QUICKLINKS
QUICKLINKS
QUICKLINKS
The Faith and Mission team of the college would like to wish all members of our community a happy and blessed Easter. In the coming days we acknowledge our Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters will be celebrating Easter too, and that in recent months our Muslim brothers and sisters have finished their Ramadan observance and celebrated Eid al-Fitr. It has truly been a busy time from a faith perspective in our community.
In recent weeks our Year 12 students have completed their Year 12 Retreat. Every year we create a unique community experience for them away from the busyness of VCE studies and family pressures to reconnect with themselves, their friends and God. Over those days and nights we engaged in prayer, games, discussions, walks and adventures, and deep sharing. In their own words it was a time of reflecting and opening up, their highlights included:
“The time given to open and understand what your peers are going through. It gives you a different perspective of others and a sense of maturity. You come to the realization that you should genuinely just live your life whilst trusting God. Everyone has their own personal problems and there's always someone going through worse than you. If they can push that aside and thrive through their days, so can you.”
“Seeing everyone be themselves. There’s always this social pressure in high school that expects us to act or present ourselves a certain way. However, in retreat, it was very refreshing to see everyone as their true and raw selves. I felt more comfortable being around my peers.”
“Hearing the different stories from my peers and teachers really changed how I viewed them. I feel like hearing their experiences made me recognise my own experiences and emotions.”
The Year 12 retreat represents the pinnacle of our reflection day program across years 7-12 and has gifted our senior students a time of quietness and happiness together, and in the words of one astute year 12 student the year level feels a lot kinder now.
This kindness and charity towards one another has also been expressed tangibly through our recent fundraising campaigns. In Term 1 our Vinnies Social Justice Committee led the college in the Caritas Project Compassion appeal. During this time we raised over $4,500 for local and international aid and development programs. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Caritas’ work in the world, to celebrate they have asked us to share this opportunity with you:
To mark the 60th anniversary of Caritas Australia, we have compiled a selection of our favourite 60 photos. Vote for your favourite photo to go into the draw to win a beautiful Indigenous Australian artwork from Djilpin Arts, our First Australian partner in the Northern Territory. The artwork is a painting by Harry Malibirr which depicts five dreaming stories. Simply visit their website caritas.org.au/faces-of-caritas-australia-60th-anniversary, choose a photo from the gallery and vote via the online form (entries close 30 June 2024).
Looking forward to the remainder of the term our Christian community will celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This also marks a return to ordinary time, which feels apt as we focus our energies on returning to the normal rhythms and routines of a school year. Term 1 was punctuated with the mourning for our late principal Robert Brennan and the reflective period of Lent and Easter. May our Term 2 efforts reflect the optimism and resilience that is so natural to our community as we strive in the light of the Easter promise to live new lives of hope, joy and love.
Tristan O'Brien
Deputy Principal (Faith and Mission)
