Celebrations for Sister Philomena around Perth commemorate 50 years of her vocation.
Sister Philomena Burrell wanted to be a teacher from a very young age.
It is a career she has fulfilled and enjoyed throughout her life; a career that has included teaching primary, secondary and tertiary students, and now, as the Director of the Maranatha Centre, adults in faith formation.
Sr Philomena’s Golden Jubilee was marked with two celebrations – one, a thanksgiving Mass and lunch on the anniversary of her profession on January 9 and the other a Mass and supper at Maranatha’s Newman Sienna Centre in Doubleview on February 17.
Archbishop Barry Hickey was the main celebrant at the Mass, concelebrated by four other priests, at Corpus Christi Church in Mosman Park, and attended by Presentation Sisters, family members and friends.
Lunch at Iona Boarding College followed with much reminiscing. At the second celebration, Maranatha staff took the opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate Sr Philomena.
Father Charles Waddell, Claremont parish priest, along with 30 guests, celebrated the Eucharist, during which Fr Charles gave Sr Philomena a special blessing.
During the evening, two Maranatha lecturers (Dr Michelle Jones and Stephanie Woods), two course attendees (Mandy Varley and Graham Rose) and two Maranatha office staff (Tracy Stevens and Bill Bellair) each paid tribute to Sr Philomena’s leadership, energy and generosity.
Everyone who spoke attested to the way Sister had enriched the lives of countless individuals and had deepened their faith with her gentle skills. Sr Philomena was presented with a bouquet of flowers, ‘toasted’ and invited to cut a specially prepared cake.
Sister kept everyone entertained with various light-hearted recollections of events that had occurred during her time spent in the classroom.