FAITH MATTERS

At the beginning of the week, six of our 2023 Student Leaders represented our school at the AJASS Student Leadership Day hosted by MacKillop College Werribee. This involved thirty students from Australian Josephite Affiliated Secondary Schools (AJASS) in Victoria - MacKillop College- Werribee, Penola - Broadmeadows, Mary MacKillop College - Leongatha, Mount St Joseph’s Girls College - Altona and our school. 

Throughout the day the focus was on learning more about the life and work of Mary MacKillop, exploring the charism of the Jospehites and understanding the Pillars of the Josephites. These pillars certainly encompass our school values of Respect, Dignity, Reverence, Compassion, Forgiveness and Generosity and our students were able to explore how four of these pillars in particular might be animated in our school. 

Conscious Compassion

The Hebrew word for ‘compassion’ is rechemet which translates to mean ‘womb’ – reflecting the depth of God’s life giving love for us. The Latin derivation of ‘compassion’ means ‘to feel with’ – God feels with us. Conscious Compassion then is purposeful works for justice in ordinary life. It means that we deliberately and mindfully look for opportunities to put love into actions, to animate our feelings of compassion in a purposeful way. In a school setting this could be caring for others in our community, walking alongside those who are vulnerable, sharing in other people’s challenges and supporting others who are feeling pain or grief. 

Mutual Respect

Is the desire and the choice to see goodness and potential in every person and to practice non-judgement. Mutual Respect means that we respect others in a way that is radical and unconditional - in other words we respect others because they are God’s creation not because they do something for us, or they like us or because they are popular. We see Christ in every person. This approach promotes mutual respect because it is not conditional. 

Intentional Inclusivity

We can say that we are inclusive but if inclusion is to be meaningful, it must be based on the idea that everyone is included from the beginning, not included in socially constructed groups where some are popular and some are not, or because of their abilities, culture or achievements. Intentional inclusivity in a school is where everyone has a deep sense of belonging, simply because they are fully and completely themselves. It means having a concerted hospitality to all and being genuinely interested in others. 

Creative Courage

To be creative is to be inventive, imaginative, innovative and inspired. Being courageous is persevering in the face of adversity, feeling fear yet choosing to act, standing up for what we know is true and just. Stephanie Dowrick says “Courage is a way of living in the world. It can be admired from any distance, but you can discover it only through lived experience. Sometimes this has to be achieved in the midst of hardship. It is in the midst of hardship or challenge that courage stirs, rises and comes awake.”