Mission Report – December 5, 2017

December 4, 2017

St Patrick’s College is a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice Tradition. When we wish to offer a vision of who we are we may start with our Touchstones:

  • Gospel spirituality

  • Liberating education

  • Justice and solidarity

  • Inclusive community

But what of the next set of questions? Why the Touchstones? Where do they come from?

One essential and foundational answer is just around the corner. We are preparing to celebrate the great joy of Christmas -“ the gift of -‘God among us‘. The whole reality of our Christian faith is an encounter with Jesus, who

though he was in the form of- God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death-”

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted- him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)

Our Touchstones communicate this revelation in the language of a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice Tradition.-

Just as we live for our friends, not for an abstract ideal of friendship, the Touchstones express the fruits of friendship with Jesus. And just as we live for those we love, not for the idea of being in love, our Touchstones do not express an ideology but the fruits of God’s love for us, so perfectly communicated in Jesus. It is for the sake of our friendship with Jesus that we live in the -‘good news’ of his Gospel, that we strive to liberate our community from fear and greed, that we invite all people to share in God’s gifts. And this path to life is revealed in the baby lying in the manger.

May this Christmas be a time of family, friendship, joy and love. May we have the time to give thanks for the gifts of this year, and to prepare ourselves for the adventures of the next. May we live in the good news of Jesus, who came to us that we may have life, and have it to the full. (cf John 10:10)– –