Director of Mission and Pastoral Care P-12

‘There are many parts, but one body.’ (1 Corinthians 12:31)

In our Year 5-12 Assembly today we definitely celebrated our unity in community as we were introduced to the new Student Leadership Team who will lead our school for the next twelve months. The Scripture reading from Corinthians was chosen in order to allow us to consider the notion of unity in diversity and how this concept underlies the Christian message that we are all designed in the image of God.

A Reading from the Book of Corinthians (1Corinthians 12:12-31)

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The following reflection was offered to our students after today’s reading:

This reading from Corinthians, like so many of the messages we find in our Christian scriptures, is glorifying the dignity of all human persons. St Paul is reminding us not to confuse unity with uniformity. He tells us to love not just those neighbours who are like us but that we should embrace our neighbours in all their diversity. In fact it is the diversity that is the gift of unity, a gift that forms us and which means that we belong to each other as a unique and unified group. The gifts of all members of our community are equally valued and needed – no one person is worth more or less than any other. At Santa we are a Catholic, Dominican community and as such we respect the dignity of all.

When we fail to embrace the unique dignity of each person our community becomes less about unity and more about uniformity. When we make a homophobic or transphobic slur against another student or group of students we weaken our collective unity by expecting everyone to be just like us and if they are not then we think it is OK to discriminate and insult. It is not!  When we practice subtle or overt racism in our attitudes and words then we weaken our collective unity because we think it is OK to degrade and offend. It is not!  Sexual orientation, gender identity, race and culture are not factors used to measure our dignity as a person. Our Catholic Catechism tells us that these elements are irrelevant to a God who has made us all equally in his own design. 

In today’s reading from Corinthians it is a pleasure to be reminded that we are more alike than we are different. As a school we ask that each of you choose not to let difference and opposition define who we are but to let diversity and variety unite us.

Our Dominican pillar of Community has inclusivity at its core, and we will continue to promote this value in all facets of school life. We appreciate the support of all families with our endeavours in this area. 

RU OK Day 2022

The mental health initiative RU OK Day is coming up on 8 September and will be marked across the College throughout that week. Students will be involved in class and Homeroom activities, it will be celebrated at the Del Monte assembly that week and we will have students from Yr 10 leading activities and initiatives on Friday 8 September with classes at Del Monte. Our staff will be able to experience a taster of a Pastoral Care session from the different campuses and join together for an RU OK afternoon tea. We encourage all members of our community to wear a splash of yellow on Friday 8 September to mark this important initiative.

Melanie van der Meer
Director of Mission and Identity