Mass for the Blessing Of The School For Visual Arts at Marcellin College

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Marcellin College, Bulleen,
on Tuesday, 20th July, 2004, at 9.45am

Introduction

Dear Mr. Merry, dear Brothers and Friends,

I am honoured to be with you as we bless this Visual Arts facility. It is a wonderful opportunity for young people to discover their talents and to use them in service of their community.

I am particularly grateful to the community of Marcellin for your foresight in providing this facility for our young friends.

Homily

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.”

My dear young Friends,

These words which Mary used upon being told that she was to be the Mother of God are a reminder to us that God is the author of everything good that happens in our lives. He chose Mary to give birth to his Son because she was the perfect model of how to walk close to Jesus.

I have been always grateful for a Marist education, which I received up until Year 7, and I pay tribute to the wide variety in a Marist education, the encouragement of the Brothers, the love of Our Lady, who is the Mother of the Church, and the enthusiasm with which Marist schools draw their young people to participate.

It can be said that Mary is a good mother and in blessing this Visual Arts facility, a mother is someone who nurtures and encourages us to discover our talents and to use them for others. Catholic education involves the three-fold objective of a vision of God as the author of every gift, a readiness to develop our human talents and a responsibility to contribute to the society in which we live. Each of these factors is of vital importance for Catholic young men today.

We are here because we believe that God made us, that we are not mere animals, but thinking, diverse beings. We have to therefore develop what we have received and always to speak of the way we know we are made – in God’s image and likeness - enriching and leading the world in which we are.

Mary’s ability to nurture, to seek, to ponder, must be our watchword as we take our human talents, see what we can learn and enter on the exciting journey of discovery led by teachers who are truly committed to the vision of God that we have, to honouring the human person as we do, and to developing us to place our talents at the service of others.

We Catholics want to present to our society an ideal of strong family life, of respect for each other and of service. Surely this is the purpose behind the Catholic education that we are receiving to give a complete picture of ourselves as human beings and to offer ourselves generously and with enthusiasm.

This day represents stage one of a new building programme and it recognises the contribution which Marcellin makes to the Church and to society. I spent one year as a Chaplain here in 1968 before I was moved into St Patrick’s and I came to know the young men of Marcellin as talented, friendly, generous and ready to take a challenge.

I give you the challenge today. It was given by Saint Peter two thousand years ago. ‘Show to the world the reason for the hope that is in you’, because you and I have benefited from education in the great Marist tradition. Humbly we have something to offer in the talents and gifts we develop and with the nurturing and skill which our teachers have provided.

Congratulations Marcellin. Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for us.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.