Opening his homily by reflecting on St Matthew’s Gospel, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB last Thursday addressed principals, teachers and staff members at the Archdiocese of Perth Commissioning Mass for Catholic Schools on 28 January.
Held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Vicar General Father Peter Whitely VG, Episcopal Vicar for Education and Faith Formation Father Vincent Glynn, St Mary’s Cathedral Dean Fr Sean Fernandez, Deacon Aaron Peters and Deacon Mark Powell also concelebrated the Mass.
Other concelebrating priests included Catholic Education Office Chaplain Father George Kolodziej, Hamilton Hill Parish Priest Father Anibal Leite da Cunha, Moora Parish Priest Father Renald Anthony, Gosnells Parish Priest Father Philip Perreau, Floreat-Wembley Parish Priest Father Kazmirez Stuglik and Father Peter Bianchini.
Concelebrating priests from across the Archdiocese of Perth. Photo: Ron Tan.
More than 600 Catholic school staff and honourable guests attended the Mass, including Hon Sue Ellery MLC, Minister for Education and Training, Mr Colin Pettit, Commissioner for Children and Young People WA, The University of Notre Dame Australia Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Campbell and Pro-Vice Chancellor-and Head of Campus Prof Selma Alliex, CEWA Executive Director Dr Debra Sayce, Catholic School Parents WA Inc Executive Director Ms Siobhan Allen and Executives from Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia (CECWA) and CEWA.
Before the start of the Mass, Dr Sayce acknowledged the vital role of educators – who dedicate themselves to serve the children and young people in the crisis of our present time, followed by the commissioning of CEWA staff members by Archbishop Costelloe.
“The work you will do in your school community is important, and it is my hope that your commissioning today will serve as a reminder each day of the value we place on your service to the children and young people you will support, as well as your broader community,” Dr Sayce said.
Dr Sayce also remarked the importance of this academic year, as those who work in Western Australian Catholic education sector commemorate 50th anniversary of CECWA.
“While I have no doubt that 2021 will present new and unknown challenges for all of us, these milestones in our history are important. They remind us that communities can return stronger from adversity when each one of us is prepared to share our gifts, our expertise and our skills in service to one another. Like St Joseph – a father in the shadows – our work matters today and it will matter well into the future,” Dr Sayce stated.
“I hope you will be inspired each day by the person of St Joseph and his witness of service, love and compassion.”
Commissioning of CEWA staff. Photo: Ron Tan.
Dr Sayce also remarked upon the importance of the 2021 academic year for Catholic education in Western Australia and nationally.
“In 2021, we celebrate 50 years since the the establishment of the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia (CECWA). While Catholic schools across the State supported each other in the mission of Catholic education for much longer, the state-wide system of Catholic schools we know today was established 50 years ago,” Dr Sayce stated.
“We are also joining with the National Catholic Education Commission in 2021 to celebrate 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. There will be a number of ways to get involved in celebrating both of these milestones, like the National Catholic Education Masses that will be taking place across the country, and I look forward to sharing more as Term One progresses.
“While I have no doubt that 2021 will present new and unknown challenges for all of us, these milestones in our history are important. They remind us that communities can return stronger from adversity when each one of us is prepared to share our gifts, our expertise and our skills in service to one another. Like St Joseph – a father in the shadows – our work matters today, and it will matter well into the future,” she continued.
Speaking about Jesus’ words in St Matthew’s Gospel, Archbishop Costelloe prompted the congregation ‘to look beyond their surface and literal meaning to a much deeper truth’ that is important for those whose responsibility is educating the young.
In reflecting on the vocation of teaching, Archbishop Costelloe said that teachers in Catholic schools are a reflection of and witness to Christ.
“For it is Christ who seeks, through teachers, to form and shape and lead young people into the fullness of life,” he said.
’We should call no one on earth a teacher, says Jesus, nor allow others to call us teachers, because we have only one teacher and that teacher is Christ, who Himself tells us that He is the Way, and the Truth and the Life,’ he continued.
Towards the end of his homily, Archbishop Costelloe told CEWA educators that their responsibility is not only to the students’ parents but also to God.
“We know that our first collaboration is with the children’s parents in the students’ formation and journey of maturation to prepare themselves for their lives at school and, much more importantly, the one which awaits them beyond their school years,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“What an incredible privilege this is, and what an enormous responsibility it is. We know that the parents entrust their children to us and so we act, or should act, accordingly. But perhaps we don’t reflect enough upon the truth that it is also God who entrusts his children to us and that therefore we should act accordingly knowing that these children belong to God.”
