Director of Identity & Student Formation, Ms Suzanne Walsh
Ash Wednesday
Last week saw an unprecedented special Ash Wednesday Mass, with the students from St Clare’s College joining the Waverley community for this important celebration.
Mass was celebrated by College Chaplain, Fr Bernie Thomas, to the gathering of over 1,600 – his largest mass to date. The focus of the Mass was not on what we could ‘give up’ for Lent, but rather looking at what small acts of kindness we could do to help others throughout this season. This ties in wonderfully with our College theme for 2020: ‘Small action, big impact’.
Students from both schools played an important role in all areas of the celebration – a special thank you to all those who volunteered as altar servers, readers, singers, musicians, Eucharistic ministers, and those who helped with the ash distribution. The wonderful singing was led by our young men under the leadership of Mrs Anne Fahey and Mr Chris Balkizas. It was a pleasure to have the St Clare’s community join us for such a significant celebration and we look forward to future opportunities to gather together.
Edmund Rice Waterford Academy – Leadership
It is with great pleasure that I offer Years 11 and 12 this wonderful opportunity to attend our inaugural gathering of the Edmund Rice Waterford Academy.
This is a leadership program that focuses on the character and faith development of students. Each session a guest speaker addresses different topics on Christian leadership, with special emphasis on servant leadership. This will provide students with opportunities to live out their call to be ‘men for others’ through a faith that does justice.
The aim of the program is to develop an understanding of the important principles of Christian leadership, especially those related to one’s own internal values – community building, decision-making and service. It also aims to instil in our graduates the ideals of being young men of faith and integrity, so that their lives will be a reflection of the values espoused by Jesus and Edmund Rice.
This first gathering will take place on Tuesday, 17 March at 5:30 pm – approx 6:30pm in the College library. Our inaugural guest will be Mr Daniel Street – an outstanding young man who has worked in different countries in a variety of fields, including journalism. He is currently employed by the World Bank.
A light supper will be served beforehand and a Q&A session will be held afterwards for those interested. I look forward to seeing all of our student leaders and those wishing to attend.
