CELEBRATING OUR FAITH
ACYF
Last week I attended the Australian Catholic Youth Festival with Maria Bates, Hunter Hollis and Wolfgang Wilson from Yr.10, and Seth Ward from Yr.9, along with our school chaplain Mrs Sharon Hollis. The three days were filled with inspirational music, talks, presentations, prayer and discussions, with young catholics from right across Australia. It was tremendous to mix with young people prepared to celebrate their faith, and to see the bishops of Australia listening to the concerns of young people today.
I witnessed two 'miracles' at the festival - not miracles that overturned any natural laws - rather they were miracles of human nature. On Thursday night in Qudos Bank Arena, 18000 young people were gathered in party mode, listening to Matt Maher, playing crowd games. A small, elderly nun, Sister Hilda, walked on the stage and began to speak of faith, of scripture, and of prayer. And the crowd listened. And when she asked for us to meditate in silence, 18000 people did so. For minutes at a time. No phones. No messaging or snapchat notifications. Sr Hilda had the audience in the palm of her hand. A miracle.
The second miracle was similar, but perhaps even more remarkable. On Friday evening 18000 knelt in the stadium as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament took place. This time there were no words; the crowd knelt in silent prayer for 5 minutes or more, on the bare concrete, as the smoke from the thurible, the incense burner, slowly swirled beneath the stage lights.
Two 'miracles': two signs that silence is possible for today's generation; to signs that it is possible to disconnect from the digital world, and reconnect with God, who is always with us.
Mass in the Domain
Genevieve Bryant
Attentive listeners
Hollis Pilgrims
On the pilgrim's walk
On the way to the Domain
At mass with 15000 people
Mass in the Domain
Genevieve Bryant
Attentive listeners
Hollis Pilgrims
On the pilgrim's walk
On the way to the Domain
At mass with 15000 people
Thanksgiving Mass and Coin Drop
Our school year comes to a close with two occasions that allow an expression of our faith. The first is the Vinnies coin drop tomorrow morning, where the school assembles around the Infants Quadrangle, and classes move forward to place coins on a blanket as donations to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal. The simple symbolism of this process reminds us that although our individual contribution may be small, when we work together we can make a substantial difference to the lives of the needy in our community.
Parents and Grandparents are most welcome to attend our Thanksgiving mass, which will be held on Thursday at 9:15am in the school hall. Each class has been collecting hampers, which will be brought forward at the start of the mass. These will be collected by members of the local St Vincent de Paul society, and distributed to families in need in the Inverell district. We will also present a cheque for the monies raised this term from the lapathon, cake stall and coin drop. Thank you to all parents for your generous support of our charitable works program.