Christian Outreach: Excellence In Action
We reach out to many people in our lives: looking for help, for a listening ear, for advice. We also reach out to give what we can of our talents and our abilities. The Christian reaches out in love, and when we offer love, we are offering something of ourselves and God’s gift to each other.
Each person can make a difference, we may not have the full solution to the problems of our society: the problems of loneliness, poverty, lack of faith, homelessness, unequal educational opportunity; but we can be part of the solution.
Jesus made a difference to society by always working for a change of heart in individuals, and in calling for a place of greater justice and equality.
Our annual Outreach Mass held on Thursday, drew together our Winter Appeal efforts in supporting those in need in our local communities during the winter months. The theme for the mass was Excellence in Action and was led by members of the College’s Student Ministry Team.
Our mass began with a reminder of the words of Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy when she exclaimed, “The poor need help today, not next week!”.
Our readings acknowledged the qualities of reaching out to people and the compassion of God, who exclaimed that real change in society comes from compassion for people. Whilst the gospel explored the ‘Golden Rule’: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Its message encourages us to build a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is at the heart of being a Christian. This involves both being engaged in the life of the Christian Church and performing works of mercy in the world.
At the end of the mass, we acknowledged and offered our assistance to four inspiring social justice agencies who work tirelessly with people in need in our community.
We welcomed on stage, Clare Farr, Applecross Conference President of the St Vincent De Paul Society, Damian Walsh, Director of The Shopfront, and Michael Piu, Chief Executive Officer of St Patrick’s Community Support Centre.
Our donations of toiletries, and food items were presented to each guest in the hope that these goods help in their work. Together with these goods, we were also pleased to announce that through our fundraising efforts we collected $5000 worth of cash donations which will be shared with each agency.
In addition to the agencies present here this morning, a donation will also be made to LifeLink. LifeLink represents numerous Catholic Caring Agencies across Western Australia. On LifeLink Day, earlier this term, Archbishop Costelloe asked every Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Perth to help continue a ‘mission of care’ to our brothers and sisters who reach out to us for help and make a choice to be there for them in their time of need. LifeLink’s fundraising goal for this year is to raise a minimum of $130,000.
A special thanks also must go to Service Learning Coordinator Elizabeth van der Zanden for her wonderful effort in coordinating the Winter Appeal, assisted by the efforts of the Student Ministry Team. A thank you is also extended to our staff and students who so generously contributed to the appeal and to those who assisted in making our annual Outreach Mass a meaningful eucharistic celebration.
Melissa Trolio | Director of Mission
- Faith, Featured
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
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