Assistant Principal - Mission

St Joseph's Regional College Inaugural Mass

The Scripture and prayers were centred around our 2023 College them of 'Justice'. Father Paul Gooley presided over the Mass and shared an insightful and entertaining homily on our theme.

Father Paul began with a challenge to guess what may have been printed on two t-shirts he was given last year. One was an image of well-known superheroes sitting around Jesus, and Jesus is saying “...and that’s how I saved the world.” The second had an appropriate Superman crest with a P instead of an S. Around it was “I am a priest… what’s your superpower?” Father Paul asked students to talk with those around them about who their favourite superhero is and why. He then revealed that his favourite has always been The Phantom! He is also known as “the ghost who walks”, “guardian of the Eastern dark”, and “the man who cannot die”. Unlike many superheroes, he has no superpowers. He totally relies on his strength and intelligence.

We were then challenged to work out the one thing that these superheroes all have in common. It was that they all... fight for justice. They all try to make things right, they all work for peace, and they all help those in need. Father Paul reminded us that these are all features of Jesus Christ. In his earthly ministry, this is what Jesus taught his disciples and, in turn, us to do. We need to be heroes for justice in our school community and in our world. This is our challenge in 2023.

We look forward to sharing more good news stories and accounts of our community members working for justice for others.

Ash Wednesday and the Beginning of Lent

During this past week, we also participated in an Ash Wednesday Liturgy. Again, we thank all students for their reverence and respectful participation in the liturgy.

Ash Wednesday marks the end of Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Cycle of the Church. A new season begins, called Lent. The colours in the church go from green to purple. Purple symbolises a period of waiting and expectation. The mood of Lent is one of repentance. It is a time to turn from ways that do not line up with the teachings of Jesus and draw nearer to God’s will for our lives.

There are three key themes of Lent:

• Prayer - spending time in God’s presence in formal and informal ways
• Fasting - going without something as a way of joining Jesus in the human struggle of his trial and death.
• Almsgiving - sacrificing some of our finances to support causes such as Caritas’ Project Compassion.

Ash Wednesday’s name comes from the fact that a particular rite is always celebrated on this Wednesday in which the faithful have ashes put on their foreheads. The ashes come from the leftover palms from Palm Sunday the previous year. They are a ‘throwback’ from early times in Christianity where, as a sign of penitence, the faithful would put ashes on themselves to symbolise their remorse for their sins.