Homilies and Addresses 2007
Mass for Opening of the School Year

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at MacKillop College, Werribee
on Tuesday, 13th February, 2007 at 7.30pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Once again I am delighted to be with you at MacKillop for the opening of the school year.

God, as you know, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We ask the Spirit, the Lord of life, the Giver of truth to inspire us in all that we do this year.

Let us remember our sins, God’s power to forgive, and the effort we must put into living according to his pattern.

Homily

My dear young friends,

What do you remember of your first days at MacKillop?  Was it the friends you brought from your previous school?  Was it the strangeness and challenge of a new place and the gradual move from uncertainty to new friendships?  What makes the spirit of MacKillop?  What will shape you as you make your journey through this great College?  For me these experiences, changing schools at Year 8, were 53 years ago!  For most of you they are quite recent.  Yet the spirit of a place is so important.

Tonight we turn to our God in love.  He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We know, though it is hard to understand, that the Father and Jesus love each other so much that there is a new person, the Holy Spirit, poured out into our hearts and given to us.  Saint Paul said, “The love of God is poured into our hearts by his Spirit, who is given us.”  And to shape our lives the Spirit gives us wisdom, understanding, right judgement, knowledge, courage, reverence for others and fear of the Lord.  What can be seen in people who live with God’s Spirit is peace, joy, happiness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.

Tonight it is important for us to focus on the things which will shape our journey as gifted people through the years at MacKillop.  Yours is a Catholic school, founded on the tradition of Blessed Mary MacKillop, whose first concern was that young people, like yourselves, should know and love Jesus Christ and be prepared well for life.

God’s Spirit is given to us in Baptism and Confirmation so that we may find and follow through in what is God’s will for us.  That is why prayer and spiritual life are important parts of our search.  Whatever may be our stage on the journey the Spirit of God comes to meet us as Catholics to invite us to come further. 

When we think about what is the spirit of Mary MacKillop let us imagine - what was her inspiration?  Jesus Christ whom she loved through suffering.  What are the things we identify with Mary MacKillop College?  The friendships, the common endeavour, the development of skills, the discoveries that all of us are able to make because each of us is unique and special. 

Peace and joy can come even if we struggle and work hard and that I do encourage for you this year.  Peace and joy can come when our teachers are opening out to us things which are true.  This means that they themselves have to be open to God’s love and truth and prayer.  They need to know their subject, to love it and to love young people with whom they work.  That is my wish for your teachers and leaders. 

The spirit of MacKillop surely is one of young people in friendship and welcome accepting other young people, working with them, respecting and acknowledging their gifts, seeking to reject anything that would be racist or critical or casting others aside. 

In our secondary Catholic colleges we can really examine ourselves on our attitude to the Catholic faith, which is the reason for our existence.  Our Church and our College invite us to believe, to pray and practise our faith fully – through Sunday Mass and regular prayer – to reject those who do, through cynicism or laziness would be the very opposite of the spirit of Mary MacKillop, which is one of recognition of precious gifts, opening us all to God’s view of the world so that we will know our gifts, the subjects we are studying. 

We will grow in our ability to relate with each other and we will prepare harmoniously for life, supported and led by our home, by our school family and by our God who loves us.

In a troubled society some of us will suffer because our parents are apart.  We must remember that the Spirit of God is with us.  We are precious and God loves us and understands the challenges we face.  Others will grapple with their studies, will find it harder to be accepted.  To them we will want to reach out the hand of care and the spirit of God’s love.  My prayer for each of us today is that we will discover our gifts, use them to enrich each member of the MacKillop community through friendship, understanding, prayer and bringing all of our lives to the God who knows us, loves us and in whose presence we are. 

Congratulations for the beginning of another year.  Who knows in God’s love what great things we as teachers, students and families can achieve for his glory to make our contribution to the world in which we live.  That contribution is needed and loved by the Lord who gave himself that we might have life and have it to the full.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.