Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

In this week’s Gospel (Luke 16: 19-31) Jesus tells the story of the rich man who dies and goes to Hades. He then asks God to send a messenger (Lazarus) to earth to warn his brothers how their poor life will lead to damnation. Jesus clarifies that messengers have already been sent in the form of the prophets, so if the brothers will not listen to them, they will not listen to Lazarus. In this story, I am reminded of the message that I spoke to our students about at the last College Assembly. At this gathering, I showed the students some photos of my pilgrimage on the Camino in Spain and some of the tracks that I walked. On these tracks, there were sometimes forks where I needed to discern the correct path forward. In those photos, the way was unclear, but I then pointed out to the students that if they looked closely, there was a marker that showed the correct direction. Sometimes in life, we are required to look closely for the marker. Often, it is something very obvious when we take time to contemplate and discern. For Catholics, the marker is regularly provided by our faith in Jesus Christ and often right in front of us if we are open to looking. The Gospel message tells us that we have clear direction in the form of the teachings of Jesus, we just need to read and listen to them. 

This week our Year 11 students began their Preliminary examinations. These are an important marker on their journey for senior studies and help them to make a judgement about how they are learning. Whilst we use these markers regularly, they are not the purpose for learning. Learning is for growth and I have regularly encouraged the students to reflect on this and use this as their motivation. 

In the same way, our Year 12 students are coming to the end of their formal secondary education. Next Wednesday they will celebrate with a Mass in the morning officiated by Bishop Brian, with their graduation ceremony in the evening. After the holidays, they will then commence their Higher School Certificate examinations in week 1 of next term. I do not ever wish the students good luck, as this is not a factor. Excellence is achieved through planning and effort. I do however wish our students all the best in their preparation for their HSC and congratulate them on completing their senior studies.

Next week we begin the Term 3 holidays. I hope all have time to spend with families and take an opportunity to have a break from the normal routine. We will see you all in Term 4 in summer uniforms.