To the families and friends of the St Edmund’s community,
I’m sure many of you have been in the same position in which I found myself last Sunday at Mass – I was listening to the Gospel reading but not really listening to the Gospel reading as my mind was elsewhere. It wasn’t until the homily that I awoke from my Sunday morning daze and realised that I had missed one of the most significant Gospel readings, Matthew 14:22-33. In this part of Matthew’s Gospel some of the disciples are out fishing whilst Jesus went up to the mountainside to spend some time alone in prayer. The account is as follows:
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
This account particularly struck me as so relevant in the year we have had so far. A year of drought, bushfires, hail and coronavirus. In these circumstances, it is very easy to doubt our faith and claim that God has not been there for us. We often hear the phrase, “How could God let this happen?” in an attempt by some people to want to lay blame for these events. Like Peter, when things get tough for us, the first option for some of us is to doubt and question. Unfortunately, it is when we doubt and question that we start to drown and sink – with doubting and questioning comes a loss of inner strength, resilience and hope. When commanded by Jesus to do so, Peter left the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus, but at the first instance of something going astray (a gust of wind), he became frightened, doubted the power of Jesus and began to sink. I came across this reflection of the Gospel story from the Catholic Leaders Formation Network:
“Peter is representative of many of us. He is someone who has a great faith, who loves Jesus and wants to follow him, but he is also someone who has, on more than one occasion, questioned his faith. In today’s Gospel, Peter takes a significant risk; trusting Jesus, Peter steps out into the water during a storm. He is fine until the storm frightens him, then he doubts what he is attempting to undertake and suddenly begins to sink. Jesus feels disappointed that Peter did not trust; after all, Jesus trusted in Peter’s ability to walk on water; otherwise, he would not have asked him to do so. Our lives are often like this. It is not until life is hard, and we are facing challenges that we call out to Jesus to “save us.” The real challenge is to remain steadfast in our faith, and our confidence and belief in Jesus, and remember, we cannot do this all alone, and it is ok to rely on the one who saves!”
Part of our new Statement of Eddies Pride is “Striving to achieve my personal best, showing resilience and engagement”. Resilience and strength come with faith – faith in ourselves and faith in others. Resilience is hard to develop if we believe that we are all alone in our endeavours and our struggles. In a school setting, this means that our boys need to have faith in allowing themselves to take risks and make mistakes in their learning so that they are able to learn further from these mistakes. Similarly, they need to have faith in themselves that a mistake in life does not diminish them as a person and that they can move forward from these mistakes. They need to be able to have faith in their teachers in allowing them to walk beside them on their learning journey and seek help when needed. The last line of the reflection above is highly significant – it is a real challenge to remain steadfast in our faith, confidence and belief in Jesus and in those around us, but we cannot do this alone. The journey of life and the journey of learning is a partnership, and we cannot undertake the journey alone. Hopefully our boys have faith and will develop faith and trust in those that are there to help them, to serve them and to reach out to them.
Student Spotlight
We continue shining a spotlight on some of our student achievements this week with Hamish Chapman, Year 9 (Clancy).
This is what Hamish has written about a wonderful program in which he was involved last year: “Last year I participated in a program call the ‘Modified Rugby Program’ which is a program run by the GingerCloud Envisioning Foundation that teaches rugby skills to young children and teenagers with disabilities. I was a part of the Tuggeranong Vikings program and we were the most successful program across Australia. It was an incredible experience. It was heart-warming and emotional to see children with disabilities enjoy and have fun with each other in a sport that can bring everyone together. Although I haven’t had any experience dealing with children with disabilities, the instructors and I were able to teach the kids in an inclusive way. It is an experience that will stay with me forever and I suggest that all boys get involved in this program”. Congratulations to Hamish for this inspiring work. Hamish has really been able to engage in the EREA Touchstones of Inclusive Community and Justice & Solidarity in a genuine and meaningful manner.
Websites of Modified Rugby Program: http://www.mymrp.org/the-mrp2; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWvSC4MmeAo
Expectations
We are in the middle of Term 3 with the last week or so being quite cold and wet. This is a time when our boys can become a little complacent with their uniform, especially in wearing jumpers other than school jumpers. I would ask that parents continue to support us in our endeavours with the boys to have them wear their uniform with pride. The College jumper and blazer (or jacket for Years 4 – 6) are the only items of warmth the boys are to be wearing at school and to and from school. Other jumpers, hoodies, etc. (even those that may have an association with the College such as a co-curricular hoodie) are not permitted. The statement of Eddies Pride talks clearly about “Honouring the College name”, and wearing the uniform correctly is a very important part of this. I thank most of our boys for wearing the uniform in the correct manner and for proudly demonstrating how they honour the College name.
Canberra Avenue
It has now been two months since I met with the Director of the School Safety Program about having the traffic flow of Canberra Avenue monitored in my attempt to have Canberra Avenue allocated as a school zone. It is unfortunate that I have had absolutely no communication since then. I will chase this up this week and keep you informed on any movement in this area.
Principal’s Reading Challenge
A reminder that we have launched the Principal’s Reading Challenge. In an effort to increase literacy and an interest in literature at the College, students from Year 4 to Year 12 are being challenged to read and review books that are new to them, for which they will be awarded House Points, go in the running for prizes, and be recognised at an College Assembly at the end of Semester 2. There is also scope for their reviews to be published in the Library catalogue, on the shelves (think ‘Staff Reviews’ at book shops), and in Vortex. I would ask our parents to watch the launch video, put together by Mr Oliver Burke from our Library and English staff, and encourage your sons to participate in the Reading Challenge. The video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/seccanberra/videos/1339923869731654
Reading Logs for the Challenge are available at the Library and on the Library Canvas page.
Prayer
Jesus,
We pray to you to keep us strong in our faith,
especially in the face of great challenges.
Do not let doubt take over our minds and hearts.
Be with us always,
so we may feel the constant and unwavering love and support of our saviour.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us
Live Jesus in Our Hearts, forever
Mr Joe Zavone
Principal
Christus Lux Mea