Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,
As I sit to write to you this morning, I am well aware of the changing environment within our College. Year 7 to 11 2023 classes are finalising assessment with tests and formal exam periods as they prepare to finish their year. Today, end of year celebrations begin, year level masses begin and next week the Academic Foundation Program (AFP) begins, whereby each group is promoted to become the year level of 2024.
For another group of students — and they are still students of our MLMC for a very short time — the graduating Class of 2023, tonight we bid them farewell with their Graduation.
Graduation is a poignant milestone that transcends academic achievement, marking the culmination of years of growth, resilience, and camaraderie. As we bid farewell to our Year 12 students, we're not merely witnessing the end of an educational journey but the dawn of a new chapter in their lives. These young minds, now graduates, carry with them the indelible imprints of shared laughter, late-night study sessions, and the unwavering support of teachers and friends. Graduation is more than a ceremony; it's a collective celebration of potential and promise. It's a moment where dreams take flight and the future, once a distant prospect, becomes the present. As I watch our very special group of the graduating Class of 2023 don their stolls and gowns, I feel a bittersweet mix of pride and nostalgia, knowing that they're stepping into a great, yet unknown adventure. Farewelling our Year 12 students is never about saying goodbye, as they hopefully will not be strangers and will always come back to share their life journeys with us. Graduation is, however, about encouraging them as they venture into a world of possibilities, armed with knowledge, resilience and the values which underpin a Catholic Mercy education. Please continue to join me in praying for the graduates of 2023 in the hope they remain safe, find an authentic vocation and live life to the full.
Another thing that is on my mind as I consider our graduates is the geopolitics of the world as they enter it and in particular the tragic situation on the West Bank. I do not profess to be a historian and I am also not advocating a political or religious view and I certainly do not want to appear to be taking sides. The history of Palestine and Israel has been one of tragic conflict for a long time.
The West Bank, a territory situated between Israel and Jordan, has been a focal point of conflict in the broader Arab-Israeli struggle. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel gained control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Today we witness daily the conflict in the Gaza Strip, a thin piece of land bordering Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.
The status of these lands remains a contentious issue in the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with ongoing disputes over borders, sovereignty and the rights of the Palestinian people. The region continues to be a focal point for international diplomacy and a source of enduring geopolitical tensions. The current conflict is certainly tragic, with such unnecessary loss of life. Since 7 October 2023, our world has witnessed horrifying devastation, including civilian deaths, kidnappings and infrastructure damage.
These tensions are now spilling onto the streets of Australia and Archbishop Peter Comensoli has written a pastoral letter to each of us expressing his shock and deep distress at the explicit antisemitism occurring in parts of our communities. He encourages us to listen and speak with one another in pursuit of reconciliation and peace.
Please find his pastoral letter HERE.
Please find below a Prayer For Peace in the Middle East:
Lord Jesus Christ,
The Holy Land is once again struck by violence, hatred, and death.
Lord, look with mercy upon the land that was your earthly home.
Receive the deceased into your presence.
Comfort those who mourn, are wounded, or forced to flee.
Be close to all who are full of fear and despair.
You are our peace and the light of the nations,
put an end to the spiral of terror and suffering
in the Holy Land and in the whole Middle East!
Let peace and justice flourish at the holy sites.
You are our refuge. Let the people be safe in your Love.
Have mercy on us and on our time.
Amen.
This prayer can be found at www.aidtochurch.org, as is a process whereby you can help should you so desire.
In the Spirit of Catherine
God bless each and every one of you.
Philip A Morison
Principal
