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This Saturday, 6 June, Marists around the world will celebrate the Feast Day of St Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers and the inspiration behind the mission we continue today.

When we hear stories of saints, it can sometimes be difficult to relate to them. We may imagine them as extraordinary people whose holiness places them somehow beyond the experiences of ordinary life. Yet the saints were, first and foremost, people just like us. They faced challenges, doubts, and limitations. What made them remarkable was not perfection, but their willingness to love God and to love others.

Marcellin Champagnat was one such person. Born in rural France in 1789, he was not a man of wealth, influence, or exceptional academic ability. Rather, he was a priest who saw a need in his community and chose to respond. He noticed the young people who were overlooked, forgotten, and lacking access to education and faith formation. Seeing their needs, he acted with humility, courage, and determination.

I often wonder whether Marcellin could ever have imagined what would grow from those simple beginnings. Could he have envisioned Marist schools on the other side of the world in Australia? Could he have imagined the thousands of students, families, staff, and communities who would one day be touched by his vision? I suspect that he would be genuinely surprised. Yet perhaps that is the beauty of his story. He did not set out to change the world; he simply responded faithfully to the needs he saw before him.

As we celebrate his feast day, we are reminded that the call to holiness is not reserved for a select few. Each of us is invited to be part of the communion of saints by continuing their work in our own time and place. Like Marcellin, we are called to notice those who may be overlooked, to respond with compassion, and to bring the love of God to others through our words and actions.

I wish all members of our community a wonderful weekend as we reflect on the life and example of St Marcellin Champagnat. While his feast day falls this Saturday, we are very much looking forward to celebrating together as a College community on Friday 19 June, once our senior students have completed their exams.

Mr Stuart McClorey

DIRECTOR OF MISSION & CATHOLIC IDENTITY

The Power of Break: It Leads to Connection, Appreciation and Reset

The mid-term break, which includes WA Day, is fast approaching and, as families, I am sure we are looking forward to time together and precious moments. That weekend, we have the Lavalla Wizard of Oz Production, which will be such a treat to watch, but I am sure many of you are planning an outing, a weekend away or a catch-up. I wonder how many of us are intentionally setting aside quiet and unstructured times to just be present, breathe and experience true downtime without an agenda to 鈥榙o鈥�?

Accompanying the Year 10 group to camp just over a week ago got me thinking more about the importance of stillness, quiet time and presence in the moment. The camp is designed for our students to experience 鈥楤ecoming Adult鈥�, and it follows on from The Rite Journey program undertaken in Year 9. There were challenging moments, expectations with responsibility for tasks, teamwork, problem solving and discomfort. There was also significant time for silence, stillness and presence to oneself and one another. Staring into the fires each camp area set nightly was not simply providing a function to keep the group warm before heading to bed. Gathered at the fire, like so many cultures across time and place, the fire invited the warmth of community, reflection, contemplation and the invitation to listen properly to others around us and to nature.

It is crucially important for our young people and our own wellbeing to experience quiet and presence in the moment. It just does not happen enough or for long enough in everyday life. A phone out to scroll or even in proximity, a journey in the car where all but the driver quickly put earbuds in and watch reels, movies or listen to music. All are distractions and foils to true stillness. They seem to be connections but are actually things that draw us from connection.

Recently, the College Executive and I had the great joy of interviewing families and Year 4 students for positions to join 秀秀直播 in Year 7, 2029. It is so heartening to meet wonderful families and joyful children who tell the story of their own learning and pursuits out of school. What I am also acutely listening for is the family time, the protection of the simplicity of sitting together to share a meal at night, to have board games and conversations. Happily, I am hearing more and more parents reducing the number of activities and programs that fill up a young person鈥檚 afternoon, early evening and weekend and their intentional efforts in the family to model and provide breaks that foster connection, appreciation and reset. What great examples of the Marist characteristics of Presence and Simplicity. I think you are doing it better than I did as a father of my children at this age.

Please read on through the Newsletter to the key sections of the publication. The Vice Principal鈥檚 piece will be covering more of the wonderful achievements and engagements of the past fortnight.

Within the next few weeks, may there be moments of stillness, quiet and old-fashioned connection in the life of your family that bring you great joy.

Mr Andrew Watson

PRINCIPAL