Greetings from St Bede’s College.

The second term has begun well. Conference Days for Juniors at the end of last term, and for seniors on Monday, have continued conversations about the boys’ progress. About 80% of parents attended these days.

The term began with a powerful Resurrection Liturgy and the week finished with our annual ANZAC Memorial Service.

At assembly, Mr Wilson’s history students presented an excellent ANZAC presentation as a forerunner to the service today. Significantly, four boys planted a cross in memory of one of their relatives who perished at war. In total 50 Bedeans died at war.

Also at assembly I shared these thoughts as an Easter reflection…

As stated on Tuesday, the resurrection, as difficult it is for we humans to understand and grasp, is the central aspect of our faith. It is why our Catholic school exists.

While it is difficult to grasp, the call is to be Easter people who live in the hope that we will die and return to God at the end of our lives, in the knowledge He died and then rose for us. In so doing He redeems us so that we can live not only with hope, but also wholeheartedly.

So take a look at a snapshot of the last few school days as an example of how we are helping you to do this.

We are the second round of the Retreat Programme. Yesterday the theme for the year 10 Retreats was about heroes in our lives.

Explored or examined were……

• Who are the strong heroes we look up to and why?
• Who are the skilled heroes we look up to and why?
• Selfless heroes were examined and why?

And so to the year 10s, the question was asked about who are the heroes in their lives, and what are the qualities they would like to emulate or copy and why?

That’s merely one example of a retreat, which is designed to help you find out about more about yourself, your relationship with others and with God, the God who ultimately is the source of all life.

The reason for Retreats is also to remind you that in God’s eyes you are unique – there is no one else like you. Living fully is about finding out what your uniqueness is and then as your life proceeds living out that fully.

Recently also, we have had two Conference Days, one for juniors on the last day of last term, and one for seniors on Monday this week, where we continued conversations about one aspect of your life…..your learning, which is obviously very important.

Men, that conversation should not be isolated to a Conference Day. It’s a conversation we continue every day with both fellow students and with your teachers. The weekly notes are part of the conversation as well, monitoring your progress along the way. The conversation about your learning is not just about what you are doing today but where you are going tomorrow or into the future.

A number of times I have talked with fellow teachers and one of the reasons we enjoy working with young people such as yourselves is watching you do and achieve things you thought you could never do, in or out of the classroom. We have a part to play in saying what might be possible. Your part is to have a crack, or conquer your fear, to persevere etc. etc…… the reward is hearing you say, something like “I never thought I could do that”. Some people call these moments the haha moments…... It’s a life lesson for all, but I think particularly relevant to you, as you find your uniqueness and your passion in life.

My point is by living fully, you get a better understanding of what you are good at now and where that may take you in the future. If you are ‘half-baked’ about that, you will never really know what the extent of what you could be.

Men, that’s part of the Easter message as well. It is over 2000 years old and while it is about Jesus Christ dying for us, it is still relevant to each and every one of us now. He died for us so we can live fully. As we begin the term take up the Easter message, and do whatever you do whole heartedly. If you do, I promise you many special surprises and plenty of haha moments to come!!!

Until next week.

Justin Boyle