More than 550 students from Catholic primary schools across the Archdiocese of Perth came together on Wednesday 7 June at Newman College, Churchlands to share with the how the Church in Perth responds to people in need in the community via LifeLink. Photo: Ron Tan.
The importance of seeing others in need through Jesus’ parable of the rich man was the focus of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB’s address to primary students at this year annual LifeLink Day initiative.
More than 550 students from 73 Catholic primary schools across the Archdiocese of Perth came together on Wednesday 7 June at Newman College, Churchlands for the launch, which aims to share with students our responsibility to help care for those who reach out for help and how the Church in Perth responds via LifeLink.
Prior to the event, students from across Perth Catholic primary schools made a gold coin donation to receive a ‘paper heart’ on which they were encouraged to draw a picture or write a message of support to someone in need in the community.
With anticipation that students would collect 34,000 hearts – representing the number of people helped by LifeLink agencies each year, more than 40,000 hearts were then collected and united into the shape of a large heart shape on the Newman College school oval by the students and teachers present.
The powerful visual demonstration aimed to show the students what can be achieved by working together to help make a difference in the lives of those who reach out for help.
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe referred to the words of Saint Mary Mackillop in his speech for the 2017 LifeLink Day Launch for Primary Schools, who said, ‘never see a need without doing something about it’. Photo: Ron Tan.
Addressing the students and staff present – as well as those watching the event via the LifeLink website livestream, Archbishop Costelloe referred to the words of Saint Mary Mackillop, ‘never see a need without doing something about it’, adding that students could help others through their support for LifeLink agencies, or by supporting people they encountered at school and elsewhere.
“Mary Mackillop never lost her heart, and so her eyes were always open and on the lookout for people in need, and the people in need might be those that you go back to school with in the bus, or they might be the kid that’s sitting on their own at lunchtime with no-one to talk to,” he said.
In his presentation for the occasion, LifeLink Chair Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, highlighted the role of LifeLink agencies such as the Emmanuel Centre, Emmaus Community, Identitywa, The Shopfront and Djooraminda, in providing support to people in the WA community in need due to homelessness, unemployment, mental illness, domestic violence and other issues.
“What we hope to achieve through LifeLink Day is to share with you how the Church responds to people in need in the community and to remind ourselves that Jesus taught us that we all have a responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need,” he said.
“I’m pleased to say that you have all embraced and enthusiastically participated in LifeLink Day ever since it first began in 1999.”
From page 9 of Issue 10: ‘Social Outreach’ of The Record Magazine