Welcome to 2018! I am very excited to have the opportunity to lead this community. At St Joseph’s, students are going to be encouraged to develop and grow in faith and learning. Part of my role is to move students outside their comfort zone. This is the way we all grow.
Long ago, the Prophet Micah 6:8 laid down a guideline for authentic religious behaviour when he said, “This is what Yahweh asks of you – ‘To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.’ ”
Our school motto, ‘Act Justly’, is derived from this quotation. We are encouraged to do justice, as God does justice, and when God does justice, it is not modest or polite or understated. It is an act of powerful intervention.
To ‘Act Justly’ is to attack such distortions that include racism, discrimination, poverty, unemployment, class distinction, inequality, stereotypical behaviour and criminal activities. Part of the vision for St Joseph’s Catholic High School is that we develop the student’s understanding of their fellow students, by engendering qualities of cooperation, awareness, tolerance, compassion, respect and acceptance of others – to ‘Act Justly’.
The challenge to love tenderly is a call to action, not just words. In the teenage years, students have an ‘idealised’ and ‘media idea’ of love. Love is a more encompassing, lived experience.
This year I will be speaking about time. How do you use time? We are gifted with a limited amount of time and we all need to develop skills to balance and align our use of time. We are reminded that there is a time for everything.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ms Amanda Wilson
Principal
