Principal's Message

Nurturing a Life of Prayer

Father Walter Burghardt, a Jesuit Priest, tells the story of an old farmer who would stop at a chapel on his way home from the fields.  Knowing that the man just sat in the chapel apparently doing nothing, a neighbour asked him, “What goes on when you sit there?”  The old man smiled and said, “I look at the Good God, and the Good God looks at me.”  Prayer can be that simple—and that wonderful. 

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours”.  All human beings hunger and thirst for God. The thirst for God is often described as a longing in our hearts that can’t quite be satisfied. In every man, woman, and child, that longing is ultimately a desire to be close to God. The great news is that God longs for such closeness with us as well. Prayer is the place where we acknowledge and express that thirst, where we are met, heard, and responded to. It is our opportunity to listen to God. 

Prayer is an activity of the heart. It is not empty ritual or prescribed words. Prayer is our turning toward God with as much of our true self as we can muster. Prayer is best when it springs from our deepest emotions of joy, wonder, sorrow, gratitude, yearning, loss, and need. Perhaps the most sincere prayers we will ever voice are short and clear—“Please, God.” or “Thank you, God!” or “Help me, God!” 

There are many styles of prayer, but if you want to nurture a life of prayer, a wonderful practice is to sit quietly and be aware that you’re in the presence of God. This practice can seem terrifying and uncomfortable at first, but it can soon become a highly prized and valuable part of your day. No matter what else is happening in your life, you will always be able to calm yourself, sit in God’s presence, and know that “the Good God” looks at you too. 

COVID-19 – Our Biggest Threat is Complacency

I will be giving to my staff in the coming days, a reminder (as has been the case constantly during this time) to ensure complacency does not enter into our daily routines due to the apparent lack of threat of COVID-19 to the Macleay Valley.  Happily, we have been relatively sheltered here from the full impacts of the virus and have been able, in many senses, to return to something that is ‘near normal’.  But as the Premier of NSW opens up the state to more regional travel, there is an increasing chance that there will be spikes in infections, including in our own community.  So it is for this reason that we need to be constantly reminded of the need for Health Authority guidelines to be adhered to. 

You will have seen on the news recently, other schools in the larger cities having to close due to an outbreak within.  None so prominent as that of our former student Aiden Tolman, whose child’s school was closed.  You may then wonder just what might happen if there was to be an infection here at St Paul’s College. 

Rest assured there is a strong and co-ordinated response plan in place IF such an emergency were to occur.  Proper parental messaging is set in place, if required and lines of communication ready to go between this college and NSW Health, and to our Catholic Schools Office. 

An infection on-site would trigger an AMBER alert which would mean the school would be in lock down and our gates locked until further instruction is given to us on the best method of evacuating students.  Children could not simply be picked up randomly.  They would be restricted to classrooms to ensure no further cross-infection might occur, and to await further expert guidance.  Their safety and yours is our priority here.  Hopefully this planning will not be required, and it will be in no small part due to the concerted actions of all to remain vigilant and to not let complacency into our daily lives.

REMINDER - School Fees Support

By now you will have received invoices for the next instalment of school fees, school service levy and elective subject fees.  Within this statement was a letter from me outlining the support being offered by the Diocese to families impacted by COVID-19.  While it would be ideal to be able to support families no matter what the circumstances, the Director and the Bishop took the view that, with limited ability to spread support, a single category of eligibility would be formally identified and offered that support, specifically those families who are eligible for Job-Seeker payments. 

This does not count out any potential support for families impacted in other ways.  This College will always provide support to families in any circumstance and I always take the opportunity to listen to families and the impact of their particular circumstances on school fee payments.  If you feel that some assistance is required, I encourage you, as always, to make contact with the school fees officer, and/or me to discuss how we can help you through these difficult times.

God Bless

Kevin Lewis BEd (Syd) MEd (ACU) GradCertRe (Uon)

College Principal

kevin.lewis@lism.catholic.edu.au