Mercy Messenger Term 2 Week 10 25 June 2021

Holidays

I would like to wish all families a relaxing and happy holiday. All of our students will have a very busy time in Term 3 and I hope that they are well rested in preparation. Please note that our students resume for Term 3 on Monday 12 July.

“Serve Christ” is the motto of Mercy College. In serving Christ, we are striving to be more Christlike in our daily action, in the way that we are Christ to each other. I feel compelled to reflect briefly on this core tenet of Catholic community with the lead up to school holidays and the world as we now know it, living in COVID times. I remind our students and our community to continue to come together. Supporting each other and abiding by the social distancing and cleaning regulations, in order to minimise and remove any transmission threat during the upcoming holidays.

The word community is often overused, and consequently can be devalued. However, genuinely “Serving Christ” builds positive, enduring, compassionate and just relationships, which in turn create that sense of belonging that is a true community. That is what Mercy, like all Catholic schools, is about. As with anything else, a strong community is dependent upon the hard work of everyone concerned. That effort needs both direction and constant reinforcement, which is provided by the Christian simplicity of our motto. The result is that Mercy is habitually a place that values people, which in turn means that, like me, they are proud to be part of a truly Christian community. Thank you to everyone for your efforts during the past few months.

NAIDOC Mass

As you may be aware, NAIDOC week falls in the second week of the school holidays and first week of Term 1. Our students will be attending the regional NAIDOC Mass which is being held on Tuesday 20 July. Due to current COVID restrictions, numbers to this Mass are unfortunately limited. However, we will be holding activities at the College to celebrate this important week.

Catholic Education Week

Next term we celebrate Catholic Education Week from Sunday 25 July - Saturday 31 July and this year will focus on the theme: A Spirited Tomorrow. Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all Catholic schools to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos.

We will have more information next term on the activities the College will undertake during this special time.

Sporting Teams

Congratulations to our various sporting teams who have again performed well in recent competitions. Our Year 9 Netball team won the Mackay Regional Championships and now travel to Brisbane to compete in the Vicki Wilson State finals in August, the Year 7 – 9 AFL team won the AFL Q School Cup and will now travel to Townsville in August and the U15 boys Soccer team who recently travelled to Bowen to compete in the Bill Turner Cup. All teams are to be congratulated on their dedication, effort and great teamwork. I would also like to thank and acknowledge the coaches and parents who support our teams.

Mrs Janelle Agius

Last week I had the opportunity, along with many from our diocese, to attend the ordination of Rev. Ashwin Acharya at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Rockhampton. It was a wonderful event with enormous significance for Ashwin, his family, and all the people of our diocese.

This weekend’s Gospel (Matthew 5:21-43), presents two healing stories where Jesus was amongst the crowd and felt healing power leave him, restoring a woman to health who had suffered extensively from ill health. Jesus then reaches into the world beyond life, bringing life back to Jairus’ daughter. Repeating the words of last week’s gospel: Who is this man? Is Jesus someone with whom we want to become involved? On the other hand, can we afford not to get involved with him? Jesus can lead us to life even in the midst of death. He is interested in the well-being of everyone, even those who may not be highly valued by society, oppressed women and children, the chronically ill, those who are on the road to self-destruction.

God's graciousness toward us should encourage us to be generous toward others. The life-enhancing gifts we receive must be shared with those in need and those whose life has not been kind. As we have been bestowed with the healing touch of God, so we must extend that same loving touch to others. Ashwin’s calling to the vocation of the ordained priesthood goes to the very heart of this notion. In receiving the invitation from the Lord to be freely giving and continue the saving work of Christ in the world, Ashwin will exercise his vocation of priesthood in the realm of love and grace to all those he serves.

The love of Christ urges us to be freely giving as we approach those in need. Following Jesus' lead, we must not only give to those in need, we must allow them to take from us. This means that at times we will be required to share material resources; at other times it may mean exerting energy in our service of them. In all of this, Jesus has set the example for us to follow.

May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace, And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen (Prayer from Rev. Ashwin Acharya’s ordination prayer card - Saint Arnold Janssen, pray for us)

Mrs Jeanette Refalo

Bikeathon

We were truly blessed with ideal conditions (except for the slight headwind) for our annual Bikeathon, which made for a glorious day for a ride or walk. A huge thank you must go to all the parents who rode or walked the course, to the 150 plus parents who helped out at checkpoints and intersections and to the parents helping with catering and serving at the Hall. It was great to see over 300 students turn up to participate which was short of our record of 465.

Thank you also to our Police volunteers led by Detective Senior Constable Cindy Searle, for their time and resources in ensuring everyone’s safety on the day. We were very fortunate this year to have no accidents, grazes or scratches. The $50 Sorbello’s Italian Restaurant Gift Voucher for parent volunteer was won this year by Tara Sleep.

Free Homeroom Lunches this year were awarded to the Highest Fundraising Homeroom in each House. The lucky winners were:

Argos 4, Badila 1, Midas 2, Oraya 6, Pindar 4 and Triton 6.

Our Major Prize winner for a new bike valued at $730 from Corry Cycles was Hanyu who was super excited to upgrade from his old Repco bike at home.

Thanks once again to one and all!

Uniform

As we complete Term 2, I am hoping all students are aware of our Uniform Expectations at Mercy College. A school hat must be worn at all times except indoors. Students who do not have a College hat are withdrawn from the playground until they have one. Students have been informed on Assembly that they are required to wear their hat before entering the school, as they hop off the bus or out of their car, during all break times and moving between classes. If for any reason your child doesn’t have their hat or is wearing the incorrect uniform, they require a note from their parent/guardian explaining the reason why. All students (including Year 10 Students in their final semester) are expected to wear the full correct uniform up to and including the last day of the year. To ensure you support this expectation, second hand uniform are available to be purchased and advertised on our Facebook page. Our current concern is the length of girl’s skirts and girls with very tight fighting sports shorts, students without a named school hat is also becoming an increasing issue, these items will be our major focuses next term when we conduct our Formal Uniform Check. The Formal Uniform Check will be on Wednesday 14 July. All students will be required to attend school in their full Formal Uniform including their College hat and will be checked by their Homeroom Teacher.

The final rule I would like to draw to your attention is ‘hair’ which can be found in the grooming section of our Student Diary on pages 7 and 8. We have had a number of male students with longer hair styles and I thank those parents who have been working with us to correct this situation. Our guidelines are very clear with photograph examples included in the Diary for parents/guardians and students to refer to. Please do take the time to read over these rules with your child and correct them over the school holidays. If you have any questions or concerns with regard to these rules or any other rules, please feel free to contact your child’s House Coordinator or myself.

Mr Christopher Sorbello