It is hard to believe that it was only a week ago when we were gathered as a community in the Sophia Centre to celebrate Mass for Mary Aikenhead Day. Here we are now locked down in our homes with our students and teachers communicating remotely. We never know what tomorrow will bring, but we can always be assured of the enduring love of our God.
The MSM Staff Service Awards have become one of the highlights of the Mary Aikenhead Day Mass. The appreciation and affection that was shown by the students for staff that have received these awards was truly touching.
Congratulations to the following staff:
Mrs Jan Woods for 30 years of service
Mr Michael Davidson for 25 years of service
Ms Juliette Bentley for 20 years of service.
10 year service awards were presented to:
Sue Corley
Monica Elmer
Alison Larkings
Janelle O’Neill
Priscilla Ruddell
Tania Stephenson.
Thank you to these staff for their dedication and commitment to the students of MSM. These staff, in the words of Venerable Mary Aikenhead “Serve God with a great heart and a willing mind”.
The Olympics have been a great source of inspiration during the lockdown. MSM has had a strong connection with the Tokyo Olympics. Congratulations to Meg Harris on her gold medal in the women’s 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay. Congratulations to Ashley Moloney on winning the bronze medal in the men’s decathlon last night. Ash has previously been part of Eric Brown’s athletic coaching squad who have trained our students. Both Ash and Cedric Dubler are being trained by Eric; MSM is so fortunate to have access to Eric’s expertise.
I do recall watching Patrick Tiernan, Australia’s 5000 metre runner, struggle to cross the finish line, after collapsing in the final leg of his race. He demonstrated amazing grit. After being taken off the track in a wheelchair and receiving the all clear from the team doctors he faced the media. When asked why he finished he replied:
"I was just saying, you know, you've got to finish, you've come all this way, it's been five years since my first Olympic experience.
Let’s use this same grit to get through our challenges in the coming weeks.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to our community for supporting each other during this past week as we transitioned to “Learning from Home”. We are patiently awaiting advice from the government as to whether we will be continuing to operate remotely or whether we will be on-site. I will communicate with the MSM community regarding arrangements for next week over the weekend once we have a decision. In the meantime, may you and your loved ones keep safe and well.