learning and sharing these stories in classes, supporting local shelters and mental health services, reaching out to those who feel on the edge within our own community, and praying together for justice and compassion.

Pope Francis calls us to be 'Pilgrims of Hope.' As we mark Social Justice Sunday, let us walk in hope, act for justice, and help build a community where everyone belongs.

The full statement and forward from Archbishop Timothy Costelloe can be found here: Signs of Hope on the Edge: Social Justice Statement 2025-2026 - Office For Justice, Ecology and Peace 

In support of our commitment to justice, our College proudly presents the Atticus Finch Justice Award, initiated in 2011. This award exemplifies our motto of 'Seek Justice' and is inspired by Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, as well as units focusing on Justice, Freedom, and Church in Religious Education. All Year 10 students participate in the Atticus Finch Speech task that challenges them to explore social justice themes studied in both English and Religious Education classes.

The speeches delivered by students reflect their understanding and passion for social justice, weaving in the lessons of dignity, compassion, and hope so central to our faith and learning. This year’s theme, 'The Light of Hope,' encourages students to shine hope into places of need, echoing the same spirit found in the bishops’ Social Justice Statement. Through their words and actions, our Year 10 students embody what it means to seek justice and be true 'Pilgrims of Hope.'

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal Faith and Mission

Community Mass

Thank you to Year 9 students for preparing this morning’s Eucharist. Thank you also to Fr Frank Brennan for celebrating with us. Fr Franks’s homily helps us to make the connection to this weekend’s Social Justice Sunday, and he has kindly made it available for the College community – see below.

Friday, 12 September, is the date of the next Community Mass, which will be prepared by the Sustainability Club. 

Next Friday, 5 September, Mass will commence at the earlier time of 7:30am and will be celebrated in the gym, as we recognise and give thanks for fathers and father-figures in our community. 

If you would like to volunteer or have any questions about Community Mass, please contact Mary-Anne Lumley.

Community Mass details

• College Chapel
• Fridays in term time
• Starts at 8:00am concludes at 8:30am.

Sacraments

Confirmation

Let us remember in our prayers students in Year 6 who, with their families, are celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation in local parishes this weekend and next. We look forward to sharing photos of this special event.  

Further information provided by some local parishes is here.  

To find contact details for any parish in the Perth Archdiocese, go to this link.

Parents often have questions about the Sacrament program, so don’t be afraid to ask. 

The parish priest or sacrament coordinator is the best point of contact for sacraments in a specific parish. For any general enquiries about the sacrament program, contact Mary-Anne Lumley  or via phone on 08 9383 0513

Good News for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Frank has kindly shared his reflection on this Sunday’s Gospel and its connection to the Australian Bishops’  Social Justice statement for 2025-2026.  

Some years ago, I was in the western region of Cambodia with a wonderful Spanish Jesuit Kike Figeredo.  I first met him in the refugee camps along the Thai Cambodian border in 1989.  When Kike came to the camps, he discerned what he should do in a camp of over 100,000 people where everything was scarce and people were desperate.  He asked a simple question: ‘What would Jesus do?’  He decided that Jesus would go to the poorest of the poor.  In that part of the world there were lots of land mines. So there were lots of people who had lost limbs.  Kike set up a training facility for them and they manufactured their own wheelchairs out of wood and bamboo.

After the refugees were able to return to Cambodia, Kike and I were looking for a place where the Jesuits might live and do their work.  One night in the local village, Kike invited several people to dinner at a roadside restaurant.  Halfway through the meal, Kike looked around the table, observing that most people at the table had lost a limb or two, or were suffering some other disability.  He smiled with joy and said to me:          

‘Isn’t this just the meal Jesus would like to share?’  He referred to today’s gospel: ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back to repay you. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the blind, those living with a disability and those living with ill-health; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you, and so you will be repaid at the resurrection of the virtuous.’

Sunday is Social Justice Sunday.  Our bishops have produced a statement entitled Signs of Hope on the Edge. It focuses on serving homeless people with mental ill-health.  Introducing the statement, the Archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe, says: 

‘Many Australians find it embarrassing, uncomfortable or even confronting to see homeless people on the streets; but we encourage all who are baptised to, instead, offer loving friendship to people on the edge of society. Instead of walking by and not noticing the plight of our neighbours, pay attention to them and their plight, listen to their stories, and serve them with the love we learn from Jesus.’

The bishops urge schools to have an eye to community service programs able to reach out to the homeless and to mental health awareness in our own school community.  In the College song, you sing about ‘our College where all feel at home.’   Let’s commit ourselves to providing a home where all can belong.  Let’s pray for those doing it tough, homeless on our streets this winter night.

© Frank Brennan SJ