Faith, Justice and Formation 

Alice Springs Immersion 2022

This coming Sunday, ten Year 11 students and two staff members will head to Alice Springs on Immersion to further develop our relationship with the fellas of St Joseph’s Flexible Learning Centre. They will embark on a mission to learn from our First Nations Australians in all areas of life, but particularly in the area of sustainable living. They will share our blessings and resources with them, and they will enhance their appreciation for the natural beauty and wonder of our land with some time spent at Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon, as well as Alice Springs and its surrounds. The group will humbly embrace our ‘brothers’ and work to fulfill what they can from the Uluru Statement from the Heart. 

The young men have been chatting with the fellas online in the lead up so there is some familiarity as you can see in the photo, along with some of our blokes who went over last year.

The group consists of:

We wish them well and ask for God’s blessing to be upon them as they learn Dreaming and make a contribution to positive and respectful relationships.

Refugee Week and Invitation

Refugee Week will take place from 19 to 25 June (next week), with the theme for 2022 being Healing. To learn more about it you can visit - Refugee Week 2022 Theme: Healing - Refugee Week. It is important that we mark this time as a community and that we remember all those who suffer through no fault of their own. Refugees contribute a great deal to our Australian society once settled, repaying our nation threefold, and bringing with them a diversity of skills, perspectives and also cuisines. Too often they are not given the dignity that should be afforded every human being, so it is our responsibility to put this right. This can be done in many ways.

One initiative is a simple one. The St Patrick’s College community have been invited to celebrate Refugee Week at the House of Welcome’s first festive Friday evening Cooking Class on 24 June from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The House of Welcome is one of our long-standing Justice Partners at the College. They exist to support refugees and people seeking asylum in Sydney. Their catering social enterprise uses the power of food to connect communities and to empower people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to participate in employment opportunities and pathways. It provides a platform to showcase their skills, talents, and diverse experiences - which enrich our economic and social fabric. See the flyer below to book a place.

Our Parents’ SOL group showcased the House of Welcome at sport the weekend before last, selling some of their products and raising awareness of refugee issues. All of these little things build to a bigger impact on matters of justice. If you would like to be involved in this group, please email me at gillian.daley@spc.nsw.edu.au. Thanks to all who supported the group and the bigger cause.

Gillian Daley

Director of Identity