Mission News

In Our Prayers

We pray for any in our community suffering in seen and unseen ways.

We pray for the repose of the soul of:

• Staff member Lisa Coleman’s mother, Fay who passed away this morning

May our loving God, with Mary and Champagnat, walk with all members of the Marist family. Amen

Pentecost and National Reconciliation Week 

Reflection from the Head of Mission 

The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher talks about the explosion of Grace on the day of Pentecost that changed people forever, it changed how they thought, spoke and related. He describes frightened fishermen cowering in the cenacle who went on to become fearless evangelists and gave the testimony of their lives. They might have looked the same and kept the same day job but inside they were different people after that, and so was the world once their church burst upon the scene. 

The story of Pentecost is a story of the power of the spiritual, the importance of the feelings, relationships and religious dimensions of the human person and of the universe.

It’s not often that Pentecost Sunday falls during our National Reconciliation Week which is bookended by 27 May, the anniversary of the successful 1967 referendum and 3rd June, the anniversary of the High Court’s decision in the Mabo Case. The remembered events of reconciliation week provide a good backdrop for us Christians, contemplating the action of the spirit, as experienced by the first Christians of diverse languages and cultures who heard the disciples speaking in all their diverse tongues of the mighty acts of God.

This year the theme for National Reconciliation Week is ‘Be a Voice for Generations’, extending an invitation to us all to consider how we can be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways with our families, friends, communities, and networks. 

This Pentecost we pray for the spirit of reconciliation to descend afresh on our land and for all Australians, whichever way they will eventually vote, to recommit themselves to a deep, inner listening to each other and to our land. May the great spirit lead us, guide us and continue to form and inform our conscience and decision-making.

Prayer

God of Love,

You are the Creator of all things.

We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history

and the sufferings of Our First Nations peoples,

and we ask your forgiveness.

We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures

Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus

to reconcile the world to you.

We pray for your strength and grace to forgive, accept and love one another, as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.

Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history so that we may build a better

future for our Nation.

Teach us to respect all cultures.

Teach us to care for our land and waters.

Help us to share justly the resources of this land. Help us to bring about spiritual and social change to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities, especially the disadvantaged.

Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem by your Spirit.

May your power and love be the foundations on which we build our families, our communities and our Nation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Tuesday Morning Reconciliation

Students, parents, staff, and other members of the College community are welcome to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Fr Tini is available every Tuesday morning in the College Chapel.

Wednesday Morning Community Mass 

Students, parents, staff, and other members of the College community are warmly invited to Mass on Wednesday mornings in the College Chapel (every week during term time). Mass commences at 8:00am. 

Friday Lunchtime Community Mass 

Students, staff, and other members of the College community are warmly invited to Mass on Fridays during the College Lunch break. Mass will begin at 11:40 in the College Chapel (every week during term time). 

Chaplains Corner 

Reflection for May 31 - Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

On Wednesday 31 May we celebrate the feast of the Visitation, known to us as the second joyful mystery of the Rosary. The visit of Elizabeth by Mary is not just a link between relatives but of two people graced by God in different ways and both bringing Scripture to fulfilment. Elizabeth is bringing forth John the Baptist, the herald of Christ to Judaism, and Mary will give birth to Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

On a personal level, this is more than a visit of a very short duration. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months to help her during her pregnancy.

Let’s reflect briefly on that little detail of the three months over which the Gospel seems to slide.

There are many paintings and sketches of the Visitation scene, that initial encounter of Mary and Elizabeth. There are no portrayals of Mary during those three months. She was evidently doing the work, making the meals, keeping things in order, working behind the scenes. Nothing about those three months has surfaced in traditional devotional material.

Yet, those three months showed Mary to be a true handmaid of the Lord.

One test of our spirituality is what we do when nobody is watching, when the cameras are turned off and when we don’t feel inspired and “charged up.” Are we as faithful in private as we are in public? Mary was.

Mary is still helping people behind the scenes in so many ways today. Mary assists people not only in such well-publicised shrines as Fatima and Lourdes but also in ways that will probably never be known to most of us here on Earth. Every parish has people who can recount interventions by Mary, some spectacular and others less so, where Mary’s prayer and intercession became a decisive part of their lives.

In this mystery of the Visitation, that holy visit of three months, we see Mary as a model of true spiritual service, quiet and silent service. She is a model of the kind of life St Paul describes in that extraordinary litany in today’s first reading in which he gives us a program to last a lifetime.

This feast of the Visitation invites us to seek the grace (and it is a grace) and the virtue (and it is a virtue) of quiet service of the Lord. It is the real measure of our fidelity to Christ.

Mary, Our Good Mother, pray for us.

St Marcellin Champagnat, pray for us.

St Mary of the Cross, pray for us.

And let us always remember to pray for one another.

Stationery Aid 

Run solely by volunteers, Stationery Aid collect, sort, clean and deliver donated stationery items to students in need. These items can be used or unused items. Started by one of our very own Marist families it is a great way to repurpose stationery items.  We are delighted to welcome Stationery Aid as part of the MATES program. The Stationery Aid collection bin can be found outside the Studies office. Students in Years 9 and 10 are welcome to the Mission Office Friday mornings at 7:30 to work in this specific ministry. 

ROSIES

Our thanks to the generous students and staff who support our ROSIES Street outreach visits. 

Comments from our students include: 

“Eye-opening”

“Fantastic”

“Great opportunity – would love to do it again”

“Helps us see in a new way”

We have more visits planned for Term 3.

Game Changers

Game Changers is a comprehensive Catholic youth ministry program for students in Marist Schools from Years 7-12. It is designed to be an ongoing leadership and mentoring program for Marist students. 

It seeks to form Christian leaders by making Jesus Christ known and loved among them – the Mission of the Marist Institute and of this College. 

It involves regular meetings; faith formation experiences and service opportunities and students are invited to become game changers through their participation in the group.

Game Changers is grounded in a series of tracks, each with their own stories, symbols and activities. 

Through their participation in each track, the students come to a deeper appreciation of what and who shapes our Christian identity and Marist spirituality.

Each track is led by a Mentor (member of staff). Each track lasts two years. 

Groups will meet regularly during Break times beginning Term 2. 

Years 7 and 8 Monday First break in Room 801 

Years 9 and 10 Wednesday First break in Room 801 

Years 11 and 12 Thursday First break in Room 801 

To register for Game Changers, or for more information, please email Ms Rebecca Wong  (wongb@marash.qld.edu.au) or come and visit anyone in the Mission Team area behind the Chapel.

College St Vincent de Paul Group

The College St Vincent de Paul Group met each Tuesday during break time and are back serving our community BBQ on Thursday mornings in the yard. Students are very welcome to join ‘Vinnies’, all they need to do is come to the Mission Office for a meeting to register interest.

Ignite Conference 2023 – Wonder 

Every year, Ignite hosts one of Australia most powerful Catholic youth conferences. 

Ignite Conference is a gathering of Catholics for four days and draws together a network of high schoolers, young adults, ministry leaders, families, teachers, priests, and religious from around the country.

This year the Ignite Conference 2023 – Wonder will be held at St Laurence’s College, from the 21 – 24 September. 

While the College does not take an official group of students to Ignite, we are delighted to promote this opportunity for young people.  Ignite Conference 23 (squarespace.com)

Early bird registration closes Friday 30 June.