Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
Faith and Mission at Santa Sabina in 2025
Finding Hope in our community
The 2025 academic year has begun with lots of excitement and new beginnings over the past few weeks and this has certainly been the case in the area of Faith and Mission at the College. Our opening Masses for students were attended by parents this year and it was wonderful to see some of our families at each of these Masses.
As we begin the Jubilee Year of Hope across the globe, our opening Masses, prayers and Liturgies all focused on this concept of living hopefully. This year, we join Catholics around the world who will be guided by the wisdom that the cultivation of hope is not about telling our students or ourselves that everything will be alright, that nothing bad will happen. It is about accepting that things are not always as we would like or want them to be BUT there is a way to find happiness, contentment and success in the life we find ourselves in.
The hope we want to embrace this year is not a sentence starter… I hope that I can go on an overseas holiday. I hope… that I win the lottery. I hope….that I win my Basketball final. Hope as a Christian value is a stand alone word – it is trust, faith and confidence that God holds our best interests in his heart. When we stand in hope we stand together in the knowledge there is a purposeful future ahead – that is the one thing we can be sure of.
Our Student Leaders are also confident their leadership year of hope will lead to greater unity in our community. In our leadership teams in Year 4, Year 6 and Year 12 this goal of strengthening community through the lens of hope will be seen in many practical ways. You can read elsewhere about the Love Week initiatives that promoted connection and community throughout the Secondary Campus last week.
Growth in community and connection was also achieved as our Year 4 students undertook a leadership day in preparation to elect leaders for the P-4 campus. Gioia House students have also explored the concept of leadership and our Senior Leadership Team members in Year 12 have shared some of their experiences and wisdom with our younger students.
Interaction and connection have also been in focus for a number of year groups across the College. Years 3 and 5 students have taken part in interaction activities to foster new friendships and encourage cohesion and tolerance. Our Year 7 students also participated in a Community Building and Interaction day on Friday 14 February. This day had spiritual development as its focus and our Year 7 students were able to explore community in all its forms, including our Dominican community and heritage.
The Mission Team at the College is looking forward to a year of liturgical and spiritual experiences and events that involve our entire community in strengthening and deepening their faith.
Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
