To the friends and families of the St Edmund’s Community,
Vibrant Spirit. Strong Character. Tailored Learning.
A few weeks ago we had our Market Day organised by Head of SOSE Ms Kylie Rose and her team of teachers and senior Business students. Part of this event was the Year 7 & 8 Dance held on the evening of Market Day. This dance was organised by four of our senior students with the intention of profits going to the funds for the next India immersion trip. Not only did these senior students achieve their aim of organising a very successful event in terms of participation, they also managed to raise in excess of $4000. This is a remarkable and significant achievement and once again demonstrates that we have students in this College who are more than willing to give of their time and efforts for worthy causes and for people less fortunate than themselves. My deepest thanks and congratulations to the following students for their amazing work: William Alsworth (Year 12 Treacy), Samuel Daniher (Year 12 Rice), Armand Gouws (Year 12 Haydon) and James Skvorc (Year 12 Haydon).
The end of Term 3 sees our winter sporting season come to an end, with presentation nights for basketball, football and rugby union. It has been a pleasure for both Mr Garrity and myself to attend these evenings and celebrate the end of another great winter season for St Edmund’s. Our co-curricular program sits proudly alongside our academic program – it adds so much to the life of the College and to our mission of developing young men of vibrant spirit and strong character.
I would like to sincerely thank all participants in our sporting co-curricular program:
- our coaches and managers who come from within the College staff and from our parents and friends – for their time and energy in working with our boys and developing not only their skills in the sport but their positive attitude and sense of sportsmanship
- our players for giving of their time for training and for the games – the time our boys invest in the co-curricular program is quite significant and goes a long way to the development of self-esteem and College pride
- our parents and supporters who also invest a great deal of time in supporting their sons and supporting the College
- and of course the co-ordinators of the sports – Mr David Mead (Basketball), Mrs Carmela Wilson (Football) and Ms MJ McLeod (Rugby Union) who, along with our Co-curricular Manager, Mr Angus Balmaks, provide motivation and steady leadership through their organisation and administration of the sports.
A couple of weeks ago we had members of our Youth Ministry Team come back from another successful trip to Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. The team assisted in the running of student retreats at St John’s College Darwin, O’Loughlin College Darwin and visited St Francis Xavier College in Daly River. The boys led retreats, build rapport with the students that they encounter and share their understanding of faith. This is a very genuine and authentic way that our students share their faith, share their skills and make significant learnings along the way. Congratulations to Hayden Pepper (Year 12 O’Brien), James Tually (Year 12 Clancy), Justin Teng (Year 12 O’Brien), Alister Hobson (Year 12 Clancy), Symon Refuerzo (Year 12 Haydon), Henry Scheckenbach (Year 12 Treacy) and Lachlan Brayshaw (Year 11 Mulrooney) in having the courage and compassion to share their faith and participate in meaningful evangelisation. Many thanks to Mr Michael Monagle (Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity) and Mr Trent Masters for accompanying the boys on their journey and walking alongside them.
Yesterday we had the Principal’s Day Out for those students across the College who raised $250 or more for the Walkathon held at the beginning of this term. Canberra organised a beautiful spring day for us as we enjoyed a morning at the movies and then an afternoon of bowling at Belconnen. All the boys were exceptionally well behaved and really enjoyed the day. It was wonderful seeing the boys engage with each other in a positive and supportive manner. Thanks to Mr David Kelly (Assistant Principal, Junior School) and Mr Angus Balmaks (Co-curricular Manager) for being our bus drivers for the day and accompanying us on our adventures.
“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Luke 16:13). This phrase is one of the better known phrases from the teachings of Jesus and comes from last Sunday’s Gospel reading. The phrase should resonate strongly with all of us as it has a very close connection to our College motto – Christus Lux Mea, Christ Be My Light. We all have many priorities to juggle in life, and these priorities shift in their significance at different times of the year or at different stages of our lives. Money is one of these priorities, and we cannot deny that money is important to us as it allows us to pay bills, to provide food and shelter, to educate, to travel, to be healthy and to do and achieve many other things in life. Having little or no money makes life extremely difficult and provides obstacles to the many things we take for granted when we do not have money. In this parable Jesus is not saying that money is not important, but he is saying that we should not be a slave to money. How we earn money and what we do with money should always be based on a worthy foundation and guided by good intentions. All the priorities we have in life should be guided in the same way – with a worthy foundation and by good intentions. If we allow Christ to be our light, if we always put God first then we earn and use our money wisely and with discernment and our other priorities in life are given an appropriate place and perspective. The many achievements and efforts of members of our community listed in this week’s Vortex article is testament to the fact that we are in fact a community guided by the light of Christ, we act with a worthy foundation and that we place the service of others at the forefront of what we do and what we say.
I wish all of our students and their families the very best for the school holiday period and that we all commence Term 4 on Monday 14 October having been refreshed and renewed.
Holiday Prayer
Loving God,
as we come to the end of another term,
we turn to you in confidence and place any difficult relationships
into the healing hands of Jesus, your Son.
Enable us to leave behind any pain of the past and any regrets or bitterness,
entrusting the past to Your mercy, the present to Your love,
and the future to Your providence.
Help us appreciate more the need to keep a good balance in our lives.
May the holiday be for us a time of rest and recreation
to help restore us and re-create us in Your image and likeness,
as we enjoy more of the love and presence of our families and friends,
on whom we ask Your blessing.
Amen.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.
Christus Lux Mea
Joe Zavone (College Principal)