Monday 13 July – Friday 17 July 2026

The Word this Week: This Changes How We Live

Jesus continued, “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his most wildest dreams. Are you listening to this? Really listening?” – Matthew 13: 3 – 9

Jesus reminds us that God’s Word is never simply something to hear. It is something for us to live. This week, the challenge is not to ask whether the Gospel is relevant, but whether we are allowing it to shape our choices, our conversations and the way we show up for others. Every moment in our school is an opportunity to be good soil where compassion grows, hope takes ground and faith bears fruit. The Word changes how we live only when we allow it to change us first.

Breaking Open the Week for Staff

Every day in our school, we scatter seeds. Some are found in planned lessons, others in conversations in the corridor, a quiet word of encouragement, the patience we choose when we are tired or the welcome we offer someone who feels unseen. Most of the time, we never know where those seeds will land or what they will become. Jesus reminds us this week that our task is not to control the harvest. Our task is to keep sowing generously and to keep tending the condition of our own hearts.

The Gospel also turns the spotlight back on us. Before we ask whether our students are listening, growing or engaging, Jesus asks whether we are. Is God’s Word shaping the way we lead, teach, collaborate and respond when things do not go to plan? In the busyness of another week, there is a quiet invitation to be more than people who deliver learning. We are called to be people whose lives make the Gospel believable. The most powerful lesson our students may encounter this week will not be found in a classroom. It will be found in the way we choose to live.

If someone watched you at work this week, what evidence would they see of the Gospel shaping how you live? Where have you seen the “seeds” you have sown begin to take root, even in ways you didn’t expect?

Saint Spotlight: Witness of the Week

Saint Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church (Wednesday 15 July 2026)

Saint Bonaventure believed that knowledge without wisdom was never enough. A brilliant scholar and teacher, he understood that education should shape not only the mind but also the heart. He encouraged people to seek truth with humility, to lead with compassion and to recognise God’s presence in the ordinary moments of life. For those of us in Catholic schools, his witness is a timely reminder that our greatest influence is not simply what we teach or how we work, but who we are. Every lesson, conversation and act of care is an opportunity to help young people grow in both knowledge and wisdom.

Pope Leo Speaks: A Word for Today

“May the enormity of the suffering we witness help each of us grasp the radical nature of this call, and may it never leave us indifferent or unchanged in how we see and respond to our sisters and brothers in need.”

– Pastoral visit to Lampedusa, 4 July 2026 (In simple terms, the visit was not just pastoral but prophetic: Pope Leo used Lampedusa as a place to confront conscience, challenge indifference, and call people back to seeing every life as sacred.)

From the Principal’s Desk: A Message for Our Community

The Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13: 3 – 9) reminds us that the same seed can land very differently depending on the soil. As a school community, that challenges all of us to think about what is being formed in our young people each day, not just through formal learning, but through relationships, habits and the culture they experience at home and at school.

As parents and carers, you are the first and most consistent influence in that formation. The invitation of the Gospel this week is simple but demanding: to be intentional about the kind of “soil” we are helping to shape. In a fast paced and often distracted world, the quiet work of listening, encouraging, setting boundaries and modelling faith filled living matters more than we sometimes realise. The Word of God takes shape when it is lived consistently, not occasionally.

As a school and as families, we live this out in the small but consistent choices we make each day. It looks like speaking with respect even when we are stretched, making time to truly listen to young people, and choosing encouragement over criticism where possible. When home and school work together in this way, we create the kind of environment where the Gospel is not just taught, but quietly formed in the everyday life of our children.

In Focus: What’s Ahead This Week

Proclamation of Aboriginal Flag & Torres Strait Islander Flag as official flags of Australia (1995) (14 July) A significant recognition of First Nations peoples, their cultures, and their enduring place in our shared story. It was a moment that affirmed visibility, identity and respect in the life of the nation. In our school communities, this day invites us to do more than simply remember history. It challenges all of us to continue building genuine understanding, honouring First Nations voices, and ensuring respect is not symbolic but lived in everyday relationships and learning.

World Youth Skills Day (15 July) highlights the importance of equipping young people with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. For our school, it is a reminder that education is not only about knowledge, but about formation for life beyond the classroom. As we teach and support our students, we are helping them develop adaptability, creativity, problem solving and a sense of purpose that will carry them into their future. It also calls us to reflect on how we are intentionally preparing young people to contribute meaningfully to their communities and to see their gifts as something to be developed, shared and used for the good of others.

World Emoji Day (17 July) is a light hearted reminder of how communication continues to evolve in our digital world. Emojis may be simple, but they reflect how people express meaning, emotion and connection every day. In a school context, it invites us to reflect on how we communicate with clarity, genuine care and authenticity, especially in an age where so much is conveyed quickly and visually. Even in the smallest symbols, there is a reminder that communication shapes culture. 😜😄

Family Conversation Starter: Question of the Week

In the midst of busy family life this week, where do you notice the “seeds” of faith, values and character being sown in your home, and what might help them grow more intentionally?

Family Prayer for the Week Ahead

God of the everyday, help our family to be good soil for your Word this week. May kindness take shape in our words, patience shape our actions, and love guide how we treat one another. Help us to live what we believe, in simple and real ways, each day. Amen.