It has been an excellent two weeks as we have celebrated the opening mass to welcome in our 2025 theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. Many thanks to Fr Jiss who presided and Acolyte Brian Hislop. Our new students and staff were welcomed in during a ceremony and our new vice captains and year level captains were also badged at the ceremony.

Congratulations to:

Year 8 Captains: Daisy Van Leeuwen & Sebastian Silk
Year 9 Captains: Bonny Bromham & Ruby Holt
Year 10 Captains: Kobe Owen & Jessica Banwell

Vice Captain for Gallagher House: Lachlan Li 
Vice Captain for McAuley House: Riley Noakes
Vice Captain for Nagle House: Zabir Alam
Vice Captain for Rice House: Isaac Brown

We are incredibly proud of our community and the way our students engage in it.

This week I have met with our RCIA candidates, students who are wishing to become fully part of the Catholic church through baptism, communion and confirmation.  Please keep Lexie Fitzgerald, Ben Sweaney and Kaelen Dal Molin in your prayers. It has been an exciting time and we can not wait to travel through this faith journey together to finally have them welcomed into the church at the Easter Vigil Mass.

I have also met with the Year 11 Jersey Committee who are busy designing the jersey for our 2026 cohort which our students will be voting on very soon.

We have also been working hand in hand with the parish in Palm Cross Making on Thursday mornings and it has been lovely to share this time as a community.

Next week on Friday, our Year 7’s will have their annual retreat. This is a great day to take a step back from the everyday routine and take some time to reflect with God. Mr Miller will be leading the way with our Year 10 CSYMA students and we thank them for their work.

Next week we have Hennessy Parish Mass and Youth Group and I invite you all to attend on the 8th of March to be part of the community, please see Compass for the Google form - it is a house point event.

Next week is Shrove Tuesday which marks the beginning of Lent, a significant season in the Catholic Church dedicated to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Traditionally, it is a day of feasting before the solemn period of repentance begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent lasts for 40 days, mirroring Jesus’ time of fasting in the desert, and serves as a time for Catholics to reflect on their relationship with God, seek forgiveness, and prepare their hearts for the celebration of Easter. Through acts of sacrifice, prayer, and service to others, the faithful draw closer to Christ, embracing the hope of His resurrection.

Pancakes will be sold to raise funds for Caritas on Tuesday (please see Compass for your order from) and each House will be in charge of raising money for project compassion for the remainder of the term. I encourage you to give generously to all the great work that Caritas does for communities in Australia and around the world.

Finally our focus for the next couple of the weeks will be on the way we treat our environment and the way we speak to each other. We are reminded that we are respectful of our environment and that we are responsible for looking after God’s creation and thus our rubbish needs to go in the right places. We also remember that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and the words that we use to speak to each other matter and we should be mindful of the way in which we are speaking.