Director of Mission
What will happen to this mission, started before time began and continued through the life and work of Jesus, when Jesus returns to His Father after the Resurrection?
The answer is, quite simply, discipleship
What does it really mean to be a disciple of Jesus? In the Bible, Jesus says to His followers, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Now, you can discover this “truth” and how to spread His Word through your own life.
Fr Tony Gittins
Last Thursday Fr Gittins spoke to a room full of leaders from all the schools in the Wagga diocese around the importance of real dialogue that supports discipleship and mission. He offered me many wise words to ruminate upon and amongst these was a proposed definition of mission. He suggested that mission is when we as disciples seek out the borders and margins created by man and work with compassion and courage to tear them down. This definition is my interpretation of his words, Fr Gittins is quite the linguist and had the ability to make it sound so simple but yet complex in action. It was through this talk and the experience of the last couple of weeks that confirmed my beliefs that missionary discipleship is definitely alive and well here at Marian College and it is something to be proud of. This is clearly evident in this edition of the newsletter.
Wagga Youth Festival Wrap Up
It has been an amazing couple of weeks and this is all due to the efforts of students and staff through the participation in the recent Wagga Youth Festival. On the 21st of May, Mrs Segrave, Mrs Star, Mr Moore and myself supervised 28 students from Yr 10 and 11 to Borambola in Wagga Wagga for a three day camp around faith, joy and leadership. It was an enlightening experience and I was blown away by the active and positive participation of our students. They truly voiced who they were and what their faith meant to them proudly, through their words, actions and talents. The festival was a series of workshops supported by prayer and reflection. The workshops ranged from graffiti art to talks on fair trade and the role of the LGBTQI community in the church today with a whole lot in between. The students attacked every opportunity and as a teacher we could not have asked more of them. It was inspirational to witness, as they demonstrated true leadership and courage.
Eight of these students were invited to stay back an extra day and be a part of a ground breaking experience. This was the first time students were invited to sit with and consult all of the principals of the diocese. It was a chance to hear honest feedback on what the students themselves thought of the festival and how they see the future of leadership in their prospective colleges. Ruby Bennett, Emma Monteleone, Talissa Cerato, Ruben Sebastian, Josh Golden, Daniel Tam, Paris Reginato and Bonnie Browne represented MCC and were the largest group of college representatives. They did an outstanding job and should be extremely proud of themselves
Artwork completed by the students at the festival. They created a shield of faith artwork where they each had to complete a panel using colours and symbols that explained their faith. On the back of each panel was a description of their faith in words. Once brought together it formed the Year of Youth logo with the College emblem. This symbolised how everything is stronger once it comes together in harmony.
Our students scattered across the room in open dialogue with the leaders of every school in the diocese
Youth Concert Tour with John Angotti
John Angotti travelled all the way from America to be a part of the Youth Tour and Festival. He is an Internationally acclaimed musician and most importantly all round great human being. John is a full-time music missionary who travels throughout many parts of the world providing inspirational music and faith witness to all ages through concerts, workshops, retreats, missions, conferences, and worship. Originally from Clarksburg, West Virginia, he now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
On Tuesday 29th of this month, John arrived to perform a one hour concert of faith and joy. He utilised the students who he had worked with over the festival to dance, play instruments and sing. This was also supported by other MCC musicians and choir. It all came together to create a truly magical moment where the whole College was (as John would say) on fire!
By this, he meant that there was a presence of energy, positivity and celebration of faith. The MCC community was and is truly alive. It was a privilege to be a part of. We were also honoured to have John work on our new College Anthem. Using lyrics originally created by Mr Don Hillam, John added his creativity and debuted our new song to a very positive welcome. It was a hit and we are hoping to have it recorded by our very own students soon so that it may be shared with the whole community. Fortunately, the concert was recorded and can be viewed on our facebook page. The link is below and I encourage you to check it out.
https://www.facebook.com/mccgriffith/videos/1818959354862561/?t=0
We are extremely thankful for all of John’s work and we wish him a safe trip home and hopefully it will not be the last time he is seen at MCC.
John Angotti at the MCC youth concert playing our new College Anthem.
John having a ball with some of the students who attended the Youth Festival.
Project Compassion
The Project Compassion presentation from last term finally took place at assembly on Wednesday the 23rd of May. Mr Trevor Dal Broi who is the local representative for Caritas accepted a donation of $2700 which was an outstanding effort from MCC. He gave a brief talk on what the charity achieves and we would like to thank Mr Dal Broi for taking the time to attend our assembly. It was a nice way to finish off that initiative for 2018. It certainly sets the bar high for next year
Marist Lecture
An invitation was extended to all staff during the week to be a part of the Marist Online family who posted a Marian Lecture live. It was an initiative of the Marist Association to ensure that those who live outside Sydney and Melbourne or who could not attend the lecture had a chance to see the lecture: A New Generation of Church: In the Way of Mary.
Three key note speakers presented
Bishop Long encouraged us to practice solidarity, engagement and accompaniment with people struggling on the margins.
Dr Bernadette Tobin spoke of the Marian qualities of tenderness and justice.
Professor Greg Craven declared we need radical mercy, and to speak truthfully to each other about the big social challenges currently facing us.
A video recording of the lecture will be posted to the Marist Association website in the week following the event and also found on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2noNaRTaEd8
It was an insightful lecture which once again echoed the themes of what we saw at the youth festival. The importance of dialogue that is done with honesty and tenderness. A step towards radical inclusiveness, something that we strongly believe we are working towards here at MCC.
If there are any future invitations I will be sure to share them with the wider MCC community as it was something not to be missed.
