Living with Strength and Kindliness

Welcome to Term 3. 

What an exciting time we are experiencing as our Year 7s begin their learning journey at our new Kildare Campus. Our Year 7s have filled the learning spaces at Kildare with their joy. 

We paused to celebrate this historic milestone with our Year 7 student community through their engagement in a student-led prayer service. During this prayer each student placed a small stone on a line towards our focal points of House Patrons and Brigidine Crosses. 

We reflected on Refugee Week at the end of Term 2. Our student leaders using the ‘Share a Meal Share a Story' resource organised to cook a meal for members of the community. This meal was really about having the courage to listen and share different perspectives from refugee communities. What a joy to see our Year 7 students, sitting amongst Year 12s and staff, all reflecting and sharing their own experiences of seeking freedom and how we can have the courage to speak for those who often can’t. 

The courage to learn with wonder and embrace all that this means saw the creation of our labyrinth. The creation of the labyrinth by our Year 7 students and Hands on Learning teams saw our community further embrace different ways of thinking about and engaging with learning. While very new to our community, the wish is that the labyrinth will provide space and time for discernment and weave different ways of connecting with our environment and faith into the story once again in the St Joseph’s Community.  We were lucky enough to share our labyrinth with the families of the students who contributed to its creation on the last day of term. 

This week our staff are engaging in their Sabbatical Week. A sabbatical can be defined as a period of time given to experience prayer and formation with the idea for it to be an opportunity to explore our work in our ministry and be nourished and inspired by engaging in different faith-filled experiences. 

This week our staff have many opportunities to engage in formation and learning. Our Gospel for our House gatherings this week is the Parable of the Sower - a story filled with possibilities, dialogue and courage. For me this year, the message of this parable is so deeply connected to our journey at St Joseph’s, one filled with courage, possibilities and new steps that require dialogue. Through this lens we are reminded of the strength and joy we can find when we journey together.  

Lee Pethybridge

College Leader - Faith and Community