Faith and Mission

Leo McInerney 

Assistant to the Principal - Faith and Mission

As I am about to rise for another day I listen to the ABC radio station and at 5.35am each morning I hear an “acknowledgement of land.” One of the most precious lessons we learn from our indigenous brothers and sisters is their belief in the sacredness of place. The physical land on which we live and the environment all around us holds our stories and our memories. It nourishes us not just physically, but spiritually. This place is where we belong and gives us an identity. It is also the place where we encounter the divine. We are intimately bound to our world; in relationship with it as much as with each other.

One of the costs of the past few months has been the wider loss of connection to place and people. While each of us has become more deeply connected to and aware of our own homes and space, online meetings and screens can never replace the deep connection that happens when we are physically with people in a specific place.

This concept is not unique to the first peoples of this ancient land. Traditional cultures the world over have developed this same intimate connection to the land on which they live and which brought them into existence. The ancient Hebrew people forged this same spiritual connection with Mt Sion, or modern day Jerusalem. This sacred mountain became for them a point of gathering, connection and identity. Just as Australia’s first peoples recognise the land as mother and life giver.

 As we all return to the College this week and re-connect to the ancient land of the Wurundjeri people on which Marian College is built. For in the face of all the difficulties and challenges confronting us this year, this place offers us security and safety, consolation and support, hope and encouragement, guidance and direction.

It is great to be back together again in this place.