From the Principal
Pentecost and National Reconciliation Week
Last Sunday, we celebrated the feast of Pentecost and this past week has been National Reconciliation Week. Pentecost, Greek for ‘50th day’, is the birthday of the Church and is celebrated by Christians 50 days after Easter. It marks the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles following Jesus’ resurrection.
From the first Pentecost and perhaps our own experience we know that the Spirit works in both unpredictable and ordinary ways. In his homily, last Sunday, Fr Richard Leonard SJ, linked Pentecost to National Reconciliation Week saying that we often see the movement of the Holy Spirit retrospectively. National Reconciliation Week marks “Sorry Day”, Wednesday 26 May, by remembering and acknowledging the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, which we now know as ‘The Stolen Generations’.
Thursday 27 May observes the Anniversary of the white Australian vote to include black Australians in the census. Up until then, indigenous people had the right to fight for Australia in war, as numbers of them had done, but they were not counted among the citizens of the country for which they died. Most black and white Australians had hoped that that vote would bring development and justice for indigenous Australians. Sadly, this is not the case and we have not achieved anywhere near what we wanted.
Fr Richard continued his homily saying that Pentecost holds the key to overcoming the obstacles in our way forward. The first Pentecost tells us that the gifts received by the apostles on that day were the gifts of ‘speaking in tongues’ as well as ‘listening with the ear’. So, through the Pentecost message we need to listen before we speak. Right now, we need to listen to the needs of the indigenous and be as hospitable to others as the Holy Spirit is to us. The gift of ‘tongues’ works best with the gift of ‘ears’, both speaking and listening, so that we all work for justice for all.
200 Years of Catholic Education Celebrations
On Monday, Miss Kleist (REC) and myself, with four students, represented the College at the 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. Thank you to Sofia, Kaia, Isabelle and Danielle for joining us. This important celebration of all schools in the Sydney Archdiocese acknowledges the many religious charisms that began our schools. For us at Marist Sisters’ College, we recognise the significant contribution of the Marist Sisters, their tenacity and dedication to the education of young women. It was their determination and drive ‘to move with the times’ that enabled the College to flourish. This has enabled the dedicated teaching and support staff who work at MSCW today to continue ‘to move with the times’ to support, challenge and meet the needs of our Marist girls.
The Clancy Prize
This theme of “200 Years of Catholic Education” was continued at the Clancy Religious Art Exhibition last Friday night. Congratulations to our Year 9 Photographic and Digital Media students who won the Packing Room Prize with their work “Marist in Name and Nature”.
Adventures in ‘Maristland’
Year 7 certainly experienced many adventures as they tackled the Goliath Swing, Vertical Cluster, Survivor and Archery, just to name a few of the activities on the recent Year 7 camp. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and daring shown…only a few nerves…..of my group: “The Queen of Hearts”. The naming of the groups was in keeping with my “Alice in Maristland” theme and challenge that I put to Year 7 as incoming Marist girls at Orientation last year. Our “Queen of Hearts” guide Lachie, lying in front of the group, see the photo below, was very experienced in steering the group through the challenges. The girls would say, “his bad Dad jokes” added to the fun!
I thoroughly enjoyed being with the girls and seeing them encourage each other. I saw a real sense of acceptance, care and understanding as girls who experience difficulty were supported by others. I heard comments: “You can do it. Just go a little higher” or “Great shot. You nearly hit the bullseye” or while competing in the survivor challenge, “Just lie on your stomach and you won’t flip. That’s it, you are nearly there”. Each of these comments and more added to the teamwork and ‘sisters for Life’ attitude needed to get the job done and for girls to achieve their personal best. Our two Survivor teams, seen below, would give the TV Survivor teams a real challenge!
I particularly enjoyed seeing the girls reach the heights in the Vertical Challenge. As you can see from the photos, for some a real struggle to climb higher but a real sense of achievement when they reached the top. The helmets a new fashion accessory!
Archery, a little closer to the ground, was a game of skill and a little tougher than first thought. Nonetheless…lots of fun.
The hardest of all, the Goliath Swing, really tested their courage.
Well done girls!
