From the Religious Education Coordinator

Celebrating Foundress Day Mass 

The anniversary of the death of Jeanne-Marie Chavoin, Foundress of the Marist Sisters is on 30 June. This year our Foundress Day Mass was celebrated at St Mary’s Cathedral. As Dr Ireland and Ms Alvarez mentioned in their articles, we thanked our Student Leaders 2021/2022 and blessed the Student Leaders 2022/2023. Please see Dr Ireland’s article for a list of our new student leaders. We were joined by representatives from the Marist Sisters and Sydney Catholic Schools. We remembered with gratitude Jeanne-Marie’s simple faith, her faith in God, her love of Mary and her compassionate outreach to those in need. 

Thank you to Mrs Caroline Marsh who, with the forty three voice strong College Choir, led the College in the singing. 

Thank you to the students who generously had a ministry in the Mass. Fr Jean-Claude Colin challenged those who joined the Marists to ‘Think as Mary, Judge as Mary, Feel and Act as Mary.’ That is still our challenge today at Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich in all that we do and undertake. 

Year 12 Mass 

Year 12 celebrated the Mass in Community Time on 22 June. Fr Brian Wilson, Parish Priest of Holy Name of Mary Hunters Hill, challenged the students to look ahead and to use their gifts.

Thank you to the students who enhanced the celebration through sharing their gifts – Annabel Femia who played the piano and Chelsea, Jacinta, Anne-Marie, Arianna, Vivica, Caitlin and Grace who took care to practice and then led the singing. Thank you Claudia, Ava and Natasha for serving on the altar and to Danielle, Cindy, Arianna, Ava and Emma for reading. It was a wonderful community celebration that ended with the joyous singing of the Presence of Mary.

St Therese Catholic Primary School Stage 2 Faith Retreat 

On Thursday 16 June 2022, we were gifted with the opportunity to attend the St Therese’s Catholic Primary School Denistone Stage 2 Faith Retreat, alongside two students from Marist College Eastwood. We travelled with the Stage 2 students to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney, where we reflected on the theme ‘God’s Beauty in All Creation’ during the Creation tour. The faith retreat focused on identifying God in our surroundings, and the students were able to refine their skills in recognising the characteristics of being a ‘Steward of Creation’. As student leaders, we explained the meaning of the Parable of the Growing Seed (Mark 4: 26-29), as well as leading a small group in praying The Angelus. The St Therese students also reflected on the Sydney Catholic Schools theme, ‘Share the Good News of Joy.’ We had a fantastic time sharing our knowledge and faith with the children of St Therese, and we are extremely grateful for being provided with this experience.

Isabelle Mourani and Katelyn Lopes, Students

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2