To the St Edmund’s community,
Last term I was very fortunate in being invited by Ms Moeller to be a “guest chef” in two of her senior Hospitality classes. I am not a good cook by any stretch of the imagination, so I was somewhat anxious as to what dish I would be demonstrating to these classes. After quite some desperate days of thought and worry, it dawned on me that there would be no choice but to demonstrate the dish I grew up with – my mother’s bolognaise sauce. Now this sauce is not your every day, standard bolognaise sauce. It is truly special, coming from a very long line of great Sicilian cooks in my family. In fact my mother still cooks up a storm in the kitchen even though she is 87 and needs a walker to support her moving around. The sauce I demonstrated for the Hospitality students obviously came nowhere near the quality of my mother’s bolognaise sauce, but I was able to share with the boys my memories of my mother’s cooking, and the special events of my life which have been marked with my mother’s cooking – the seafood buffet feast on every Christmas Eve with stuffed calamari, stuffed mussels, marinated prawns and lobster, fried fish; the three course meal that is suddenly ready even though I popped in for lunch unannounced, and the many plastic containers of delicious leftovers I am forced to take home each time I visit (these containers would contain anything from stuffed eggplant or marinated eggplant, home pressed olives and of course lots of pasta). There is an advertisement for a pasta sauce on television at the moment with a lovely Italian woman explaining how Italian food is not only cooked with love, it is love. This is certainly the case for my mother.
I grew up in a very poor household, being raised solely by my mother. She has been the foundation of my life. One of the most difficult things for me to do was to inform my mother that my wife and I were moving to Canberra from Sydney and we couldn’t just “be around” anymore. So this Mother’s Day was perhaps the most significant Mother’s Day for my wife and I – the first Mother’s Day living away from Sydney for me and the first for my wife since her mother passed away late last year.
I hope all the mothers, grandmothers and significant females in the lives of our young men had a wonderful Mother’s Day last Sunday and remind you that your family community is valued and has a very important place here in the wider St Edmund’s community. May your family community continue to flourish and thrive and bring joy and love.
At the time of his death, Jesus was still thinking about his mother, and what the future would hold for her, “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:25-27). In doing this, Jesus provided for his mother right until the very last minute. In a more theological sense, by speaking these words Jesus actually creates a new community at the foot of the cross. His mother and beloved disciple form the nucleus of a household of faith that will continue after his death. Many more joined the community in time and that community developed and flourished, but it is a community that traces its beginnings to the crucified Christ – a community to which we belong now, a community which has its very foundation in the mother – son relationship.
God of Sarah, Ruth and Rebecca;
of Elizabeth, mother of John,
of Mary, mother of Jesus,
listen to our prayer:
Bless all who ‘mother’ and bring new life in any way,
these ‘mothers’ who teach and guide, who encourage and heal.
Invite them to the table of your eternal feast,
these ‘mothers’ who feed and nurture the life that has been entrusted to them.
Embrace them warmly in the intimacy of your love,
these ‘mothers’ who embrace with affection those who are helpless and dependent.
Bless them today with all good things:
with health, with laughter, with joy and with love, with pride in their ‘children’
and the support of many friends.
May all ‘mothers’ who have nurtured life in others
be themselves nurtured one day in your strong embrace,
there, for all eternity, to rejoice with their families and friends.
Amen.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us
Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.
Mother’s Day Mass
My thanks to Ms Bridget Cusack, assisted by Mr Michael Monagle and Mr David Kelly, in organising a lovely Junior School Mother’s Day Mass last Friday. It was a touching and intimate Eucharistic celebration, with special relationships being celebrated and demonstrated. I would like to have a Mothers’ Day event for our high school mothers next year without taking away from the wonderful tradition established by our Junior School Mother’s Day event.
Enrolments for 2019
Please note that we are asking prospective families of the College to have their enrolment application for 2019 submitted by Friday 25 May 2018. Whilst enrolments will still be accepted after this date, we would like as many applications in by this date to assist in our planning for next year.
Congratulations
Congratulations to the following students who have been successful in being selected for the ACT U15 Schools Rugby League Team: Alan Malibe (Year 10, O’Brien), Jordan Wilson (Year 10, Haydon) and Cameron Scott (Year 9, Mulrooney). We wish them every success in the upcoming championships in Mackay Queensland in early July.
Blue and White Ball
The Old Boys and Friends Association are again organising the Blue and White Ball this year. The event is being held on Saturday 26 May in the Br R J Wallace Hall commencing at 6pm. I would encourage parents to consider attending this wonderful event. You will enjoy the company of the Eddies community with good food and music. Tickets are available digitally through the Old Boys and Friends Association on their website (see the link in Community on the College website) or through the Facebook pages of either the College or the Old Boys and Friends.
Christus Lux Mea
Joe Zavone (Principal)