Boarding News

Dear Parents and Friends,

With only three weeks left in the term, there is now plenty of focus on exam preparation for Year 7 – 9, Year 10 boys will be heading off on work experience and then onto camp, Year 11 have commenced their HSC study programs. With all this activity, the boys will be kept occupied and engaged right till the end of the year. A reminder that at the conclusion of Term 4 all boys will need to be picked up with all their belongings so that rooms can be prepared over the summer. Families that can make the 9:00am Christmas Mass can take their sons home after that. Otherwise houses will open again at 2:30pm that afternoon.

The summer sport season has been a great success, especially from a participation perspective. Just a few years ago we did not have a cricket option and this season we have been fortunate to have a Senior and Junior cricket team playing in competitions. It is good to see more boys actively involved in summer sport options. For those not doing basketball and cricket we have started to develop a more comprehensive fitness program as well.

As the season of Advent approaches, we come to reflect on the extraordinary miracle of Christmas and what Christians believe to be the most defining moment in human history. At the bottom of my newsletter each fortnight I sign off with the Latin words ‘Ad Jesum per Mariam’. This translates as ‘To Jesus, through Mary’ and is linked directly with the first miracle of Jesus at Cana.

The idea that we come to know Jesus, through Mary, lies at the heart of Marian spirituality and it is therefore one of the cornerstones of a Marist education. Mary is the vessel through which God directly intervenes in our lives. In this extraordinary moment, God offered us the ultimate expression of his love for humanity, to become truly human, to connect, to reach across the void - so wonderfully represented in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting. At the centre of the ceiling you can see Adam (mankind) nonchalantly reaching towards God. In contrast, God is stretching to his limit to make contact with his creation.

The tiny gap between the fingertips demonstrates how close we are and yet, it represents an enormous chasm that can separate us from our creator, God. It is Mary who helps us bridge that gap. It is her willingness to accept God’s plan for her life and indeed for all of humanity that we in turn can come to know our God. All we have to do is ‘lift a finger’. All of us can be like Michelangelo’s Adam. We get tired, despondent, complacent. We can feel indifferent, not be bothered or just not make the time to simply reach out, perhaps to someone in need.

We are fortunate here at St Greg’s to be part of a community where people regularly ‘reach out’ to others in need. Staff are generous with their time and expertise; parents make an enormous contribution through volunteering and students complete many hours of community service. Aside from these obvious examples, it is the small human gestures that perhaps matter most. A look, a smile, a helping hand, a listening ear. It was Mary who paid attention to such needs in the people she encountered. At the wedding in Cana, at the foot of the cross and in the upper room following Jesus’ death, she is there, attentive, caring deeply, despite her own suffering. Her trust in God’s plan and her willingness to say yes is what makes Jesus humanity possible and it is her example which shows us how to be truly human. To Jesus, through Mary. Hail Mary, full of grace!

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Max Spencer

Director of Boarding

Fingal House feature.....