India Fun Run
I believe that God is constantly speaking to us. Our challenge, in the ever-increasing busyness of our lives and the complexities of our ongoing societal restrictions, is to find the time to be still enough and actually listen! I was reminded of this challenge this morning while attending a Catholic School Principals’ Conference and Retreat. Despite my absence from school and clear instruction to clear my mind, my thoughts drifted back to the running of our Fun Run for India this afternoon. In particular, I thought about the importance of raising much needed funds in order to continue our ongoing support of the various missions and charity works that we have established in India. These are the very same missions, schools and charities that the staff and young men of our College have regularly visited, supported and developed important and ongoing relationships through various pilgrimages for several years. Of course, in the wake of the current global pandemic, our outreach work to ‘our brothers’ in this region is particularly important. Amidst my thoughts and prayers for a successful college event, the Gospel of the day that I listened to as part of my retreat experience was a very timely reminder about the importance of our Mission, Charity and Outreach work.
Matthew 22: 34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him. “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it. ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’.”
In this simple and yet profound Gospel reading is a clear message, Love God and love one another. It is on these two ‘Great Commandments’ that our mission as a school is based and from where much of our work in helping others emerges. Trinity College does an extraordinary amount of work in helping others. This can be seen through our ongoing commitment to several charities and organisations who do important and meaningful work both locally and overseas. Our respective donations and practical assistance to groups such as Lifelink, Brother Olly’s Wheelchairs for Kids, Shopfront, Red Cross Soup Patrol, St Vincent de Paul, Edmund Rice Camps for Kids, the Kimberley Immersion and our India Pilgrimage, to name just a few, is evidence of such commitment to reach out. Similarly, the boys do extraordinary work in helping others through the Christian Service Program. At this unusual time of Covid restrictions and limited travel, our determined efforts to continue to assist has been quite extraordinary and probably more essential than ever.
In many contexts, and in varied ways, Trinity College lives out the challenge to ‘love one another’. This was at the heart of Jesus’ message as told through the Gospel of Matthew – to love unconditionally, and to be truly compassionate and caring. This is also at the core of our Edmund Rice tradition, as captured in two of our Touchstones - Gospel Spirituality ‘invites all people into the story of Jesus and strive to make his message of compassion, justice and peace a living reality within our community.’ Justice and Solidarity challenges us to ‘commit to justice and peace for all, grounded in a spirituality of action and reflection that calls us to stand in solidarity with those who are marginalised and the earth itself.’
Similarly, this message of love and authentic care for others, is wonderfully captured by two of our Spirit ambitions as part of our College Strategic Plan. The Spirit of Faith ‘calls us to be a proud faith community where gospel values are known, lived and celebrated’. The Spirit of Service ‘calls us to form young men with the ‘TC Spirit’ who are authentic, active and outstanding role models in their outreach’.
While academic knowledge is important, and the opportunity to engage in sport and the arts is certainly enjoyed, it may be our efforts in teaching and providing opportunities for our boys to be of service, to show compassion and help those in need (to love); that is the most rewarding. Mahatma Gandhi once said that “Where there is love, there is life”. Reaching out and serving others is certainly life-giving and we acknowledge all students, parents and staff who so generously give.
As it turns out, it seems the Holy Spirit was also listening this morning. Beautiful weather greeted our students and staff as they walked or ran around the bridges to raise important funds for our brothers and sisters in India. We trust that the spirit of those students and staff who have previously travelled to India, and the spirit of those that will hopefully be part of future Pilgrimages from our College, will continue to provide valuable support to the various mission schools, orphanages and homeless centres that we support in India. In doing so, they will help spread some ‘Trinity love’ to those that certainly need it.
Live Jesus in our Hearts.
Mr Darren O’Neill
Principal