College Mass – Opening 2008.
The start of our school year has coincided almost exactly with the start of the Church season of Lent… a time of preparation for Easter… - a time of extra prayer, penance and practical action for others in need….. all these Lenten practices are intended to allow God to widen our hearts… and also to make our actions fit better with our words (as we are so powerfully reminded in tonight’s challenging first reading, and also the Gospel – that we be people of practical Integrity….. “consistent in our inner values and outer actions”….)…… // Our words must be proved true by our actions //…. and St Mary’s college is surrounded by many good words to encourage us ….and spur us into action…..
We have the college motto…. Integrity AND knowledge… We have the threefold school priorities….. … “Spirit, mission, community….” // and we have at the centre of all these words… the person and message of Jesus…. who is THE word… God’s word made flesh…. showing us God’s plan for each of us .. and for our world…..
As we gather together tonight to ask God’s blessing on this school year of 2008, we pray for a special blessing on the students. May you be inspired to study hard and participate fully in college life……. and May you be formed ever deeper in the good news of Jesus.. // Growing in knowledge AND integrity…
we pray that God will continue to bless your parents, caregivers, brothers and sisters and all family members and friends…
We pray that God will bless our College teachers and staff….. and all the members of the parish….
May we always put Jesus’ words into action, by how we care and serve one another… //and show “uncommon gentleness” and assistance to those most in need….the ones who are struggling in any way.
and May God bless our Principal, Ms. Joy Massingham, and our new staff, students and parents who have joined us for the first time this year…. …….. may you already be experiencing what it means to be valued members of this community.
Tonight… we have gathered here … full of best wishes, hopes and prayers….
at the start of another year… whether it be the very beginning of your college years, or the final year –// grade twelve… or whether you be in the formational years in-between…… we all gather here with so many hopes and dreams for your future…. and they are well-founded hopes…..
I know family, and teachers are wanting the very best for all the students this year….. (wishing it, encouraging it, speaking it, and even at many times, worrying about it, -- willing that things will be the best possible way for your you)..… They are hoping that you may have a successful year…. (success in an academic sense… but also in a human and “holistic” sense too…….. //and (of course), as Christians, who believe that God’s wisdom is not like human wisdom…. parents and staff are also hoping for your success as measured (not by the standards of this world) but by the values of Jesus’ Gospel……. as you nurture the values that really matter – the values our Lord came to establish on the earth…. (as in heaven !)/.……… May, you have a year marked with excellence in learning, ……and may you have the best of health: “physically, emotionally and spiritually”…… // May all the positive virtues flourish in you….(sound judgement – good discernment of what is right//, Justice, courage, self-restraint, FAITH, HOPE, and –above all - LOVE) // and may the clamouring voices of opposing values…. values//…. that cry out; promising “much” and delivering “little”… may these shallow invitations hold no charm for you…
Speaking of “good discernment” - we live in an amazing world of information technology… or instant internet and media communication….. we are submerged in information….. and with it… conflicting values and philosophies… we also celebrate tonight, that St Mary’s College offers an education that offers effective means to discern and weigh-up the information and values we are bombarded with… and also offers the lens of the gospel to see them through….. so that you may support all that is life-giving and constructive about today’s world….. and reject and oppose all that is contrary….. there are many things that our modern world offers that are consistent with Jesus’ values… but sadly… there are others that are not… and all of them present themselves as right and good.,.. which makes careful discernment even more urgent….. May the spirit inspire you in this important work….
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Jesus really gets stuck into those so-called religious and community leaders of his time… Jesus saw that they were so caught up in image and outward appearance that they had become hollow inside… (their insides were not matching up with their outside appearances….they were spending all their time on outward shows and as a result… they were not being whole or holy in their lives)……and they were not showing any signs of living the values of God’s kingdom, even if they appeared to be doing the right thing on the outside… these people had knowledge without integrity….. they had respectability without substance (inside)….…. and they certainly weren’t acting as if everyone they met was their brother and sister in Christ… and that we are all one big family, because we all have one Father (God the father of us all)
Jesus calls us along a different road from these people who are into image……May you be the people of the “road less traveled”… where integrity, (substance), knowledge, truth and love mean everything….. ………. may you walk the path of wisdom, patience, kindness and concern for others….. // of going the extra mile for one another……….. of choosing the unpredictable response… and of rejecting the tired and predictable responses of a world caught up in self-interest , hollow-celebrity, and image….which all too often is only surface- deep//….and ultimately means nothing…//
Enjoy the fact that this Christian college environment seeks to foster a place where you feel safe, where your human dignity is respected, where you feel accepted, valued and where you can be the best person you are called to be…… Each of you are valued….. each of you are unique… that is already true… we don’t ever need to prove it….
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Instead… may you continue to foster the values that Jesus loved… the values that have been handed down through our families, school and church communities… … and to which you will lovingly hand on to the next generation too…… ……being a servant for others…… treating all others the way we would treat the highest dignitary…. treating each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
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