To the community of St Edmund’s College,
Last Thursday 24 May the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, patroness of Australia and of the Military Ordinariate. Among Catholics, May is “Mary’s Month,” a specific month of the year when special devotions are performed in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So it is more than fitting that we also celebrate Mother’s Day in May, giving the month of May a very strong focus on the family.
I often wonder how much of an influence Mary had on the life of Jesus. His sense of compassion, peace and love are qualities on which we all model ourselves, but surely these qualities must have been present in the household in which he was raised. Mary’s sense of fear and discontent when the young Jesus took off on his own, her influence on Jesus at the wedding of Cana and Jesus’ dedication of Mary to John at the foot of the cross certainly indicate that Mary had a very strong influence on Jesus.
The influence of parents on their children is so important now more than ever. We live in a time where children are exposed to so much more than we could have ever have imagined when we were younger. There are so many more influential elements in the lives of our young people now which makes the responsibility of parenting even more challenging.
I recently came across an article in The American Catholic Reporter, where the writer Christian Mocek offered a reflection on how he would raise his young son in an age of #MeToo – an age where the degradation and mistreatment of women is being spoken about more openly with appropriate reactions and consequences. This is an age where we begin to question and criticise the model of hypermasculinity that has been promoted in the past. We need to look at more appropriate models of masculinity if our young men are to be successful and comfortable with their relationships in an ever-changing world. The following are Christian Mocek reflections on raising his young son in such a world, “What does it mean to be a father who raises a son in this new age? What can a father do to ensure his son doesn’t end up another perpetrator? The answer to this question is personal for each father. But I do think there are universal things parents can teach, especially fathers to sons, about consent, responsibility and honouring the dignity of the other. In a culture where growing boys are bombarded with salacious advertising and easily accessible lewd material, and where dehumanising banter is written off as locker room talk, the only choice is for fathers — and other male role models — to teach their sons to navigate these arenas with vulnerability, virtue and courage.
The #MeToo movement is also a wake-up call to fathers, telling them that side comments about a woman’s body and laughter at crude jokes among men don’t exist in a vacuum. Our sons are next to us, listening to us and ultimately being socialised by our reaction to what appears innocent but we know is not.
For me personally, the answer to the question of how does one raise a son in this new age first starts with an examination of my own ideas of manhood. Or more specifically, asking in which ways I see machismo as courage, manipulation as kindness, and power as leadership. There is no doubt that there are some in positions of influence who mistake those to the detriment of the institutions they serve and the people in their care.
In truth, I wish I could hold my son on my chest forever in the early hours of the morning. There I can protect him from things that threaten to destroy his innocence. I know I can’t, so the next best thing is to equip him with tools that will help him navigate whatever comes. The hard part is ensuring the tools I give him come from both a place of strength and from an acknowledgement of my brokenness.
St. Francis de Sales, the gentleman saint, says, “Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as true strength.” He knew that manhood, at its core, is a great paradox. That in humility is courage, in compassion is strength, and in service is leadership. With God’s help, may we raise men who live this paradox well, who don’t separate virtue from desire, and who seek God in their brokenness.” (Christian Mocek, National Catholic Reporter, May 17 2018)
Blessed Edmund Rice once wrote that we are all “… an open letter from Christ – a message written not with ink but in the Spirit of the living God, with a faithful human heart to carry it.” I would hope that the model of masculinity we present here at St Edmund’s College, in partnership with the mothers and fathers of our community, is one which is based on the model of Jesus himself – a masculinity that embraces compassion, empathy and mercy; a masculinity that embraces respect, dignity and right relationships, and a masculinity that embraces humility, service and strength in gentleness.
Blue and White Ball
Congratulations to the Old Boys and Friends Association for their organisation of the Blue and White Ball last Saturday night. It was encouraging to see so many parents and members of staff brave a chilly Canberra night and warm themselves with wonderful food, great music and even better company. We were magnificently entertained by the band Big Boss Groove, headed by an Eddies old boy and current parent, Kieran Sloan. My deepest thanks to the President of the Old Boys and Friends Association, Matt de Jongh and his committee in creating a memorable and special evening: Victoria, Peter and Anne Chapman, Patricia Doyle, Louise Jones, Matt Percy, Rodney Skvorc and members of College staff who are on this committee Bridget Cusack, Jacob Knowles, Germaine Muller and Carlo Sorrentino. My thanks also to Ms Rebecca Jarman and Mr Alex Hausen and their team of senior Hospitality students for the impeccable service throughout the evening. I am hoping that future events like this are not held in the College hall because of the large number of people wanting to attend, especially next year with our 65th Anniversary Ball.
Edmums Events
I am looking forward to the two Edmums events we have planned next week on Thursday 7 June – the Edmums Luncheon beginning at midday and then the Edmums Cocktail Evening beginning at 5.30 pm. We are hoping these two events will cater for the different time needs of our community, with as many mothers, carers and grandmothers being able to attend either event. Please register your attendance and payment by going to our Facebook page and clicking on the relevant link. This is a lovely way in which our mothers, carers and grandmothers can get together and share in the joy and warmth that is the Eddies community.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Nicholas Taylor (Year 12, O’Brien), Gus Shepherd (Year 11, Treacy) and Leo Tuckfield (Year 10, Rice) in representing the ACT at the School Sport Australia Water Polo Championships in Perth from 20 to 25 May 2018. These three students make up the biggest contingent from one school within the team. The ACT Schoolboys team went on to defeat Queensland and took out the gold medal, with our own Gus Shepherd being selected for the Australian squad.
EREA (Edmund Rice Education Australia) Survey
As a parent or carer of a student at St Edmund’s College, we are interested to know the reason you chose St Edmund’s for your son. This survey is part of a wider study of school choice currently under way across Edmund Rice Education Schools Australia (EREA). Your feedback will help us as a member school of EREA plan well for the future. Your comments are important.
All parents were emailed this survey on Tuesday 29 May. There is a link below if you would prefer to access the survey here.
Please take your time to answer the questions thoughtfully. It should only take you between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. Your comments are anonymous and collected by an external consultant – no individual respondent will be identified by the survey. Once all member schools have completed the survey we will look forward to sharing the results with you.
The survey will remain open for two weeks.
Here is the link to the survey: https://www.research.net/r/EREA_School_Choice_Survey_Canberra_2018
End of Term
Please note that the College will be closed on Friday 6 July – there will be no staff on the College site to answer telephone calls or respond to emails. College Reception will be open as normal from Monday 9 July (vacation hours).
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity:
Let us pray to the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
that our lives may bear witness to our faith.
Loving God,
you sent your Word to bring us truth
and your Spirit to make us holy.
Through them we come to know the mystery of your life.
Help us to worship you,
one God in three Persons,
by proclaiming and living our faith in you.
We ask you this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, true and living, for ever and ever.
Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live Jesus in Our Hearts, forever.
Christus Lux Mea
Joe Zavone (Principal)