Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

“I have made you a light for the nations” Acts 13:47

As I read the above quote from this Sunday’s first reading, I was conscious of contemplating the meaning of a number of the key words. The “I” in this quote is quite particularly referring to God, who has the power over us and constantly gives us the strength to do good for those around us and within a troubled world. The “you” in this quote obviously refers to each one of us who may be reading or listening to the word of God. Each one of us is capable of this good and sharing it as a gift from God is the way that we honour Him and ourselves. The notion of “light” constantly repeats in the various gospels and readings that we hear at mass on Sundays. Light by its nature is at its most effective when it can be seen by others and is able to illuminate the darkness around it. In thinking about all of this together this one small quote from the first reading of the Acts of the Apostles, quite clearly reflects the fact that with the help of a loving God, each one of us is able to spread goodness and illuminate the darkness around us.

As always the gospels and readings from Mass seem to make a significant connection to the context of what is happening around us in the world. This particular quote links beautifully back to the secular celebration from this weekend where we acknowledge and give thanks for the mothers in our lives. This Sunday being Mother's Day, provides us with an opportunity to reflect on how that special person in our life helps to illuminate the darkness that may be around us. As God is present in all of us may we reflect this weekend on our own mothers and how they are a special gift from God to help us to see where we are going and what goodness lies ahead. I wish all mothers a very happy day this weekend, and pray for blessings on mothers - both those who are with us and those who may have already gone to eternal life.

Over the last three days our year 12 students have been experiencing their senior retreat. This was a retreat which was meant to occur at the start of term four last year, however, was not able to continue due to concerns around COVID. Our students went to three separate sites and were accompanied by a large number of staff who travelled the journey of retreat with them. Retreats are an opportunity for us to withdraw from our daily lives and to spend some time in spiritual reflection looking at our purpose and the way that God accompanies us. By all reports our senior students experienced some meaningful and valuable time and it allowed them to reflect on their own journey with, and toward, God. I thank all staff who gave of their own time to be with the students, and particularly for parents who have supported your children in this journey not only over the past few weeks, but also over the many years of your child's life.

On Tuesday May 24, Week 5, we will be holding our next Parents and Friends’ meeting at the College. This will be our normal mid-term meeting, and once again I invite all parents to join us. Following the Annual General Meeting in term 1, there will be an opportunity to nominate for president or P&F treasurer for 2022. The P&F is an extremely valuable consultative and supportive body essential to the effective running of a school. I encourage all parents to attend on this evening and look forward to you joining us.

In the next few weeks, we will be inviting parents, students and staff to participate in our Tell Them From ME survey. This is an opportunity to give the College some feedback on what we do and how well we do it. It forms an important part of our self-evaluation loop and will assist us in developing our School Improvement Plans for the next four years. I ask you to be aware when this opens and encourage all members of our community to provide us with your thoughts.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio

Principal