As the term draws to a close I would like to thank all Staff, Parents and Students for an excellent term.

I had the privilege yesterday to host NSW Directors of Education and the CSNSW board at Hennessy. These men and women are the top educational leaders in NSW. I was so proud to be able to highlight our great school. They were suitably impressed with our focus on 5 quality lessons a day and our staffs professionalism and collective attention to this.  They have returned to their diocesan responsibilities today taking Hennessy’s successes with them to their schools.

I was also thrilled that Hennessy made the list in the 2018 top performing schools for NAPLAN.

As we move towards Holy week, we had a moving Easter liturgy today. I have enclosed my speech for you.

Have a blessed, holy Easter, safe with your families.  I look forward to what Term 2 brings.

Good Wishes

Trazel

Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. It is celebrated on Easter Sunday, and marks the end of Holy Week, the end of Lent, it signifies a time of transformation for us

As we know from the Gospels, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion, which would be a Sunday. His resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death. It is the singular event, which proves that those who trust in God and accept Christ will be raised from the dead.

Since Easter represents the fulfilment of God's promises to mankind, it is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar.

In the Gospels, the precise details of the Easter narrative vary slightly, but none of these variances are critical to the main story. In fact, it is argued that the variances are simply matters of style and not substance. Despite the variances, the key aspects of the Easter story all match. Above all, they agree that the tomb of Christ was indeed empty, which is the most essential fact.

We firmly believe, and hence we hope, that just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives forever, that we can be transformed by this act and hopefully transform those things in our lives, which need attention.

Pope Francis tells us that Christ’s Resurrection is not an event of the past. It contains a vital power, which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the Resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God doesn’t exist. All around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference, cruelty, but it’s also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later it produces fruit. On dry land life breaks through stubbornly and invincibly. However, dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew. It rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to re-appear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed hopeless. Such is the power of Christ’s Resurrection, which everywhere calls forth seeds of a new world, even if they are cut back they grow again. For the Resurrection is already secretly woven into the fabric of this history. Jesus did not rise in vain.

Students and staff at Hennessy, Easter isn’t just a day nor is it just a Holy Week. Easter isn’t “back there in the past”, something to remember perhaps, but long gone. Easter is always and everywhere –it is transformative and can transform us and that’s because the Risen Lord is everywhere. The only question is, Have you and I got the eye that sees him? Have you and I got the will to transform and to believe?

Spend this Easter being grateful for your loving your families, renewing ourselves for Term 2 and having a safe restful break.

Happy Easter.