Each year Catholic schools across NSW celebrate Catholic Schools Week, which is also the commencement of the enrolment period for 2022. This Catholic Schools Week, we join with dioceses and Catholic education systems and schools across the country to celebrate 200 years of Catholic education in Australia.

Our theme this year is ‘Faith in the future’  which reminds us to maintain our hope that God’s kingdom draws ever closer, while challenging us to ensure our Catholic schools continue to be vibrant communities of faith, providing opportunities for encounter with Jesus in the midst of a world often dominated by a sense of isolation, tragedy and despair.

Since the very first Catholic school was established in New South Wales in 1820, countless children and young people have benefitted from the intergenerational contributions of faith-filled staff in our Catholic schools.

As we look to the future with optimism and hope, and dream of the next 200 years, we can draw inspiration from the same source that has sustained generations of Catholic educators: a commitment to the gift of Catholic education and its continual improvement. 

We make this commitment because we know that a school can transform a life, and our Catholic schools do this in a unique way. By inviting our students to encounter Jesus and develop a distinctly Catholic worldview defined by a Catholic spirit, a Catholic heart, and a Catholic intellect— we prepare them to find meaning and purpose in life as they read and respond to the signs of the times. 

Usually St Michael’s Nowra would celebrate Catholic Schools Week with a whole school mass but are unable to do this in 2021 due to COVID-19. We have commenced receiving enrolments for Kindergarten 2022 and look forward to interviewing these prospective students on Saturday 15th May, 2021. 

I conclude with part of the prayer that our staff shared this morning before school when we gathered together to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.

Prayer for Catholic Schools Week

Almighty and all-loving God, 

with gratitude for the endeavours of Catholic education in the past, with confidence in our Catholic pre-schools, schools and universities today, and with faith in their continuing contribution in the future, we celebrate 200 years of Catholic education in this Great South Land. 

As our Heavenly Father, 

We thank you for your providential care for your children in this land in inspiring priests, religious and lay people to found and staff our schools in ages past. Through them the Good News of your Son was brought to the young even in colonial times – and ever since. 

As Christ the Teacher, 

you grace the staff and leaders of Catholic education today.  As they build on the achievements of their predecessors, direct them in their present efforts to ensure that every young Australian has the opportunity for an excellent education and formation in faith. 

As our Inspiring Spirit, 

you lead us into the future. In the century ahead, grant those teaching and learning in our schools, those planning and leading, and the families and community that entrust their young people to us, a love of learning and a willingness to be the face of Christ in the world of tomorrow. 

Pour out your abundant blessings upon all involved in the ministry of Catholic education. Amen. 

Our Lady of the Southern Cross – pray for us. 

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop,  Patron of Catholic Education in Australia – pray for us.