Director of Faith and Community

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Prayer of World Youth Day

Our Lady of the Visitation,
you who left in haste towards the mountain to meet Elizabeth,
lead us also to meet all those who await us
to deliver them the living Gospel:
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord!

We will go in a hurry, with no distraction or delay,
but with readiness and joy.
We will go peacefully, because those who take Christ take peace,
and welldoing is the best wellbeing.

Our Lady of the Visitation,
with your inspiration, this World Youth Day
will be the mutual celebration of the Christ we take, as You once did.

Make it a time of testimony and sharing,
fraternization, and giving thanks,
each of us looking for the others who always wait.
With you, we will continue on this path of gathering,
so that our world will gather as well,
in fraternity, justice and peace.

Help us, Our Lady of the Visitation,
to bring Christ to everyone, obeying the Father, in the love of the Spirit!

Ola! Last week, several million pilgrims from all over the world converged on Lisbon, Portugal to celebrate World Youth Day 2023. The Melbourne Archdiocese was represented by over 500 pilgrims, including members of the Kolbe community and wider parishes.

As in the words of Pope Francis at his opening address; “you are not here by accident. The Lord has called you… He called you by name.” The WYD experience of formation and spiritual nourishment is something that will continue to bear fruit for the individual and the broader Church, long after it has concluded. At the end of WYD Lisbon, Pope Francis announced WYD 2027 in Seoul. South Korea has long been touted as a host nation for WYD and they will welcome Catholics from all over the world in a few years time. Pope Francis also invited Catholics in 2025 to Rome for the Jubilee Year.

Half a world away, Kolbe Catholic College is preparing to celebrate the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe. A significant amount of work has gone into the preparations of this significant occasion and each of the Leadership Team as well as many other staff have been working tirelessly in the background to bring this day to fruition. I commend and thank all the staff and students who have contributed to making this Feast Day special.

Not only as a College should we look forward to the Feast Day Mass, we will also bless our new statue of St Maximilian Kolbe, another significant milestone for our College.

In the last few weeks we celebrated the House Feast Masses of MacKillop and Frassati, presided over by Fr. John Murphy. Thank you to all staff and students involved in these masses. We look forward to celebrating our last Feast Mass of the year, Teresa in September.

Finally, blessings to our year 11 students as they partake in a two day retreat at the end of August. The days will be led by some fantastic facilitators who will enable our students to explore their faith and spirituality. The two days will also enable them to spend some time in gendered groups, reflecting on what is important for them.

Rob Dellar
Director Faith and Community