Mercy Week began with a celebration of the Eucharist to commemorate our Feast Day and commission our incoming 2019 College Leaders. We were blessed to have numerous Sisters of Mercy join us for our celebration of the Eucharist.
This year we have been inspired by the words of Jesus to: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). As disciples we are called not only to follow Jesus, but to be missionaries who go out and change the world, through helping others in need, promoting human dignity and removing the injustices that we see in our world. As Christians, we are called to embrace the compassion, care and acceptance that Jesus showed to others.
At Mercy Catholic College we embody the charism of our foundress Catherine McAuley who was a woman of mercy. Catherine is our role model for living the Christian life, she found a way, despite the impossibilities of her time, to carry out the works of mercy, and to proclaim to a people whose lives were bounded by poverty, the Christian message of mercy and hope. As Catherine McAuley was sent in her time, we too are sent by God to bring the good news. We are called to go to the ends of the earth and deliver God’s message and to act upon it, to love our enemies, to care for the poor and to shine the spirit of mercy upon all people we encounter. We would like to thank our Parish Priest Fr Jim for celebrating Mass with us.
Mercy Week has been a huge success this year. Our fundraisers which included the Year 8 Cake Stall, Year 10 Fashion Parade, Year 11 International Lunch and Year 12 Fundraising Activities were successful in raising over $7,000. This money will be donated to the Farmers Appeal, the Mercy Foundation which is working to end homelessness in Australia as well as funding the Primary School in Vietnam that Mercy College is currently building.
The week culminated with our Mercy Outreach Day on Friday where all students and staff were involved in a community service, social justice, advocacy or outreach activity. I encourage you to read the student reflections of the outreach activities in this newsletter which demonstrate the powerful transformative experiences that students were involved in. I would like to thank Mrs Karen Greenyer, Acting Youth Ministry Coordinator, for all of her support in coordinating the Outreach Day.
Ms Gabie Stojanovski
Director of Mission & Religious Education
