{"id":13092,"date":"2023-11-03T02:04:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T02:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/?post_type=article&#038;p=13092"},"modified":"2023-11-03T03:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T03:09:46","slug":"principals-message-34","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/article\/principals-message-34\/","title":{"rendered":"Principal&#8217;s Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This last fortnight, the world\u2019s attention has continued to focus on the escalating nightmare that is the conflict between Hamas and Israel. We speak of the thousands of innocent victims caught up in the fight with families forced to flee from their homes, the sick and infirm unprotected as bombs rain on hospitals, and children who will be traumatised for life, terrorised by the sounds of buildings crashing around them, sirens blasting and bombs exploding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the places that I was fortunate enough to visit during my pilgrimage earlier this year was a little school called The Holy Child Program located in Bethlehem. This is a very small school for children with special needs that require an alternative setting. As you can read in the poster below, some of this need is literacy and numeracy but there is also a need for support as a result of mental health and trauma rehabilitation. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fees to attend are very modest. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unfortunately, as a result of the conflict, many parents are no longer in a financial position to send their children to this school and the school\u2019s source of funds has disappeared. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This children at this small school welcomed us with open, unquestioning arms, as only innocent young children can do. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">St Ursula\u2019s is renowned for its big-heartedness and generosity and I understand that some of our community are doing it tough with the cost of living but I ask each family to consider this prayer that I often find myself saying, \u201cThere but for the grace of God go I\u201d, and if you can support this beautiful community, the invitation to do so is <a href=\"https:\/\/holychildbethlehem.org\/support\/\">here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13155\" src=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/11\/image1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"736\" height=\"1018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/11\/image1.png 736w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/11\/image1-108x150.png 108w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And let our united thoughts and prayers join with Pope Francis:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cLet us continue to pray for Ukraine, <\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">as well as for the serious situation in Palestine and Israel,\u00a0<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and for other regions at war, <\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">particularly, in Gaza, may space be opened to guarantee humanitarian aid, <\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and may the hostages be released right away.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center\"><em> Let no one abandon the possibility that the weapons might be silenced<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> &#8212; let there be a ceasefire.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Catholic Reporter &#8211; 30 October 2023\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We live in such a wonderful country and St Ursula\u2019s is blessed in so many ways in its facilities and, most importantly, in its community &#8211; the staff, students and their families &#8211; and we give thanks to God for those blessings every day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><em><strong>A warm welcome to our new College Principal<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looking forward to 2024, we warmly welcomed Ms Vivienne Awad to the College last Monday where she met with the College Leadership Team and the staff and enjoyed a lively lunch with the young women who will be her 2024 Senior Student Leadership Team. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It augers well for a smooth transition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">God bless each and every one of you and keep you safe from harm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><em><strong>Mary Leask\u00a0<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><em><strong>Principal<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An invitation to support children in Bethlehem&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-13092","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/13092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/serviam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}