On February 28, we gathered as a community at St Patrick’s Cathedral to officially mark the commencement of the academic year for 2020. When we gathered that evening, as we faithfully have for many years, we had no idea what 2020 would have in store for each of us as individuals and as a community. 2020 is a year that will be etched into our memories forever. Social commentators have described it as the most significant moment in this generation and as a once in a lifetime event. That evening I preached a reflection on living the third guiding principle of the College Mission and Vision Statement: ‘We have but one heart, one soul.’ We strive to nurture a friendly and caring school, enabling students to develop a sense of loyalty, solidarity and service. We provide pastoral care and encourage participation in all aspects of College life. Nourished by the Eucharist, and led by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, we believe that once a student enters the College, he and his family become part of our community for life. In my homily, as I am sure no one would remember, I challenged the community to live this principle and create a community which reflected the reality in our world with the many challenges we face. I encouraged each of us to be contributors to the Mazenod community, not users and abusers, not bystanders and keyboard warriors; particularly for our Year 12 students as they prepare to become good citizens of the world. In reflecting on the global situation we live in, I made the following observations which proved to more prophetic than I could have imagined: “At a global level there is conflict and division in almost every region of the world. World politics seems to be dominated by a small-minded approach of building walls and bunkering ourselves in, yet a virus like COVID-19 humbles us and reminds us of our connectedness. When our building industry stops because we can’t source supplies from China, we will come to the realisation of just how connected we are.” One thing for sure is that we live in a connected world and an invisible microscopic virus has reminded us that rich or poor, one side of a border or the other we are all humans, that life is fragile and finite, that we have limited control, opportunity and choice on how we live that time. So it is important to make the most of it. This is all fairly obvious and we knew this, but have been reminded through the reality of COVID-19. This year as a community and society we have had to discover within us a new resilience, something which we as a privileged society may have lost through our complacency. I have witnessed the best of the Mazenod Community living the principle of ‘One heart, one soul’ no matter what the challenges of 2020. I admired the way the teachers and College staff adapted and then re-adapted to new challenges to ensure our young men received the best that they possibly could under difficult circumstances. This is something which I have witnessed throughout my time at Mazenod, but has become more evident this year. As I conclude my sixth and final year as Rector at Mazenod College, with four as Principal, it has been an amazing privilege to serve the Mazenod community, which was instrumental in my personal growth as a young man. In the last six years I encountered many challenges. I brought with me a nice leather tissue box which I placed in my office, it had never seen so much use by those who came to visit me. At first I was a little worried about the effect I was having on people until I accepted that any role of leadership which involves the journey of young people will be a rollercoaster of tears for all involved. At times these were tears of joy and other times tears of sorrow. Tears in so many ways are the language of the heart and soul. The word “sacrifice” is not that trendy at the moment but I witnessed people giving of themselves for others. I witnessed the sacrifice of families and parents, sparing no effort to send their sons to Mazenod and support them growing into men. I witnessed the sacrifice made by the staff to ensure every opportunity was afforded to the young men they served, assisting them to grow into fine talented young men. I witnessed boys sacrifice their youth, forced to grow into men through tragedy, and I witnessed students looking out for one another as brothers. I will always have a special place in
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