Dean of Mission – Marg Marriott
Our OLM community joined with St Aloysius Primary School, St Aloysius College and St Francis De Sales for the Combined Schools celebration of the Centenary of St Aloysius Parish on Friday 8 November. Fr James McCarthy celebrated the Mass and our Vocal Ensemble contributed beautiful music to add to the joint commemoration of such an historic moment in the history of the parish.
The inaugural Senior Retreat was held at Benedict XVI Retreat Centre recently and was a powerful celebration of our young Mercy Women of Heart. The theme was: We are Mercy Women of Heart:
Loved, Worthy, Courageous, Hopeful, trusting, connected and authentic.
As OLM: A Mercy community reflecting the Heart of Jesus in the world, we made our way through an exploration of the Journey of the Heart, the Heart in the World, the Heart and God and the Heart Dreams. The second day we reflected Mercy leadership and the Authentic Heart. It was an intense couple of days with a beautiful Communion Service led by Amelia Buhagiar and Sofia von der Hocht who undertook their training for ministry as ExtraOrdinary Ministers of Holy Communion last year. We were incredibly proud of them both as we witnessed students ministering to each other and staff.
Four Year 12 students participated in the The Archbishop’s Leadership Forum last week at St Mary’s Cathedral and the Cathedral Hall. His Grace was keen to listen to the voices of our young women and address some of their questions.
It was a proud moment to speak to our upcoming student leaders last week at the Training Day for Peer Support leaders from Year 9. These courageous young women nominated themselves for service to our incoming Year 7 Cohort for 2025. The current leaders from Year 10 have done a wonderful job in not only welcoming the Year 7 students but also facilitating the Year 7 Reflection Day.
The Year 9 Reflection Day was held at the College on Friday 22nd November. We focussed on sustainable living and hosted presenters from Sydney Catholic Schools and our local Vinnies Representatives from Cronulla Parish, John and Imelda O’Neil.
OLM is proud to support our local Cronulla Vinnies Christmas Appeal and we are having a Christmas themed Mufti Day on Wednesday 4 December. As this is such a significant source of funds for the purchase of gift cards for those in need at Christmas, we ask that you consider donating $5 if possible, rather than a $2 gold coin as we know that cost pressures are really impacting those most in need at this time.
In 2025 the College continues its volunteer program with One Meal Miranda. Students need to be supported by a parent for the service of food to clients at the Salvation Army Hall Miranda from 4:30pm – 5:45pm on a designated Tuesday. Participants need to complete an Application Form which requires a Working with Children Number. Please make a copy, complete it and return it to me at the address below. Previous participants do not need to complete the form again as we have them on file.
In 2023 and 2024, the program was incredibly powerful especially to have students, parents and staff working together to serve those in need. The participants were very grateful for the opportunity to be of service in the Mercy tradition.
The possible dates for 2025 if you would like to be involved are:
20 May
29 July
21 October
Thank you for your continued support.
Marg Marriott, Dean of Mission