Year 8 Family Evening

The rain clouds stayed away and it was a fine, balmy evening when 330 family members gathered in St Thomas’ Church on May 31^st to celebrate Mass and a shared meal in the College’s Xavier Centre, whilst being entertained by the musical talents of the Junior Concert band and soloists from the Year 8 level.

The Mass was kindly celebrated by Fr Gerry Healy, our Jesuit Priest and Fr James Puppardy, our Parish Priest, along with Mr Brendan Nicholls who, as always, prepares the Church so diligently. His welcoming gesture of the playing of the bagpipes was certainly an uplifting way to greet guests. The theme of the Mass was “Where We Come From Shapes Who We Are” and the readings and reflections highlighted the love, sacrifice and commitment of family. There were many moving moments, especially the Communion Reflections by Sam Hines and Mrs Gabby Fragapane (see excerpts below), as well as Riley Monahan’s beautiful recitation of Albrecht Durer’s story of “The Praying Hands”.

Following this was a production line to rival any factory as families and staff were served lasagne and salads, and then enjoyed their meal whilst listening to musical items prepared so meticulously by Ms Linda Pape and her students. It was a joy to hear our students sing with such confidence and poise; the crowd was amazed by their renditions and applauding of their many musical talents.

Before we knew it, time was up and we farewelled families, grateful that they could join us in honouring the sacredness of families and experiencing what it means to belong to the Saint Ignatius family.

It was a huge undertaking overseeing this special occasion and the student leaders of our level (SRC & Ignatian) were pivotal to its success. They ran the evening and were outstanding spokespeople for our College, so enormous thanks to them for their efforts and commitment to really step up and take charge. Congratulations Josh Miles, Cameron Donald, Emelia Browne, Lachie Verlin, Tom Bothe, Bonnie Hockley, Laura Maertzdorf, Nathan Reed, Emily Green, Josh Abbott, Fletcher Thompson, Emily Douglas, Ned Poynder, Audrey Hughan, Sam McGlynn and Emily O’Kane.

As well, Ms Kristin Williamson, Leanne Irving and Carmen Polwarth from the Food Tech Dept. must have felt like they were feeding the 5000 and they should be heartily thanked for overseeing the endless trays of hot lasagne and ferrying them from the Food Rooms to the Xavier Centre.

It was wonderful to have the College leadership team (Mr Exton, Mr Timms, Mrs Chidzey and Mr Lewis) attend, especially when that was a busy week with many other commitments on their schedule. The students really appreciated them being there to witness their presentations and families enjoyed the opportunity to engage in conversations and share stories about family life.

To the incredible Year 8 homeroom team who were behind this endeavour and in their quiet, professional way, supported students as they wrote their tributes of love to their family and rehearsed speeches and prayers, sincerest thanks for empowering our students to lead and reflect on the importance of family. Without your commitment to educating our students wholistically, the evening could not have been the success that it was.

And finally, to the families of our level who attended, it was an absolute joy to meet you and your extended family. We hope you felt welcomed and thank you for being part of the 450 year old Jesuit tradition of educating the heart and mind of the students, as based on our founder, St Ignatius of Loyola.

Deborah Hodge Year 8 Coordinator

Excerpts…

What Family Means To Me

“For me, family is everything. Many of my biggest influences and inspirations have come from my family and this has shaped who I am today. One massive thing I have learnt about family is sacrifice.” Sam Hines

“Family to me is the most spectacular, mind-blowing, awesome, scary, exhilarating, crazy roller coaster ride ~

Just as a roller coaster has its many rises and falls, its speed, loops, twists and plateaus…. so too is family life, with the many various rises to exhilarating, proud, joyful heights - sometimes from the smallest of reasons - to the downward slopes of fear or trepidation, where you can feel your stomach or heart in your throat, and sometimes even heartbreaking lows.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that there have certainly been times when I’m not actually sure if I’m sitting in the seat … feels more like I’m just holding on by one hand and flying out the back of the roller coaster carriage, just trying to hang on for the ride!

And yet, underlying this roller coaster is the deeply set structure and foundation supporting and infiltrating the load. The very reason the ride exists - Love.

Solid, strong, powerful…yet delicate. Love is a gift. A gift from God.

It’s so easy in today’s world to be perpetually “on” and it’s easy to become swamped by activities, commitments, speed and noise. As busy families perhaps we need to remind each other to make the time to tend this gift. To nurture it and periodically spend time in the detour lane of the roller coaster. It’s the times in life when we are at our most vulnerable and we know we are loved, that’s when we know we’ve been given the most precious gift possible…. The love of Family. Mrs Gabby Fragapane