The Gospel reading for this Sunday (John 6: 60-69) begins with a quote from the crowd; “This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?”. The question is in reference to the previous passage where Jesus spoke about His presence on earth as being the ‘bread from heaven’ (you may recall my newsletter a few weeks ago where I wrote of God’s gift of bread from heaven). The idea in the Christian faith, that a person must eat and drink from the Son of Man, is integral to these passages. For Christians generally, and Catholics in particular, we acknowledge that we must take Jesus in completely, in order to reach our full potential as good and worthy people. For some, this notion of complete surrender to Jesus and allowing Him to be fully part of all we do, is too much to accept. Over the last two years, the Leadership Team at the College have been reflecting on our vision and how this is lived in what we do. This manifests itself in the charism of the Marists (notions of simplicity, presence, family spirit, love of work and in the way of Mary) and the Carmelites (Marian spirituality, prayer, silence, solitude, asceticism and ministry) and how these lead us to Jesus’ message. The decision to take Jesus into our lives and live His message is not just ‘tolerable’, but necessary. 

Today I called for the whole College to undertake a ‘Breathe Day’. This fits in with the Marist theme for 2022 which is centred around the idea that breath is a basic essential to physical life but also to our own emotional and spiritual growth. Breathing is a simple process that often goes unthought of. It is something that we do without conscious acknowledgement but when we breathe deeply, it has the capacity to revitalise our whole being. Emotionally and spiritually, the opportunity to stop and take breath enables our minds to relax and also allows God to enter our lives. When we are able to remove the hustles and demands of everyday life, the silence can be the door that opens to God. In most of our lives, this opportunity is rarely presented, and I am sure that for many parents at home trying to work and look after children, this concept of stillness is difficult if not impossible. Today was an opportunity to enable students to stop and catch breath. It hopefully also provided some respite to parents from having to monitor your child’s work (at least for a short time). Whilst this is obviously not always possible, I hope that you have had some benefit from this day. Depending on how long our current lockdown continues, we will evaluate this Breathe Day and make a decision whether it is worth including again at a later date. Please feel free to email the College with your thoughts.

Over the next few weeks, Year 11 will begin the process of electing the Senior Representative Council (SRC). This is one of those processes that is important to continue even through remote learning as it ensures a continuation of student voice and involvement in the decisions of the College. Over the last two years, the SRC has had limitations on how it functioned, however, the discussions in this forum and the regular meetings I have with the College Captains and Vice-Captains have been invaluable. For all parents of Years 7 – 11 students, please discuss with your child how they might be leaders within their own groups and our community more generally. For Year 11 parents, please discuss how your child’s choices will reflect and impact them in 2022. I congratulate all our Year 11 students who are completing their final stages of the Preliminary course and are beginning the move into the role as the senior class at the College.

As always, a very big thank you to the staff, students and parents for your flexibility and ongoing support during remote learning.