Dear parents and guardians

Last week our College community commemorated Remembrance Day, a day that honours all those who fought in the service of the country and pays tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. In the service, we make a clear promise “we will remember them, lest we forget”.

We remember the sacrifice and we know a sacrifice is an act of love modelled after Christ, we hear this in John 15:12,17:

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends… This is my command: Love each other.

We use the word sacrifice in terms of giving up something good for the sake of something more worthwhile. As followers of Christ, we are called to be people of mercy and love, not just on Remembrance Day but every day. We are called to offer mercy to all, to be the face of Christ to all, and to offer this love to each other, our neighbours. This plays out when we consider our neighbours as brothers and sisters in Christ. Pope Francis guides us in his 2020 Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, we are called again to consider who is our neighbour, he says:

Mercy nourishes and strengthens solidarity towards others as a necessary response to God’s gracious love, “which has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). Each of us is responsible for his or her neighbour: we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live.

We are called to make sacrifices for our neighbours as an act of love, Pope Francis had previously explained the importance of this act of love:

At the heart of the Gospel of mercy, the encounter and acceptance by others are intertwined with the encounter and acceptance of God himself. Welcoming others means welcoming God in person! Do not let yourselves be robbed of the hope and joy of life born of your experience of God’s mercy, as manifested in the people you meet on your journey!

In light of Remembrance Day, let us be open to mercy and love for our neighbour. As we venture into the last four weeks of the school year, I wish the love and mercy of Christ be with you always.

God bless!

Giovanna Fiume | Principal