Reconciliation Week

This week is Reconciliation Week. Our Social Justice team has acknowledged this time by organising a prayer for the school bulletin each morning. The prayers will focus on the great contribution the indigenous community has made to the cultural life of Australia. The Year 9's will be taking a closer look at Aboriginal spirituality in their term 3 Religious Education unit `God in Australia’.

The image above was taken at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival where our 11 student representatives had the opportunity to hear from Aboriginal elders about the significant link between Aboriginal spirituality and our own Catholic Faith.

My COVID-19 Mountain

When students return to school next week the first action they will do when they meet with there PC group, will be to reflect on their COVID-19 experience. The students will share and document what they have learned through their 10 weeks in isolation. This time has been difficult but also a great time for reflection. The following is an excerpt from Tuesday's activity.

"Imagine that the last ten weeks of dealing with COVID-19 is like walking through a mountain range. This journey was unexpected and one we did not choose. It began with a steep curve where we had to learn new skills and ultimately discovered in ourselves an ability to adapt to change. At times, the journey through our COVID mountain was tough and at times we would feel quite alone. As we persisted through the terrain, we reached a peak where we could see clearly all the territory that we had covered. At the top of the mountain there is great clarity and we can see so much further than what we could see at the beginning of our journey. Now that we are returning to our CRC St Albans community, we know that the journey through the mountains has not ended and that there will be other mountains to climb as we adapt to our new ‘normal'.
Jesus saw the crowds.

So he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them. Matthew 5:1-2

Mountains were significant places for Jesus and featured in many gospel stories. In Matthew's Gospel on the top of Mount Sinai Jesus delivered the Beatitudes, which were his key teaching to his followers at that time. The Beatitudes present a challenge of living a life of humility and strength, a necessary message for every age."