You may be familiar with the expression: a family that prays together stays together. In this time of unrest and uncertainty in our world and our global family, and as we are about to commence Holy Week and prepare for the celebration of Easter, we might do well to take a prayerful pause, and allow ourselves to be still and in the presence of our God of mercy, praying for peace, love and compassion for all. Pope Leo XIV has continued the tradition of his predecessor by sharing monthly prayer intentions, which you can access here for the whole of this year. This month’s prayer intention is disarmament and peace, and so we are invited to join Pope Leo XIV and be united with all people of faith in prayer: ‘Let us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.’
We could also apply that expression to our OLMC community: a community that prays together stays together. Since the beginning of this year, our students have had numerous opportunities for liturgical and faith formation, including time for prayer in Pastoral and class, deeper learning in their study of Religious Education, and participation in our Opening Year School Mass, Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Year 7 Mass of Welcome, Year 7 Reflection Day, Cambodia Immersion Trip Preparation, Annual Mass of St. Patrick for Schools, Australasian Mercy Secondary Schools’ Association Conference and Stations of the Cross. We are very grateful to the many students who have supported us, whether as a member of our choir, musician, lector, usher, minister of the Eucharist, or as an active participant, and we encourage other students to join us and get involved next term. On our last day of this term, we will gather together as a whole school community for our Holy Thursday Liturgy, with a focus on our hands of mercy and service of one another, just as Jesus did, especially when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples during the Last Supper (cf. John 13:1-15).
The members of our Faith Animation and Social Justice student groups have been meeting on a regular basis to help plan our school liturgies, social justice activities, and other faith and mission-related initiatives. The members of our staff Ministry Team have also been gathering and collaborating to consider the ways in which we can continue to offer meaningful liturgical experiences and build on faith formation opportunities for our students.
As for our staff, some have availed themselves of professional learning (PL) opportunities in person or online, such as those offered through Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, Australian Catholic University, University of Notre Dame Australia, University of Divinity, Garratt Publishing and Teacher Learning Network. This week our Middle Leaders (staff with positions of leadership or areas of responsibility) have engaged in a PL session on Formation for Mission to understand the meaning of formation, mission and synodality, connect these key concepts with our Mercy story and OLMC context, and engage in spiritual conversations using the synodal process of listening, discernment and dialogue.
May I take this opportunity to wish all members of our OLMC community our Christian hope and joy in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a blessed Easter holiday break, hopefully with some time for rest, relaxation and renewal with loved ones, and a safe return to school next term. Alleluia! Christ is risen! Alleluia!