What’s Been Happening in Religious Education

Sr Jean Marie

It was with great sadness that we learnt last week of the death of Sr Jean Marie Brennan, rsc. Sr Jean Marie was the last religious principal at Bethany (former St Mary’s). Her funeral was a great testament to the wonderful woman that she was. Many past students, family and friends attended and farewelled a wonderful lady. She was selfless and energetic, had a great compassion for and understanding of people and was extremely generous with her time and outreach. Having had much to do with Sr Jean Marie in her time at the Liverpool parish, I can honestly say, she was quite remarkable and will be very much missed by all who knew her..

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.

May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Canonisation of St Teresa

We were also very fortunate to have been witnesses to the canonisation of a wonderful lady – St Teresa. For the majority of us, we were able to witness and hear stories of the work that this one lady did, day in and day out. We lived in the time while she was doing her work for God. This is quite extraordinary and goes a long way to show us that saints are still well and truly in the making in our own time. It clearly shows that God is very relevant in our time and the charitable works of Christians are still very much needed. St Teresa worked with the poorest of the poor in India and showed great love and compassion to everyone of those that she worked with. Not only did she actively assist the poor to make their world a better place, but she also challenged world leaders to do more too. She knew that we all have a responsibility to ensure that those on the fringes of society are drawn in and supported. Just as Jesus always looked for the outcasts and extended love to them, St Teresa lived this everyday. She is an inspiration to all of us to live out our Christian lives filled with love, compassion and mercy for all those that we encounter during our lives.

Prayer Families

Our Year 12 students were very fortunate to have received a visit from the Family Educators who are attached to our feeder primary schools. The students from the primary schools have been praying for our Year 12 students and gave them a small gift to show them that during this time of preparation for their HSC exams, prayers and well wishes are being offered. The power of prayer is a wonderful thing and every prayer that is offered for our students can only be of benefit to them.

It is a lovely initiative and is one that our Family Educators have been undertaking for a number of years. I am sure that from looking at the photos, you will see that our students were very touched and really appreciated the prayers that are being offered for them.

If you have a moment of quiet over the next couple of weeks, I would encourage you to keep our Year 12 students in your prayers as they prepare for their final examinations.