Mission and Identity
- An experience of Interfaith Dialogue
- Canonisation Youth Orchestra
- Praise Fest this Friday!
- A Year 12 Reflection on the nature of God
An experience of Interfaith Dialogue - 'This I believe'
A reflection by Isaac Year 11
During the ‘This I Believe Essay Series’ a small group collected together at North Shore Temple Emanuel (NSTE) Synagogue. Members from Chatswood Catholic Parish including Fr David Ranson, NSTE including Rabbi Nicole Roberts and our Pius representatives of Mr Petrie, Mr Balboa, Mr Callow, myself, and Anthony and Alex Parissis were tasked to listen and read essays, all written by different people with different experiences. We then reflect on what stood out from the essays and freely explored our own opinions on how it applies to our lives in both a religious and everyday aspect.
After listening to each essay for half an hour in our groups, we were given the opportunity to share. This often seemed not enough as we all were so engrossed in every person’s contribution. It allowed for all of us to be equal in our sharing, so every opinion and shared experience felt seen and appreciated.
This event opened my eyes to the true connection that all of us share through our shared humanity; our life stories are not the same but the messages and lessons we take away links us to every person across the world despite religions, races, and different generations. We are always truly interconnected.
Throughout this entire experience we were welcomed and included into their community immediately. Rabbi Nicole greeted us every time with a big smile as we wrote our names on name tags and invited us to enjoy refreshments of kosher food and drinks. I was fortunate to meet others in the group, such as Peter, who I discovered was the Treacy House Captain and graduated in 1978 from Pius. I learned about his family and stories from the past of St Pius. I also learned from Edel who was around 10 years old when she and her family had to flee the Nazis in Germany as a Jewish family. I appreciated her giving me advice and guidance through my own family experiences.
Within our last gathering together, I was approached individually by everyone in the group and thoroughly thanked for my attendance, insight and perspective for which I was appreciative to be included. However I was even more appreciative because this moment made me open my eyes to the fact that during this series, a ‘small chat’ and sharing our own monologues, had deeply connected us through our shared humanity, our different perspectives and gave us new friendships and connections through what felt like such a small chat. This entire event made me realise the true power that a conversation can have on not just myself but everyone around me.
Before I left, I chatted with Rabbi Nicole again about a ‘Youth version’ of ‘This I believe’ to explore the Youth’s opinion and perspectives leading to a potential opportunity for Pius Boys, Youth students from NSTE and potentially Mercy College Students to convene as a means to have conversations that may lead to a better understanding, insight and change of perspective for daily experiences. I look forward to where this journey will lead.
Canonisation Youth Orchestra
This Sunday 3 August at the 10:30 am Mass, we will be celebrating the 2025 Jubilee Mass at Our Lady of Dolours. All are most welcome!
Orchestra musicians are required to be at Harrington Hall by 9:00 am for the pre-Mass rehearsal.
A reminder of important dates and rehearsals for the Canonisation Youth Orchestra:
• Sunday 7 September: 5:30 pm Mass, Canonisation of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati (rehearsal at 3:30 pm, Harrington Hall).
The rehearsal schedule for the orchestra will be as follows:
• Friday 1 August normal times
• Sunday 3 August (9:00 am)
• 8 August normal times
• 15 August normal times
• 22 August normal times
• 29 August normal times
• 5 September normal times
• 7 September (Sunday 3:30 pm)
Praise Fest this Friday!
This Friday night from 6:45 pm we have the second ‘Praise Fest’ at Our Lady of Dolours. A night full of music, inspirational speakers and testimonies. A night of friendship, faith and fraternity. All are welcome.
A Year 12 Reflection on the nature of God
A prophetic moment from a student in Year 12 through his artwork and reflection: “This Micrography explores the sacrificial love portrayed through caretakers and mentors, and especially our God. It depicts a pair of hands representing the Father holding up a withering plant in loose soil that symbolises every one of us that struggles on our journey in this life. The plant withers as it has lacked sunlight for too long, just as we turn away from God sometimes, either our own ego or our giving in to sin that separates us from the One who loves us most, unconditionally. The plant grows in loose soil, as just as we are, it is vulnerable, fragile. If simply left to fall to the ground, its roots would lay grasping to thin air, devoid of nutrients, as empty as a world lit in darkness without the light of our God. This may be uncomfortable to hear, in fact it may be painful to consider ourselves as weak and fragile as a withering plant that has lost even the spring in its stem that a beansprout has, however what this truly points to is the grace of God.
It is true, we can at times be conflicted, self-destructive and fragile creatures, however, through the sacrificial love of God, we are made alive, we are rejuvenated and restored. This is represented as the single standing leaf that reaches towards the Sun, the source of its energy and life, just as the Father is for us. It is quite incomprehensible to consider the sort of care God gives to us, certainly watching on in pain when we make harmful choices, when he hears us openly renounce him, either through our words, or our actions. However, still God holds us up to his light, an energy so pure compared to the soil we live in. Soil is wonderful, it is the source of life on land, but compared to something as pure as sunshine, how blessed we are to be given such things! Even when God’s hands may grow heavy, he still holds us up to the light.
Notice the micrography is made up of the scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 12:9:
“My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.”
This quote encapsulates the Agape love of God, that he nourishes us completely in his love for us, and that he is always there, especially when we are weak. For it is in our moments of struggle, when we reach our limits, either physically from exhaustion, emotionally from burden, or morally from lack of maturity. It is when we reach our limits, we discover who we truly are, and we discover who others are from how they help us in our times of need. And it is precisely when we are weak, that God’s love is greatest, when we struggle, that he is most present. This is Agape love. This is the nature of God.”
Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity