Dear Parents,

It has been interesting over the last few months to watch the reaction to Israel Folau’s posting on social media outlining that certain groups of people are condemned to hell. I will not get into contract law but will put forward the view that Israel’s image of God is vastly different to the one we try to instil in our students.

We believe that through Jesus Christ salvation is for all. A God who is loving, forgiving and through the action of the Holy Spirit calls us to be better people and to look beyond ourselves to help spread the kingdom of God.

The debate set off by Mr Folau’s posts harken back to the early church. In last week’s gospel reading from Acts, we see that Jewish members of some communities did not want to baptise gentiles unless they were circumcised. Several disciples travelled to the community and outlined that God was not reserved for a select few. The passage reads ‘And God, who can read everyone’s heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their heart by faith.’ Acts 15:8-10.

Ronald Rolheiser, a Catholic Theologian in his book on the Eucharist ‘One Great Act of Fidelity’ states ‘the Eucharist is God’s banquet table, and in the end, it will manifest the universal salvific will of God who plays no favourites but embraces everyone without discrimination. To deny this is to massively reduce both the scope of Christ’s embrace and the meaning of Christian baptism.’

Sickness

There is a lot of sickness going through the school and it is affecting staff and their families. Across most ACT schools, there is a shortage of relief staff so on occasion we are unable to cover classes. In this situation, we will split the class and they are given set work while being supervised by another class teacher.

We would love to hear from any parents who are registered teachers that may have moved to Canberra and are considering returning to work on a casual basis.  If you are interested, please contact either Mr Hughes or Mr Hart.

God Bless,

Peter Hughes