Newman News Term 3 Week 4: From the Leader of Mission and Catholic Identity
The Feast of the Assumption
Today the College commemorated the Blessed Virgin Mary in preparation for the Feast of the Assumption being celebrated on Saturday. This is the Feast day which Marcellin Champagnat chose to dedicate the Institute of the Marist Brothers to when he founded them in 1817. We give thanks for Br John Furlong, Community Leader, Br Terry Orrell, Br Paul Murphy and Br Noel Hickey from the Newman College Brothers’ Community.
Marcellin Campus began with Thursday morning Community Mass led by Fr Garner and reflected on the important role the Brothers have played in the life of the Church and particularly the life of our College.
Lavalla and Marian Campus’ began their day with a liturgical celebration and the rest of the day followed with Buddy Activities and their annual Lapathon to raise money for our Social Justice Organisations, Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS), Catholic Mission & Lifelink.
Vinnies Winter Sleepout and Blanket Drive
2020 led to a new way to engage with our annual St Vincent De Paul Winter Sleepout and Blanket Drive. Students from across Marian, Lavalla and Marcellin, brought an abundance of blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing for those living on the streets. Families are to be congratulated for their generosity. Friday 7 August was our Vinnies Sleepout. This year looked different as families, staff and students were asked to engage in a range of activities and share this experience online. Click here to watch the highlights video.
Marist Youth Ministry
Our Year 7 students began their journey with Gamechangers, a new Marist Youth Ministry Program that begins to form their identity and sense of community. This great initiative builds students’ leadership skills, a sense of community, offers faith formation and service opportunities. The students had the opportunity to hear from Br Terry at their first meeting, where they reflected on the what it means to be in Gamechangers.
Our Years 11 and 12 Remar students took part in a two-day retreat, which allowed them to reflect on their journey and how they will live their mottos, “Living as Christ Disciples” and “Being a Witness in my Community”. It was an important opportunity for the students to come together and continue to build their sense of “Family Spirit” and to be challenged to experience God through prayer and community.
Student Reflections
“Remar Gold and Blue retreat gave us the opportunity to join as two caravels to celebrate our journey through our crossings and to look to the future. This retreat gave Gold rowers the chance to connect with the wider Remar community through an interactive online experience. My favourite part was the inter-caravel bonding at lunch time when we played sports and games together.”
“My favourite part was the Have You Been Praying Attention Quiz where we had the chance to reconnect with people from the caravels who we had met in Melbourne on the Red Leadership Camp. Prayer was done in a new and exciting way through the Taize song prayer style, which enabled participation from all. We finished the retreat off with an energetic rendition of ‘My Lighthouse’. This was so special as we all came together as one to celebrate our journey in the Gold caravel and share our experiences and joys with the Year 11 students as they continue the journey.”
Draw Near Outreach Program
The Draw Near program sees Newman College partnering with St Dominic’s and Our Lady of Good Counsel Primary Schools, St Dominic’s Parish and the Western Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office to help the 500 people seeking asylum on temporary bridging visas who are currently living and working in Perth.
The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected many, however this group of people are unable to obtain financial support from the government. Temporary jobs normally held by those on bridging visas are also directly impacted by the current economic downturn, causing significant financial stress. These people are in very real danger of unemployment and homelessness as well as going hungry. With 26 of the 500 people living in the Stirling area, we are called to help those both in our community and outside of it. Jesus tells us that “when we support those who have less in our community, we are showing our love for God” (Matthew 25:40).
Newman College will be running a food donation drive to create hampers to give to the poor and vulnerable among us. Families from each campus are asked to bring the items listed below. Please place your donations in reusable shopping bags and drop-off to your respective campus administration. Thanks to the generosity of our staff, we have over 10 hampers already.
Marcellin
- Plain Wholegrain Cereal e.g. Weetbix
- Long Life Milk 2L
- Pasta Sauce
- Cooking Oil
- White Sugar
Lavalla
- Teabags
- Instant Coffee
- Tinned Tuna
- Table salt and pepper shakers
- Basmati Rice
- Jam / Honey / Peanut butter
Marian
- Muesli / Cereal Bars
- Biscuits and snacks
- Nuts
- Dried Fruit
- Plain Flour
Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat
The Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat gathered for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Association is for people who make a commitment to live their faith in a distinct Marist way and choose to commit to a local group that fosters this spiritual development. Members of the Association gathered to reflect on our journey and where we are heading for the rest of 2020. It was an opportunity for members to renew their commitment to the Association and to welcome new members into the group. The group celebrated Mass together with Fr Ruben Cardona and continued to build “family spirit” through sharing a meal.
Sacramental Program
The Sacramental Retreats for Years 3 and 4 were held in the Marist Auditorium in Week 3 and bring a conclusion to the school-based preparation program for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Here at Newman College we prepare students to receive the sacraments, however families must contact their parish to know when they will be celebrating the sacraments. Click here to access Parish contact details.
Please be aware that due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the Parishes will only be celebrating the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion in 2020 through the direction of The Archbishop of Perth.
Download Temporary Suspension of Confirmation Directive by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe
Student Reflections
“On Thursday 6 August, Unit 4 attended the Eucharist Retreat led by 24:7 Youth Ministry. We learnt about the four symbols of Baptism and were taught more about what the Eucharist is and the important parts of the Eucharist. We re-enacted the full story of Jesus’ Last Supper and used wraps to represent bread and grape juice to represent wine. We learnt about Jesus loving us so much that he died for us. We played lots of games along the way which was a blast. Overall, the Eucharist retreat was very enjoyable and prepared us to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.” Savannah Doyle and Ella Baws, Year 4 Blue students
“We had a Eucharist Retreat. I liked it because we played in fun games. My favourite game was link chasey.” Lucy Ringrose Year 4 Green
“The Eucharist Retreat was a good experience and it was really fun and entertaining. I learnt some new things about the Eucharist. I also liked playing the games. The youth leaders leading the day were very fun.” Joshua Woods, Year 4 Green