Principal's Message Week 3 Term 4

For some Catholics active participation in the life of the Church is a faint memory, or a thing consigned to history. We have seen Church attendance, and adherence to any faith tradition decline consistently over the last decades. There are many reasons for this, and I guess I might be somewhat of an outlier, because I still choose to go to Sunday Mass regularly.

There have certainly been times, if I am honest, when I have felt like handing in my membership, and there have been moments when I have been somewhat embarrassed to say that I belong to a faith that has on occasions very spectacularly got it wrong. I have reflected long and hard on why I continue to “belong” to the Catholic Church.

One might say that it is an occupational hazard in the sense that it is an expectation of someone who leads a Catholic school. This isn’t the motivation or the chief reason for my continued worship, however.

I choose to go to Mass because it offers me more than I could articulate or qualify. I choose to belong to a community of believers – who turn up for some of the same reasons that I do. I go to be in communion with my fellow parishioners, in all of our vulnerability, frailty and failures, and I choose to participate in the liturgy because I want to be in communion with God. Our God who knows me better than I know myself, who forgives my trespasses, and who loves me without condition or bounds.

Some argue that you don’t need to go to Church to nurture and practise spirituality and faith. I argue that part of the reason for going to mass is to publicly confess (i.e., in a community, with others) my faith, acknowledge failings, seek forgiveness and share in a sacred meal together. When we come to communion we do so as equals, to be spirituality, figuratively, and literally nourished.

I go to Mass because I listen to The Word; and I reflect on what the Priest has to say in his homily about the readings. I try and then take that into my world; as the priest invites us to do at the end of Mass – to live the Gospel in our daily lives. I go to Mass to sing hymns. This is all part of the worship. I go to Mass for the rhythm of the liturgy. It is the same every time. This is strangely comforting to me. In other words, I know what I’m going to get!

I have been fortunate to go to Mass in many countries of the world. Despite not always being in English, I certainly know where we’re up to and what is going to happen next. Local context provides variety and expressions of the faith that give me pause. In Hawaii on Christmas Day the Conch Shell being sounded loudly announcing the procession was a startling local tradition. Listening to Mass in Vietnamese is certainly different, and attending Mass in Papua New Guinea in Pigeon is another treat. Singing is performed with gusto in PNG, and it is surround-sound in acoustic form. The homily is sometimes an effort in patience. In July when we were there, the 45 minutes in the heat was testing!

Perhaps I am getting old. My faith is more important to me now than it ever was. I like to spend time after communion praying for those who need help, praying for my family, and praying for our boys at ATC; something I take seriously. I am not sure if my prayers always work, but it doesn’t stop me trying.

My job as a leader at ATC is to be invitational about our faith. To encourage boys (and community members) to put their faith into action, to serve the poor, to think of others, and to be a good human. My job is to remind us all that we are part of a community. This community that seeks justice, inclusivity, contributes to the common good, and asks us to promote respect and human dignity for all. At times, my job is to challenge us to be better, and to do the hard work of being a Christian. And to expect all these things of myself equally at least.

If you haven’t been to your church of worship for a while, may I gently encourage you to give it a go again. You never know. I’m sure God will welcome you with open arms.

We offer a community Mass every second Friday at the College at 8.00am in the chapel. Our celebrant is Fr Ray Sanchez. All staff, students, and parents/grandparents/carers are warmly welcome.

Dr Craig Wattam

College Principal

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