Mission & Catholic Identity News

“Awareness is like the Sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed”

During the recent term break I went on a family holiday to Vietnam.  In between entertaining my kids on the plane, I read a book by the Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. A thread running through his writing, is the concept of gratitude. The quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation.

There is more and more research showing how gratitude positively impacts our mood, attitude, health and well-being. Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that in order to practice gratefulness, we have to put stop signs into our daily life. To learn to love, enjoy and embrace what we have in the here and now.

Gratitude has been a consistent mantra given to the Year 12 cohort as they enter their last days of compulsory education. To be grateful for what their parents and guardians have provided. To be grateful to peers for their love and support. To be grateful to staff and to the school community for providing a first-class education.

Some Interesting Things to Know

You wouldn’t know it from the media coverage, but apparently, it is coming up to Halloween. Lesser known, this date is called Hallowmas, and is also known as the Triduum of All Hallows encompassing the Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day and All Soul's Day, which last from October 31 to November 2 annually. Hallowmas is a time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians and is derived from two words: halig, meaning saint, and the word mass.

All Saints' Day is the second day of Hallowmas on the 1st of November. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. The Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather, recognises them. We recognise them in many ways, some of us are named after a saint.

Bringing a closure to Mission Month

With the end of October approaching, is the end of Mission month. Mission month is when Catholics all over the world join together to pray, celebrate and care for the whole family of the Church. A large and important part of our Church is still regarded as ‘missionary’ and needs our help to survive and grow to self-sufficiency.

Mission enables us to share the gift of faith so that all God’s children may experience the fullness of life made possible by Christ. Through the Holy Spirit we are participants and partners with God in mission and that Christ has asked us to proclaim and show the love of God to all peoples and nations.

Thank you

A thank you to Fathers Joseph and Denis for celebrating our recent Graduation Masses for the Cranbourne and Clyde North campuses and to the St Agatha’s parish for the use of their church.

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, 29 October 2019 (3:34p.m.-5:15p.m.), Cranbourne Campus – ‘Footsteps of Paul’ session with Bernard Dobson. All welcome. Email here to register.
• Solomon Island Immersion, Wednesday, 20 November 2019 to Thursday, 28 November 2019.
• Year 12 Retreat (2020 cohort), Wednesday, 27 November 2019 to Friday, 29 November 2019.

Matthew Williams

Deputy Principal - Mission & Catholic Identity