Faith & Mission

HOPE MEANS THAT I LIVE NOW 

During this last week, I read an article from The Tablet titled ‘Hope means that I live now’ written by Fr Timothy Radcliffe.

As Year 9 Bryce led us in this week’s morning mass dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I found myself linking Fr Timothy’s reflections on hope to the trials and joys of Mary and of all mothers.

Fr Timothy wrote 

‘What does a hope filled life look like? Part of it is hanging in there…to stay and just be there is a beautiful sign of hope. The Risen Lord said to his disciples: “Behold I am with you always, until the end of time”’. 

So often when parents nurse sick family members, the most important thing they can do is just to remain beside their children in their hours of need.

Fr Timothy directed his words to an audience of young men and women. 

“Teaching”, he told them, “is a beautiful expression of our hope for the young. Teaching recognises the dignity of the young as truth seekers, whether one teachers science, literature or religion. Every school is a sacrament of hope.”

How readily these words could be translated to parenting. Parenting young children is so much about waking up each day with the hope that the mundane, the trivial, the everyday tasks and challenges of family life will make a difference in the lives of your children. The ‘good works’ done by parents are done for their own sake. They are not a means to an end. They are done because it is good to do so. 

Thomas Merton, writing to a friend who was discouraged by the failure of their peace campaign to produce any results wrote:

“Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on…you may have to face the fact that work may seem worthless….As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness and the truth of the work itself”.

In Fr Timothy’s words “Hope means that I live now, whatever may happen tomorrow”. 

It is not hard to imagine that Mary may often have had cause to trust in such a sentiment. The startling confusion of the Annunciation. The existential fear of the flight to Egypt. The nightmare of losing a 12 year old child in a city far from home. The faith shown in her son at the wedding feast of Cana. The despair when the people of her own village sought to kill her son. The gut wrenching sorrow at the arrest, trial and crucifixion. The triumph of hope in the resurrection. 

The lasting message of the Feast of the Assumption is the triumph of life over death, of hope over despair.

Tuesday Morning Masses: Join us

The Class masses for the next three weeks will be prepared and hosted by our Year 9 and 10 students. 

Year 9 Melba & Monash: 23 August 

Year 10 RE A: 30 August 

Year 10 RE D: 6 September

All parents are welcome to join us for these Tuesday morning masses at 8.00am in the College Chapel.

Mr Mark Hyland

Director of Faith and Mission