In this Sunday’s gospel, John 14: 15-21, Jesus talks of the way that He will be with us forever. In relation to the Father providing an advocate for us, He says “you know him, because he is with you, he is in you”. The Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) has been promised to accompany us at all times. He is with us and He is in us. Part of our role is to provide the environment where the Spirit can work through us to bring God to others. In this sense, we are each called to be bearers of Christ to those around us. Over the past four weeks I had the privilege of taking some long service leave to join members of the Marist community from across Australia and the Pacific on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Lyon in France which is the birthplace of St Marcellin Champagnat and the Marist Brothers. The pilgrimage gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own spiritual formation but also to gain a closer connection to the charism of St Marcellin and our College. Whilst visiting sacred sites such as the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and the Holy Sepulchre, I was able to reflect on the message of Jesus. In listening to a lecture on our faith and charism, there was one statement made by Br Michael Green that highlighted to me our message and goal. As is the message in this week’s Gospel, he said that the goal of all Mary-ists (Marists) is to be a bearer of Christ to others in the same way that Mary was a bearer of Jesus (in the Greek, she is referred to as Theotokos – God bearer). Our role is simple. We are to bear Christ to others.

This weekend, we celebrate Mothers’ Day. Whilst Mary was the physical bearer of Christ, she was also the bearer of His love and Him in a spiritual and a social sense. It was Mary, His mother, who brought Him to the world to be known. In the same way, our own mothers regularly bring a love that is reminiscent of Jesus’ love for us. Since ‘God is love’, we thank all mothers on this special day for being the bearer of Christ to us – our theotokos and we wish them a joyous and celebratory day.

Coming out of my pilgrimage, I would like to share two images that impacted me. The first is an image of the cross that rests on the edge of the Sea of Galilee and was at a spot where we celebrated the Mass. It shows the calm beauty of the resurrected Christ.

The second is a photo of the bedroom of St Marcellin Champagnat. It was a very powerful experience to sit in his room and read letters that he wrote whilst at his desk which was in the room next to me. This allowed me to get close to our founder but more so to his message that Christ is at the centre of what we do.

A big thank you to Mr Huntly, Mrs Meharg and the College Leadership Team for the extra work that they completed during my absence.

Today we have opened our annual survey (Tell Them From Me) where parents, students and staff are able to provide feedback on our school as a faith and learning community. This survey is open to staff and students via a login process, however, parents can simply access it Here. I request and encourage you to go online and answer this 10 minute anonymous survey so that we can guide our improvement plans moving forward and provide a better community.

On Tuesday May 23 week 5, we will be holding our next P&F meeting. This will commence at 7pm and will take place in room I3. I have invited Mrs Clare Murphy to make a small presentation on Literacy at Mount Carmel. As always, all parents are warmly invited and encouraged to come along and hear what is happening at the College.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio