Faith & Mission

THE BLINDNESS OF PREJUDICE

Last Sunday’s gospel brought to my mind a quote that was once displayed on our refrigerator. The writer declared that to truly love, you need to be able to recognize the reality of an existence other than your own.

In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus condemns hypocrites who complain of a splinter in the eye of another, yet fail to see the wooden beam in their own eye.  This theme was picked up by the speakers in last week’s Year 9 Immersion day.

Brother Damien Price shared a personal story in which he described the hubris with which he first encountered homeless people in Sydney. He spoke of his willingness to join the mission to the homeless. But he also acknowledged his initial failure to recognize that his education and religious training did not afford him an entitlement to some higher level of human existence.

Brother Damien went on to share with us an interpretation of the gospel story of the women caught in adultery. In his telling, we were invited to stand with Jesus and challenge the hypocrisy of those elders and religious leaders who were blind to the humanity of the woman.

The Year 9’s also heard from a member of the Melbourne Sikh community, Mr Jaswinder Singh. As well as providing fascinating insights into the Sikh community, he also referred to the hypocrisy and hubris that can become a hallmark of religious leaders. In his telling, Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, rejected the corrupt thinking and practices of those religious leaders who used a caste system to deny the full humanity of those deemed to be untouchable. In the response of the modern Melbourne Sikh community to local communities ravaged by bushfires or the coronavirus pandemic, we can recognize a faith that sees the humanity of whoever is in need.

The radical call of Jesus to love cuts through the blindness and prejudice of individuals and communities that fail to recognize the human realities of an existence other than their own. 

Year 9 RE Immersion Day

The first Year 9 RE Immersion day was held last Thursday. The workshops provided the students with excellent opportunities to expand their understanding of the major themes in the unit on the Early Christians.

Brother Damien Price, Mr Jaswinder Singh from the Melbourne Sikh community and Angela Scarafilo from Young Mercy Links provided fascinating and challenging insights into how communities grow.     

In all of the sessions, there was a powerful sense of the message of Jesus and the importance of that message in building community for both the earliest Christians and for communities today. Despite the ongoing Covid restrictions and zoom presentations, our presenters conveyed their commitment to their faith and the ways in which that message of faith continued to give them meaning and purpose in their work among local communities.

Mr Mark Hyland

Director of Faith and Mission