Education In Faith
From the Director of Catholic Identity
Let Joy Ignite Us
In 2018 the Australian Bishops declared that the Church will celebrate a Year of Youth. This Year of Youth aims to engage the young heart of the Church in Australia through dialogue and action. The Australian Catholic Bishops' theme for the Year of Youth is Open New Horizons for Spreading Joy. The Year of Youth was launched during Advent in 2017 and during the Australian Catholic Youth Festival which was held in Sydney in December 2017. Twenty-five students and staff from the College attended the festival and are looking forward to leading the Year of Youth at MSJ.
The theme for the Year of Youth is taken from Pope Francis’ address at the World Youth Day Vigil in Krakow 2016:
‘My friends, Jesus is the Lord of risk, he is the Lord of the eternal “more”. Jesus is not the Lord of comfort, security and ease. Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths. To blaze trails that open up new horizons capable of spreading joy, the joy that is born of God’s love and wells up in your hearts with every act of mercy. To take the path of the “craziness” of our God, who teaches us to encounter him in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the friend in trouble, the prisoner, the refugee and the migrant, and our neighbours who feel abandoned. To take the path of our God, who encourages us to be politicians, thinkers, social activists.”
Pope Francis, World Youth Day Vigil with Young People, 30 July 2016
At Mount St. Joseph Girls' College, the students discerned the most appropriate way for our College to live out the Year of Youth was through our College Theme. The Youth in Action student group decided to adopt the theme 'Let Joy Ignite Us'. Through our relationships with one another, through our outreach to the community and through our College life, we will respond to this call as we seek to share the Joy that comes from God’s love.
Our College Opening Mass celebrated this theme. Reflecting on the Gospel Fr Antony challenged our students to “Light to the world” (5:14 -16). Calling upon them to use what makes them unique, their talents and their passions to share Joy and light with those around them. As we continue to respond to our College theme throughout the year we will be reminded of this challenge as we seek to 'Let Joy Ignite Us'.
Year of Youth Panel
Earlier this year, some of our Australian Catholic Youth Festival pilgrims were given the opportunity to engage in a Year of Youth Panel held at the Catholic Leadership Centre in Melbourne. The Panel composed of staff and students from four Secondary Colleges. The focus of the panel was to hear the young voices of students across Melbourne. The audience, all the staff from the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne, were interested to hear students reflections on their experience at the Youth Festival, the place of spirituality in their lives, the way in which they experience Joy and the role they see that the leaders of the Church can have in shaping the lives of young people in our Church.
Our students, Madeline Bateman, Zoe Unsworth and Hannah Clarke, shared their desires for young people in our world to respond with action to issues concerning over sexualisation of women in the media, homelessness and discrimination. It was a powerful experience for our students to be heard by many leaders within Catholic Education.
Shrove Tuesday & Project Compassion
On Shrove Tuesday, the social justice team and the McCormack House Captains joined together to help raise funds for Caritas. Caritas is McCormack’s ministry focus for fundraising throughout Term 1. One hundred percent of the funds we raised as a school in this Shrove Tuesday fundraiser went to Caritas. Caritas is one of the Catholic Churchs' major international aid and development agencies that helps end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity so the world’s poor will not need to rely on charity.
To launch Project Compassion this year through Shrove Tuesday, the MSJ students donated pancake ingredients and volunteered their time to help cook the pancakes before school, at snack, and at lunch. The pancakes were then purchased by the staff and students for a gold coin donation.
As an entire school, we were able to raise an enormous $578.95. This was an achievement everyone involved should be proud of. For the remainder of Term 1, we plan to continue raising funds as individual pastoral classes by donating to their own Caritas box so we can really make a difference and support Caritas’ work overseas and nationally.
By Kaitlin McIntyre (McCormack House Leader)
Danielle Fairthorne
Director of Catholic Identity
Ash Wednesday
Eleven Year 7 students had the privilege of joining the Sisters of St. Joseph for Mass at the Heritage Centre in East Melbourne for their Ash Wednesday Mass. This event has become a lovely tradition within our College and allows the valued relationship between our College and the Sisters of St. Joseph to remain strong and vibrant. Our Year 7 students enjoyed sharing lunch with the Sisters after Mass, reflecting on their first few weeks at school and hearing stories of their past experiences as teachers of MSJ.
On 14 February, the Year 11 and 12 R.E Ministry classes worked together to create engaging Ash Wednesday liturgies for the whole school. We were divided into groups to create liturgies for the Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Senior students. I, along with many others, was involved in the preparation of the Seniors' liturgy. Our aim was to make the liturgy both reverent and inviting, whilst also incorporating contemporary themes and ideas. We did this by following the example presented to us by Project Compassion and adding our own unique style to it. We chose to incorporate the music heard by some of the students during their time at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF). This gave the Ash Wednesday liturgy something different and exciting that successfully encouraged the students to be open to engaging in the liturgy and all that comes along with it. It was an amazing experience, and it felt fantastic to see it run smoothly, knowing that I was part of the preparation of it.
Written by Zoe Unsworth
Catholic Education Today
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