In this week’s Gospel, Luke (15: 1-32) gives us three stories of loss. The first is the shepherd who loses one of his sheep, the second is a woman who loses a valuable coin and the third is a father who loses the presence of his son (the prodigal son). In each story, the main character rejoices and celebrates when that which was lost is again restored to them. We will often focus on the third story, that of the prodigal son, when we hear this gospel. That is perhaps because this story is more about a relationship of love between two people which has been broken. This relationship is restored albeit in a different way, when the son returns to his father’s home. One of the main points in this reading is the fact that when the son returns home, his father does not wait for him to arrive and then chastise him, rather, the father “ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly”. The father not only forgave the son, but it is apparent that he would always be welcome there. Our relationship with God may sometimes reflect the fact that we are lost and may need the time to decide to return home and it is exciting to know that we will always be welcomed back into God’s loving arms.

On Wednesday evening we held our final Year 12 Parent/Teacher/Student evening for 2022. Whilst the attendance at these events can always be stronger, the commitment of the staff was shown through their willingness to be available and take the opportunity to feedback areas where students may be able to improve in the short time between now and the higher School Certificate exams. This feedback is vital in giving our students every possibility of achieving excellence in whatever form that may take. Thank you to the staff who gave up their evening and to the students and parents who were able to attend.

As an indication that we are starting to return to pre-COVID activities, over the last week, as well as students attending the LIVE event, we also had representatives attend the St Gregory’s feast day, the launch of the Bishop’s Social Justice statement and staff at the National Catholic Education Commission Conference. We will also be sending representatives to the launch of Catholic Mission month next week. It is lovely to see we are able to return to some of our local connections and give students opportunities to represent the College.

Next Wednesday, we will host another of our Year 7 Parent Literacy Engagement evenings. These evenings are a recognition that parents play a vital and valuable part in the achievement of their children and any way that we are able to support this will be beneficial. It is also partly a response to survey results from earlier in the year where parents requested more opportunities to engage in the community and come into the College. Thank you to Mrs Murphy and Mrs Hutchen for your organisation and delivery of this evening.

Finally, next week our Year 11 students will begin their Preliminary Course final examinations. These are an opportunity for them to experience the format of exams similar to those conditions they will face in the HSC. Whilst some students will be anxious about these, in the past, students have said they benefitted greatly from the skills they built, and this made the HSC that little bit easier. I generally do not wish students luck as this does not play a factor for those who are well prepared, but I do extend to them all our best wishes.

Ite in Veritate

In reading Wilson’s memoir, I was reminded of a comment from the English writer Mark Haddon: ‘Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.’ It was apparent as I was reading The Jane Austen Remedy, that novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion have done just that for Ruth Wilson. I found myself considering the question, How does a good book listen? What makes a book establish a dialogic relationship where the reader feels recognised, connected, and heard? Then I recalled a response written by a Year 8 student some years ago now after he had read Gary Paulsen’s novel Hatchet. Stephen was quite a character who found school challenging. At the time of composition, I decided that the staff would benefit from reading Stephen’s response and I asked his permission to share it. Whilst he seemed surprised that anyone would want to read his writing, I knew he was secretly pleased.

“I find this story very interesting and here is why. It kind of tells you that you should pay attention in class, otherwise if something doesn’t go to plan, you’re stuffed. The book Hatchet leaves you with a lot of wondering such as what is going to happen next.

The main character, Brian, is very smart at times but dumb at other times. It is a great technique to make the character do something not too clever because it makes the reader think about their own stupid actions. It attracts them to the book much more also and is a great life lesson.

At times Brian could have chosen options a whole lot worse, too. Reading gives you a lot of adrenalin and your heart beats fast at times. This is when you feel really connected. Brian is as fast as a cheetah chasing its prey when he needs to get out of trouble and get some help.

I love the backstory. I put myself in his position and could see what I would do. Notice how he refers to his parents and their divorce. I think he knows something about his mother having an affair. That made me very sad.”

Stephen’s thoughts here should make us all appreciate the power of books to both ‘talk’ and ‘listen’.

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