Religious Education Coordinator – Ian Anderson
Year 7 Incursion
In facilitating our Year 7 students’ introduction to a Mercy school and the Mercy Charism, our students had the opportunity to see a production of the life of Catherine McAuley. This was a worthwhile experience for all the girls, especially the question and answer time, where the actors, still in character, allowed the girls to ask questions and gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of our Mercy Values. The girls also had time on the day to practice their singing for the upcoming Year 12 Graduation.
Camino of St Joseph
Each year the Archdiocese of Sydney coordinates the running of the Camino of St Joseph. This Camino is designed for men as St Joseph is the patron saint of men, husbands and fathers. Usually held near the feast day of St Joseph in March, it was moved this year to be near Father’s Day.
This year, and for the first time, the Camino of St Joseph was held in our local area. Men walked throughout the night from St Joseph’s Parish, Como to St Aloysius, Cronulla. Along the way the men stopped at the various Churches to pray. Leaving at 8pm, they arrived at St Aloysius, 7am for Mass and breakfast.
Four of our wonderful students elected to assist Fr James and the parish of St Aloysius with preparing and serving breakfast to the 1100 men who took part in the pilgrimage. Isabella Antoon (Year 9), Alejandra McKinnon (Year 9), Cyan McKinnon (Year 11) and Olivia Middlemiss (Year 11) met early in the morning at St Aloysius primary school and worked tirelessly to prepare breakfast. Their contribution to the event made the pilgrimage very special to all involved.
Canonisation of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati
Last week after many delays, the Church canonised two new saints, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlos Acutis. Pier Frassati was an Italian man who entered eternal life in 1925. Most remembered for his tireless work in social justice. He went further than just charity, and once said, “Charity is not enough; we need social reform”. From this he established a newspaper built on the foundations of the Catholic Social Teachings. While he took no vocation of priesthood or marriage, he dedicated his life, serving as a third order Dominican (lay person united to the Dominican Order).
Carlos Acutis, known as the first Millennial Saint passed into eternal life in 2006, aged only 15. Born in England and moving to Italy with his family as a baby, he would be regarded as your ordinary teenage boy. He loved his soccer, his video games and his family. While he was an only child, his parents gave birth to his twin sisters after his passing in 2010.
Carlos came to the faith by himself and developed a deep devotion to the Eucharist. He would say to his friends and family, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we become like Jesus”. He would spend hours before the sacrament in adoration and his devotion brought his family and friends to the faith. Upon developing Leukemia, Carlos created a website that details all the Eucharistic miracles of our church for the last 2000 years. You can find his website here at https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/
Religious Education Coordinator – Ian Anderson