Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care

We are all witnesses to Christ embracing his own cross

As Lent draws to a close, the end of the term also sees us on the cusp of marking the Easter Season in our families and in our Church communities. We will soon be marking the beginning of the most solemn period in the Liturgical year for the Catholic Church. We begin The Easter Triduum by celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, on Good Friday, we remember Jesus’ passion and death, and on Easter Sunday we joyously celebrate Jesus’ resurrection to new life. 

As the students of Del Monte, Gioia House and Santa Sabina prepare to take time with their families over the Easter Break, they will also gather to mark Holy Week with moving and engaging liturgies. These gatherings will be reflective of the disciples who gathered around Jesus in his final days.

Holy Week at Santa Sabina will serve to acknowledge Easter as a season of hope. We have been reminded that the ultimate resurrection message is to hold steadfast in our beliefs and allow no burden to defeat us as we play witness to Christ embracing his own cross.

May God surround us with gifts this Easter Season 
– the gift salvation, the gift of hope, the gift of joy.
May all who are gathered here find 
peace and goodwill in all that we do
May God bless and nourish us in the days ahead 
and may our actions reflect God’s love
May we truly become people of the Resurrection – 
seeking hope, speaking our faith, serving each other with joy
and May God bless us.

Happy Easter!

Please find below, reprinted here with permission of its author Jennfer Hickson the DEA Director of Mission and Formation, a reflection on Lent in our modern world. 

A Lenten App from the 13th Century

A couple of times this Lent I have heard preachers recommend the idea of taking some time, perhaps a day a week, to switch off the mobile phone to disconnect. To me, that suggestion does not sound like a Lenten penance but a blessed relief! Recently, I did a rough calculation of how many WhatsApp chats I belong to for my children’s school, sport and extracurricular activities… approximately ten. Ten different chats sending me messages (almost daily) about things like the time of netball training, when to bring in a gold coin for Project Compassion and what morning tea is needed for the next class Mass. It’s wonderful that children have the opportunity to be part of so many community activities but gone are the days of a parent receiving the paper newsletter once a week, with a diary in hand to note down important dates, as I remember my mother doing. This led me to think about the parents in our ministries and how they might be experiencing Lent this year. Are the invitations to almsgiving, fasting and prayer that the Church puts out to all disciples each Lent, even possible for the modern-day parent?

Traditionally, Lent is a time set apart before Easter so that one might grow deeper in their relationship with God. A time to let go of that which distracts us and embrace who God is calling us to be. So, what to make of WhatsApp – is it friend or foe on the journey of Lent? I suspect that switching off from WhatsApp isn’t really a viable option for parents of school aged children – no one wants their child turning up to school in school uniform on a Mufti Day! Granted, this example is rather trivial and perhaps unfairly misconstruing a good Lenten suggestion made by earnest preachers. Perhaps some wisdom from the Dominican tradition might help us get to the heart of the matter and assist us in thinking more critically about some of the technological tools that have colonised our daily lives.

One of the great thinkers of the Dominican tradition, Thomas Aquinas was considered an early adopter of technology, in as much as they had technology in the 13th century. He was skilled at adopting systems for preserving and advancing knowledge. His practices would have been cutting edge for his time, but he also had a profound sense of right ordering. He pondered goodness, virtue and which actions would lead one to live a flourishing, fulfilling life, directed towards one’s ultimate purpose – union with God. This rigour in thinking might lead us beyond simplistic dualistic responses to a deeper way of living and being. Aquinas knew that human excellence and virtue require patience, effort, sacrifice and time. Aquinas might encourage us to think about whether the technological tools we are using are leading us to goodness and truth not just convenience and efficiency. Perhaps discovering the application of Thomas’s wisdom in one’s own situation is just the Lenten App the modern-day parent needs. Who knows where it might lead? I’m sure St Thomas is hoping that it will lead to the joy and new life of Easter!  
Jennifer Hickson

Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care