FAITH MATTERS

At the start of our working week, in morning briefing, the staff of St Mary MacKillop College are reminded of a particular value that we should keep front of mind for ourselves, our colleagues, our students and our community. This is not to say that our staff do not acknowledge or have forgotten our school values. Rather, it is by drawing attention to a value on a weekly basis that an opportunity is provided for staff to focus on the current value as well as triggering a reminder to embrace our previous values. 

For this current week our value is: ‘We are people who act with generosity and forgiveness. We believe in Teaching and Learning for the whole person’. This is a foundation block of what we strive to do at the school and is a very powerful and important value. When applied to a school environment the value draws our attention to the ‘Whole Person’ being our students and the belief that through generosity and forgiveness from all parties that they will grow and develop cognitively, physically and spiritually. Our aim as a Catholic Secondary College community is to prepare students in a such a way that when they complete their education experience they are equipped to take on the next level of learning, be it vocational and (or) tertiary, physical and (or) spiritual. 

But rather than applying this to a school community environment, how would things look if this was applied on a larger scale. Last newsletter in Faith Matters we were asked to imagine a world where kindness is the expected norm, where people lead with compassion and empathy, they respect each other and choose to be nice every day, everywhere and with everyone. What if generosity and forgiveness were the norm?

It seems to me, that over the past two and a half years and in particular the last seven months that the world (in general) has lost focus. In a relatively short time, political, environmental, social, medical and economic issues have amplified to levels not previously experienced. In my opinion, how this has eventuated is irrelevant. More importantly, it is how we get past it.

Values such as generosity and forgiveness are key to help us move forward. In the Bible there are countless examples of these values and how they repair relationships. The message is simple, if you live the values of generosity and forgiveness you, as a whole person, will learn and develop and in turn teach others. St Mary MacKillop lived these values and is quoted as saying: ‘Remember that no one on this earth is perfect’ 1890 and ‘God loves generous souls. Let us try to be the generous ones’ 1881.

If the staff of St Mary MacKillop College can undertake the weekly activity of acknowledging a particular value, surely it is not too much of an ask for our world leaders to be the ‘generous ones’ and do the same to make the world a better place. 

I may be being a bit philosophical but I have faith things will get better.