Assistant Principal - Religious Identity & Mission 

Fundraising for Project Compassion

Over the next fortnight the Year 10 Spirit boys are running a range of fundraising activities for Caritas/Project Compassion. Project Compassion brings together Australian schools, parishes and supporters to raise funds for people in vulnerable communities across the world. St Virgil’s has a long tradition of supporting Project Compassion and we are hoping to be able to again raise a significant amount to support the various projects run by Caritas in marginalised and remote communities both here in Australia and overseas.

Friday March 24 - Ice Cream Sales

Ice creams (cone or cup) will be sold outside the Chapel (Year 10-11) and outside Art (Year 7-9), during both lunch and recess this Friday. $4 for single, $5 for double. 

Friday March 31 - Free Dress Day

A gold coin donation (or card payment available) to be collected in Pastoral Care. The boys are invited to dress up in beach wear. The guidelines around this day have been shared with both parents and students. 

Friday March 31 - Talent Quest

Students have been invited to share their talent with everyone. It’s not too late to sign up if you would like to nominate an act for the Talent Quest. Nominations close Friday March 24. All students are invited to come and watch the acts in the JPC at recess and lunch to watch and judge the acts. Students are asked to donate a gold coin at the door to enter. 

As you can see, we have a range of fundraising activities coming up for Project Compassion. Any support you can give to help us contribute to the work Caritas does in confronting the challenges of poverty would be greatly appreciated.

Student Masses

Religious education at St Virgil’s College is not confined to Religious Education classes.  Christ is at the centre of all our endeavours. As a learning community joined together in faith we aim to bear witness to Christ’s vision and values in all aspects of school life. At the heart of the life of the Catholic Church has always been the celebration of the Eucharist, or Mass. To recognise this, all students will be attending an instructional mass during class time, led by Father Suresh, at different times during the year. These instructional masses are designed to take the boys through the ritual in a supported and structured manner, so those who are not regular attendees at church will feel comfortable attending mass into the future. A level of comfort only comes with familiarity, a bit like learning a new language. All Year 7 students will be participating in these during Term 1 and the other year levels will be attending in upcoming terms.

Lent

This is the fourth week of Lent and this week we read John (9:1-12) where Jesus healed the blind man. We reflected that Jesus appeals to those that have eyes to see and ears to hear, and that blindness in the Scriptural sense stops us from recognising truth. We discussed how this can stop us from seeing those in need around us and what we can do to help.

Prayer

Lord, help me to know where I resist seeing and hearing you. As I gently look over the past week, show me where I may have been blind or deaf to the truth so that I might truly understand. Amen