St Vincent de Paul Society
Sacred Heart responding with Just Hearts!
Throughout Term 3 members of the Sacred Heart community donated care products for women experiencing homelessness in Melbourne. All donations have been passed to the St Vincent de Paul Society Soup Van for distribution.
Thank you to the Vinnies student leaders for their organisation of this drive. A particular mention goes to our Year 7s who stood out as the leading contributors with their “Christmas in July” campaign.
SHGC Staff - Up Up and Away!
Staff during the break are walking with the RNDM Sisters.
Caroline, Mary and Angelina embark on the 'Footsteps of Euphrasie' pilgrimage with Sr Madeleine to France and England, while, Linda and Shellie are headed to Vietnam, teaching English to the RNDM Sisters.
Safe travels.
Staff Retreat
The Staff Retreat Day with the theme “Justice and peace for our planet… justice and peace for our people.” (Pope Francis) was held in the beautiful surrounds of Lysterfield at the Don Bosco Retreat Centre. The day was facilitated by Sue Martin, who has extensive experience in the area of integral ecology, and further explored the 2023 College theme: 'Let there be peace, Let it begin with me'.
Sue focused on Pope Francis' encyclical 'Laudato Si' which calls on us as people of faith to care for all of God's creation. Staff reviewed the principles of Catholic Social Teaching with a particular emphasis on the principle of 'Care for Creation' and the importance of addressing environmental concerns as these have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable members of society.
Sue led the staff to develop a greater understanding of integral ecology through the Head, Heart and Hands practice:
Head- Knowing can make a difference…
Heart- Our spiritual journey can make a difference…
Hand - Our actions can make a difference…
Staff
were encouraged to reflect on their role as educators to grow an ecological
vocation at Sacred Heart. They were invited to make a personal commitment to
creating a 'greener' world at Sacred Heart, at home or in the wider community
and placed their pledge on the commitment tree. Staff participated in a Liturgy
to conclude the day and as a community made a commitment to adopt a more
sustainable lifestyle and care for the places in which we live and work.
Social Justice - Fun Socks Day
11 August is Fun Socks Day! Students and staff are wearing socks in every colour of the rainbow in exchange for a gold coin donation to MacKillop Family Services.
Named after St Mary of the Cross MacKillop whose Feast Day was on 8 August, the work of MacKillop Family Services is centred around helping vulnerable children, young people and families build on their strengths and develop to their potential.
If you’d like to get involved you can donate directly to MacKillop Family Services at: https://www.mackillop.org.au/get-involved/donate/support-our-work.
Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass
School Exchange:
Sacred Heart College Sorrento (WA) Sacred Heart Girls’ College Hamilton (NZ)
World Youth Day Commissioning Mass
On Sunday, 16 July a group of Sacred Heart Girls’ College students attended the World Youth Day Commissioning Mass.
St Patrick's Cathedral was filled with excited pilgrims and their family and friends. A candle from our school was placed at the front of the altar along with those of 130 other schools and parishes sending pilgrims to World Youth Day in Portugal.
Archbishop Peter Comensoli, along with many other priests, celebrated the Mass. We then had a big group photo and a light lunch. It was a lovely day and we are all very excited to experience World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Tess
Year 11, Faith and Liturgy Leader
Oaklea Hall Vinnies Leaders
Each fortnight, our Vinnies leaders visit our neighbours at Oaklea Hall Aged Care. Students and residents chat, play board games and simply enjoy each other’s company.
We look forward to welcoming our friends to a Tea and Music event at SHGC later this term.
Julia Stokes
Social Justice Leader
Thank you to everyone who donated gifts as part of our Christmas Giving campaign.
These have now been delivered to the Vinnies Inner City Soup Van hub for distribution at their sites across the city.
Your kindness and generosity will help to make this Christmas a special one for some of the most vulnerable in our community.
