St Joseph Pignatelli for the past 12 years.

Father Sean has shared with us his deep understanding of his faith and love of God and has been a great spiritual guide to us all. His sermons have made us more aware of our responsibility for our actions to follow God’s teachings in our everyday life. He has shared his personal experiences of family and his life as a young priest with us. Everyone has appreciated his great ability as a storyteller and his sense of humour.

Many families may not know that Father Sean did a year of engineering before joining the seminary and that he is currently a senior lecturer in theology at Notre Dame University. Father Sean’s intelligence is also reflected in the way he challenged us to think when he asked us questions during his homilies.

Father Sean has been visionary in building the new St Joseph Pignatelli church in Attadale resulting in a wonderful church that will help to build our faith community for future generations. In the past 12 years, many of our girls have received the sacraments in the Attadale Parish, and I am sure he will continue to be involved in the lives of people in our community as he takes on his new role as Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral.

On behalf of the College Community, we thank Father Sean and ask for God’s blessing as he takes the next stage in his journey as a Priest.

 

Farewell to Father Sean- Sinead Smithies Year 12

I’d like to begin with the Mel Maria days. The days of sour grass and Sebastian ruling the playground. I don’t think any Mel Marians or SJP parishioners will forget the picture of your cat at the end of each PowerPoint and we will certainly miss that when you’re gone. I know that all the girls at Santa Maria appreciate your thought-provoking homilies which pertain to the school community, our modern world, and our social circumstances. However, I’m sure we can now come to Mass with no fear of being intensely pop quizzed.

Whilst we were terrified at first of altar-serving under your strict guidance, we have come to appreciate the spiritual direction that it provided. Friday Morning Masses were always a time of great creativity where all the Houses tried to win you over, and your focus seemed to be on changing the Dillon Divas to Dillon Dinosaurs or perhaps Dalmatians. The decisions on these ideas, unfortunately, are still pending.

You always made an effort to acknowledge all those who contributed to the running of Mass, and we hope the Mercedes girls will appreciate you as much as we do. We wish you the best of luck in your new role as Dean of the Cathedral, and we hope to come to visit you as well as you visiting us one last time for our graduation.