By Rachel Curry
Grandparents and grandchildren sat side-by side in a special Mass in December last year celebrating the timeless value of intergenerational bonds.
Hosted by Year 7 students at Mercedes College, the Mass is held annually in St Mary’s Cathedral during the month of December as a unique way to farewell the Year 7 school year and honour the students’ grandparents.
More than 400 people attended the Mass, including students, their parents, grandparents and teachers, and Mercedes College principal Kerrie Fraser.
St Mary’s Cathedral Assistant Priest Father Brennan Sia celebrated a Mass which saw the Year 7 students lead a vocal performance alongside deputy principal Chris Cole on guitar and recite a beautiful prayer to their grandparents at the conclusion of the service.
During his homily, Fr Sia spoke about the importance of preparing for the joyful celebration of Christmas by helping the less fortunate in our community, by buying gifts for the poor, serving meals to the homeless or making monetary donations.
He said it was equally vital to look after people who were lonely, sad or in-need in other ways, whether those people were in our families, our neighbourhoods or even in our school community.
“Next year, you Year Sevens won’t be the youngest ones at Mercedes and so we look forward to seeing you all take at least a little step up in looking out for next year’s Year Sevens and also being more responsible for each other,” Fr Sia said.
“It’s something we can all reflect on this Christmas: how can we all do better in looking after others in the coming year? And our own grandparents are often good examples of that.”
The Mass was followed by a morning tea for the students’ grandparents in the Cathedral Parish Centre.
Mercedes College archivist Vedette Lendich, who helped organise the Mass, said they liked to hold a family celebration at the end of Year 7 because the first year of high school was such an important milestone.
“Because grandparents are an important part of family, we really like to involve them,” Ms Lendich.
“For some of the grandparents, the grandmothers have gone to school here as well. We often have multiple generation families at the college and they love coming back and seeing their grandchildren here.”
Mercedes College is the oldest girls’ school in Australia and marks its 170th anniversary this year.