Catholic Identity & Mission News

St. Peter's Day

This Tuesday is St. Peter’s Day – a very special day on our College calendar when we celebrate our College Patron, St. Peter.

St. Peter was a humble fisherman and one of the first that Jesus called to discipleship. He had been known as Simon Peter but Jesus usually referred to him as just Peter, a name that means ‘rock’ in Greek. Later, Peter was entrusted with being the ‘rock’ on which Jesus would build his church. 

Peter was a faithful and enthusiastic disciple and was often keen to engage with Jesus – to answer his questions or volunteer for something. But Peter wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination! He could get it wrong and misunderstand Jesus, or worse, think he knew better than Jesus! Jesus had to sometimes put Peter in his place and correct him. For us, that just makes Peter more relatable – someone who had the best intentions but like all of us, didn’t always get it right. But Peter kept trying to live his faith fearlessly – he listened to Jesus, learned from him, and then put these lessons into practice in his life. It qualified him to urge everyone to ‘therefore, prepare your minds for action’, which is our College theme this year. 

For Peter, his ‘therefore’ was Jesus. Because he believed in Jesus, he knew that his life had to be active in spreading the Good News to all creation. At St. Peter’s College, we continue to urge our students to consider what their ‘therefore’ is – what motivates and inspires them? What actions can they take to fulfill their education and their God-given potential? 

As we conclude Term 2, we look forward to events in Term 3 that we hope will allow staff and students some time, space, and opportunity to consider these important ‘therefore’ questions. In July, all Year 10’s will participate in their Reflection Days; Year 10, 11 and 12 students are invited to attend the Winter Sleep outs on 5 August; and staff will have their annual Staff Spirituality Day on 12 August. We are also delighted to welcome Bishop Greg Bennet back to the College for two days in mid-August to spend time with all our Year 8 students as they explore issues of social justice. 

But first, we’ll celebrate St. Peter and the many blessings we experience in our community of St. Peter’s College, and I hope that all will have a very happy St. Peter’s Day! 

Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal - Catholic Identity & Mission