Mercy Vine
Director of Mission
Compassion marks the season of Lent
The early weeks of 2023 have marked many important occasions.
Our Religious Education (RE) programming at Mercedes College uses our Catholic values as a lens for us to investigate faith and social justice, alongside our acknowledgement of Catholic service.
In the opening weeks of the academic year our community has reflected on the unnecessary suffering people have endured through history, including naming National Apology Day for the Stolen Generations, our Year 12 Spiritualities, Religion and Meaning students attending the Holocaust Museum, and acknowledging World Justice Day.
Caritas Australia | Project Compassion 2023
Through daily prayers and RE lessons we brought the beginning of the Lenten season to the forefront, beginning with an abundance of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, a day when Mercedes College also had the honor of hosting the launch of Caritas Australia's Project Compassion launch for 2023.
This event, guided with confidence by our College Captains, and Social Justice and Middle School Leaders, was presided over by Archbishop O'Reagan, our own Deacon Andrew Kirkbride, and special guests Robert Fitzgerald, Caritas Australia Chair, as well as South Australia's Premier, Peter Malinauskas a proud Mercedes College old scholar. We were also joined by students from Mary MacKillop College, Blackfriars Priory School, Star of the Sea School, Sacred Heart College, St Martins de Porres School, and School of the Nativity, as well as Catholic Education South Australia.
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Ash Wednesday
Deacon Andrew returned to campus for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy to mark the beginning of our Lenten journey as people of hope and ongoing faith.
Gathering as a whole community to bless our 2023 student leaders and their badges of honour, we also received the ashes. Deacon Andrew spoke meaningfully about the background of Lent and ways that we can renew ourselves through daily actions, which may include prayer and fasting, and encouraged us all to focus on our relationship with each other and with God, and reflect upon ways to better ourselves during this season before Easter.
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In the Junior School students created personal Lenten Promises to display in their classrooms and homes.
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Class Masses and Liturgies
Prayer and Liturgies are an integral part of our curriculum and each student from Reception to Year 12 has the opportunity to participate through song, prayer, and readings. Our masses reflect what students are exploring in their Religious Education lessons and important events in our Liturgical Calendar.
We are delighted to welcome Father John Shanahan, the Parish Priest of Emmaus, into our classrooms again this year for mass, as well as visits from Parish Priests of St Paul of the Cross, in particular Father Pastor, and our dedicated Deacon Andrew.
Sacrament Programme
The Emmaus Sacrament Programme 2023 will soon begin, with some of our Sacrament Candidates being presented to the church community in coming weekends. Congratulations to Lachlan Everett, Leo James Swift, and Zoe Aywald.
The First Sacrament Programme begins with the Sacrament of Reconciliation, followed by Confirmation, and concluding with Holy Communion.
The Sacrament Program 2023-24 at St Paul of the Cross, Glen Osmond, will begin later this year and conclude in 2024. Enrolment forms will be distributed on 27 March via the Year 3, 4 and 5 Seesaw blog, and will be available from Strathspey reception.
We wish these children and their families all the best as they prepare for their First Sacraments.
'During this season of conversion. Let us renew our faith and open and receive with open hearts the love of God.’
Pope Francis
Deborah Lubatti
Director of Mission
with Sister Duyen, Teresa Pepicelli, Therese Wilson and Helen Ayliffe
Catholic Identity and Mission Team
In this issue
News and Events
Community safety | everyone's responsibility
Keeping children safe is the responsibility of everyone in our community.
Please talk with your children about how they can stay safe when out and about, including what to do (and not do) if they are approached by someone they don't know.
If approached by someone unknown and unwelcome, children are advised to keep walking/moving, not engage in conversation, and to never accept an offer for a ride or gift.
If they feel unsafe they can also seek the assistance of other nearby and trusted adults, as well as make a formal report to police.
South Australia Police suggest that if children are approached by someone unknown and unwelcome, that they use their mobile phone - if they have one - to call police if anything about the interaction "doesn't feel right".
Reports about suspicious activity can be made to:
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