Mercy Vine

Term 4, Issue No. 4 - 8 December 2017

Director of Mission

Spirit of Advent

By

As our school year comes to a close, we are entering into the second week of Advent.  Advent, like the season of Lent, is a time for personal reflection and for preparing for the birthday of a Child who was born in a manger over two thousand years ago and who changed the relationship of humans with their God forever.

God’s incarnation lifted all of humanity into the state of royalty, bridging heaven and earth, and thus assuring us of God’s redeeming love for all time. The Christ-child is at the heart of our lives: in our homes, our schools, our work, and in our interactions with friends and community. The message of Christmas is a message of simple truths, about our connection with God, about home and family, about love and human relationships, about what to value in our lives and what to discard, and about true peace. Let us pray that this message of peace will remain with us all and that this holy peace will become the imperative in a world where discord and unrest seem to have become the norm.

On Sunday, a group of 12 Year 11 students will make their way to Cambodia having raised over $11,000 to cover the cost of building materials on what has become an annual working pilgrimage to a country still recovering from the devastation left by the Pol Pot regime.

The group will be hosted by Mercy Sister, Denise Coghlan, at the Jesuit Refugee Centre. The trip is not a ‘poverty tour’ but a ‘roll up your sleeves’ and authentic outreach; true mercy in action. We pray for God’s blessings upon Alexandra Lewis, Emily Akins, Maya Sherpa, Sophie Waters, Lilli Minutella, Georgia Sutton, Claire Noack, Gabriel Henry, Declan Hoare, James Gomersall, Henry Cameron and Tom Evans along with staff Ms Jessica Fanto, Mr Michael Francis, Ms Ilinca Bocse and Mr Bill Deegan. 

In the words of St Francis of Assisi ‘It is in giving that we receive’ and we believe that the pilgrims will return to Adelaide having received many blessings and much joy, the true joy experienced at Christmas.

Wishing you all a happy and holy Christmas Season and a safe holiday period.
God Bless.

Pat Terminello KHS
Director of Mission

Important Dates

Friday 8 December
Middle School End of Year Presentation Assembly
8:45am - 10:30am

Middle and Senior School End of Year Mass
11:00am
Gleeson Hall

End Term 4
12:30pm Dismissal

Thursday 1 February 2018
Start of Term 1 2018

The Brother Michael Christmas Hamper Appeal

Thank You Mercedes College Community

The Brother Michael Christmas Hamper Appeal would like to express our sincere gratitude to the students and families of the College for the generous grocery donations we received for this year’s hampers. Members of our committee arrived at the College to find boxes and boxes of donated items for our distribution to those in need this Christmas. 

Our thanks to Pat Terminello for again arranging these donations and to Paul Jarvis and the Year 9 students for sorting items into categories and loading them into our cars, this made the work of our small committee much easier and also gave the students an idea of the generosity of their school community. 

- The Brother Michael Christmas Hamper Committee

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