National Reconciliation Week
This week we celebrated National Reconciliation Week, a very important time on our Australian calendar where we reflect on and work on being in right relationships with our indigenous sisters and brothers. I would encourage you to view our National Reconciliation Week acknowledgement on our Facebook page, featuring special messages from a number of our indigenous students. The College is also working on its Reconciliation Action Plan with our working group having its first meeting in a few weeks. A Reconciliation Action Plan is a strategic document that will support the College’s practical actions driving our contribution to reconciliation both internally and in the communities in which we operate. Our Reconciliation Action Plan will sit beside that of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), our governing body. EREA is committed to the “achievement of authentic reconciliation, justice, equity and healing through acknowledgement and practice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowing. Through the lenses of Respect, Relationships and Opportunities, EREA strives to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff members, to build cultural safety across the organisation, and to respectfully embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into our practice”.
“National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As always, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and Australians now benefit from the efforts and contributions of people committed to reconciliation in the past”. (www.reconciliation.org.au/national-reconciliation-week/)
Co-Curricular Activities
We are slowly transitioning towards the re-commencement of our co-curricular activities, following closely the advice and instructions of the ACT Government and the sporting governing bodies. Parents have been informed of our transition calendar indicating the date and nature of the re-commencement of our activities. There are some activities of which we are still unsure, as they depend on the further easing of restrictions in the ACT, but it is good to see the energy return to most of our activities and we are looking forward to working with our boys again in these co-curricular areas.
Pentecost
Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, marking the end and the goal of the Easter season. It is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. The Paschal mystery – the Passion, the Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus – culminates in the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father on Jesus’ disciples. This fulfils the promise Jesus made in last week’s readings that he would send the disciples a paraclete or advocate.
The feast of Pentecost also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter, seeing the disciples of Jesus move away from their strong Jewish origins to the commencement of the followers of Christ becoming their own Church.
In light of the tragic events happening in the USA at the moment, I would like to share with you a beautiful reflection on Pentecost from Father Jeffrey Kirby (CRUX website), “This past week, Americans witnessed the callous death of an African-American man at the hands of police authority. After the shocking video – heightened by the man clearly saying “I can’t breathe, Officer!” – people of goodwill were (and are) outraged by the blatant disregard for human life and the utter lack of any semblance of a reasoned and humane response by the police officers involved.
Questions abound over intent, and the ugly face of racism is being discerned and denounced. The pressing question is being asserted, and once again demands an answer, “How could anyone treat another human being this way?” The question has led to protests, some of which have devolved into riots. Conflict between police and citizens has intensified. Justice appears not only blind, but powerless. People of goodwill are hurt. The Black community is fearful of its safety and angered over another attack against one of its own. Race relations are strained. Neighbours are approaching one another with suspicion. Life has become very confusing very quickly.
As these events unfold, Christian believers are celebrating Pentecost. While perhaps off the radar for many people involved in the protests and riots, the feast day offers some uplifting wisdom to our tragic state of affairs.
Can the event of Pentecost heal and guide us in responding to such an egregious act against human dignity? How can the tongues of fire assist us in dealing with such a blatant abuse of power? How can the winds of Pentecost direct our global reaction to such horror? When the wind blew, and the tongues of fire fell, the apostles were envigoured. They left their place of fear and announced a message of salvation, peace, and reconciliation. They unleashed the power of a spiritual renewal, and they relied upon – and spoke to – what all human beings desire in their souls, namely, love and acceptance, redemption and mutual understanding.
In their simple proclamation, the apostles announced the most daring and provocative message ever given to humanity. No longer solely tribes, genders, racial groups, economic classes, or language entities, humanity was called to be one family.
The apostles declared – and we are called to echo today – that all human beings are united as one family under one God. They proclaimed – and showed humanity – our common inheritance as the children of God and a mutual way of love for us all to follow.
In the force of such a message, neighbours are no longer seen as “others” or as threats, but as true brothers and beloved sisters.
As the apostles preached, the crowds – comprising of peoples from all over the known world -understood the apostolic message in their own language and they accepted it as one renewed and unified people.
As this same message is announced today, may the wind of the Spirit blow and tongues of fire fall. May it bring peace. And may the people of Minneapolis, and the people of cities throughout the United States, hear what is announced, imitate the people of ancient Jerusalem, and accept it – not as separate groups in tension with each other – but as one unified family, called to love, and brought together by the goodness of God”. https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2020/05/as-we-remember-jerusalem-on-pentecost-our-hearts-are-in-minneapolis/
For the Spirit of Peace
that calms our mind and stills our life,
we give You thanks.
For the Spirit of Love
that touches hearts and reaches out,
we give You thanks.
For the Spirit of Joy
that lifts our soul and gives us faith
we give You thanks.
For the Spirit of Power,
that gift of grace for this your church,
we give You thanks.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.
Joe Zavone
College Principal
Christus Lux Mea