Mission Report

by Assistant Principal -Mission and Identity, Mr Geoff Brodie

May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. (Rom 15:33)

Welcome to this new school year, especially to our new families. May this first week be the memory of the next exciting stage in your son’s growth in wisdom, knowledge, and love.

There are many ways to mark the growth of our young men. May I suggest three for your prayerful consideration. First, there is growth in the love of the family, the first school of the human heart. It is natural for a young child to focus on their own needs and wants, but as they come to know the love of their family, they recognise their capacity to respond to the needs of others. In fact, it does not take long to realise that their contribution to the peace and joy of their family is a true source of their own peace and joy. To be a member of a family is not to be an individual, but to be a relationship. In the family, the boy learns that he is loved, and this is the foundation of all growth.

Secondly, the young soul moves from the family into the wider world to experience the freedom and responsibilities of one’s community. The school plays an integral part in the expansion of the student’s horizon to include the questions of social life. Indeed, every offering in the school curriculum is properly seen as an invitation into the knowledge and responsibilities of one’s community. It is vital that each of us feels a valued member of a good and just community.

Thirdly, there is the love of God. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? … we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:31-2, 38-8). To know we are loved by God is the first and last thing in this life.

St Patrick’s College is a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice Tradition. We express our love of family, community, and God through our Touchstones: Gospel Spirituality, Justice and Solidarity, Liberating Education, and Inclusive Community. I invite you to read more about our Touchstones in the Charter of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA).

Finally, in his contribution to the Crest our Principal, Mr Steven O’Connor, reflects on a passage of St Paul which he has chosen to be a theme for this year. May I suggest that reflecting on Mr O’Connor’s words as a guide to reading the Touchstones is an excellent beginning to the adventures, hopes and challenges of this new school year.

May God bless our young men with the eternal joy that comes from growth in love.