Director of Mission

From the

Director of Mission

What a year 2021 has been - a year when we called on the students to ‘Stand Up for Justice’. Our students have such an acute awareness of justice and so all our events, liturgies and Masses that focussed on this theme were authentically embraced.

Rituals are important for us as a community. Celebrating the Mercy Charism in many forms is fully embraced by all Mercedes students and it is always life giving. Our morning liturgies in the Ursula Frayne Chapel have been beautiful ways to start a Friday, led by Deacon Andrew Kirkbride and assisted by Mrs Teresa Pepicelli and our wonderful Mercy Sister Duyen Nguyen. We also celebrate a year level Mass at least once a term, most often in our Mercy Lecture Theatre and Chapel, overlooking the Adelaide Plains, while Junior School classes use the Chapel in Strathspey. We have formed a wonderful connection with our local Emmaus Parish Priest Fr John Shanahan, who as a part-time lecturer at Flinders University always provides insightful homilies and great explanations of scripture and relating it to our world today. Our Year 12 Religion Studies students also embraced the challenge for the first time to organise Masses for their year level and make them relevant and special for their peers, with support from our Religious Education Coordinator Mrs Helen Ayliffe. Highlights this year were Caritas Day, and our Vinnies Winter Appeal. The phenomenal generosity of our community is amazing, and these appeals provide an opportunity for students to live the Mercy Keys for those less fortunate in South Australia.

Mercy Week was a wonderful week of celebration. Students participated in the Mercy Fun Run, were buskers and sold soft drinks and lollies. The wonderful work of the STEP students, who recycled cans and bottles, also raised money for Mercy Works. It has been a joyous week of celebrating our community, culminating in our whole school Mercy Day Mass. Mercy Day Mass was a wonderful celebration of our amazing Mercy community. Archbishop Patrick O’Regan led our community, assisted by Fr John Shanahan and Deacon Andrew. We held the Mass on school grounds, in the Library Courtyard and Terraces. It was such a wonderful celebration. Mrs Alessandra Miles was the perfect host, and the sea of green was a spectacular sight. The presence of our Mercy Sisters was especially important, as they were not able to attend last year due to COVID. With them able to attend this year, we celebrated 141 years of the Mercy Sisters in South Australia. After Mass, we held a ceremony to present the inaugural John Fanning Justice Award to a student and announced old scholar Dr Emma Tippett as our Mercy Award winner, as noted in the Principal’s article on page 3. Emma was not able to attend as she was in Melbourne working as an infectious disease doctor, but it was inspiring to hear from her in a video message and nice to have her parents accept the award on her behalf. Our Year 11 and 12 Retreats were wonderful experiences for all students to be together and spend time nourishing their spirits and souls in a fun and caring environment. The comment from many Year 12 students at their Graduation Assembly this year was that the retreats were a highlight of their schooling. Blessings to all in our wonderful community.

Therese Wilson Director of Mission