Mission Report – December 1, 2016

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Australian priest Anthony J. Kelly CSSR wrote a little book called God is Love. He says in his introduction that the way we speak about God -is always in progress, but is ever beginning from, and ending in, the great mystery that is God’s love-. This love, he goes on to suggest, receives a capital -‘L’ when he speaks of God’s self-revealing and self-giving action: two perfectly Loving gifts that God has given us. To begin to understand this we need only think of how we love family and friends. Firstly, we wish to be present to them (make -‘a present’ of ourselves??!!) whenever we can (self-revealing) and we try to always put our time and energy at their service (self-giving). We experience this not as some kind of duty to be performed imposed by an external authority, but as an interior motivation that seeks the perfect response to the love that floods our hearts.

We have entered the season of Advent. This is the time of preparation for the great joy of Christmas: the season that celebrates the revelation that God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John3:16). It should not come as a surprise that this is the season of gift-giving. Even the most secular interpretation of Christmas recognises it as a time for families to gather together and celebrate their love and unity. Giving gifts expresses the deeper desire to make a gift of ourselves to those we love. At the end of a very busy school year, may Christmas be a time of love for us all.

At St Patrick’s College we have sought to -‘make progress’ in the way we communicate the great mystery that God is love. We are united with all Catholic schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition through our Touchstones:

• Gospel spirituality

• Inclusive community

• Liberating education

• Justice and solidarity

We also seek to be witnesses to our College values

• Faith

• Excellence

• Tradition

• Relationships

There are our efforts at teaching and learning centred on the curriculum and the classroom. There are the rich offerings of co-curricula and extra-curricula opportunities that bring our students to life. These and everything we do is offered as the gift of St Patrick’s College, which in turn only makes sense when it is seen as the response to the ultimate truth that God is love.

May your Christmas overflow with love, peace and joy. May your time as a family renew your hope in the future. May we all remain safe and gather again in the new year, in the bonds of friendship and love that is ever the beginning and end of St Patrick’s College.