From the Principal
This is the last newsletter of the term. I trust that you have had a successful and rewarding 9 weeks.
I want to write to the community about Lent – and about including the excluded. With the significant event of Cardinal Pell’s conviction and the Royal Commission findings
about institutional abuse, it can be easy to forget that the initial mission of Jesus Christ was focused explicitly upon the poor. The word he would have used in Aramaic was ‘anawim’. This means, loosely translated, ‘bowed down’. It was translated in the
Gospels by his first disciples with the Greek word ‘Ptochos’. This is drawn from the word ‘to crouch’ and means those begging – they were excluded, isolated, alienated, powerless. The people who were on the very fringes of society – removed from any ability
to achieve power. St Paul uses a different word only once, ‘penes’ – meaning someone who toiled for subsistence living. It is very significant that the Gospels use ptochos almost exclusively when referring to the poor.
So, as we end the third week of Lent, let’s focus on the ptochos in our world. We are sometimes tempted to overlook those in our lives who are alienated, cast aside or excluded
from our midst. This could be political – it could be economic – or for children in our College community it could be social. No matter which, as we enter the fourth week of Lent, let’s try and include those who we may have excluded.
This is the last newsletter before Easter – so please do stay safe and well over the break. I will look forward to the children’s return on 23 April.
Chris Gabbett
Principal
