There is something quietly powerful about beginning a school year around the Table of the Lord. When staff from Holy Spirit Catholic Primary, Trinity Catholic Primary, and Emmaus Catholic College gathered at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, St Clair, for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, it was a deeply grace-filled moment of communion – an embodied expression of what it means to walk together as one faith community on a shared journey.
In the language of the Church today, it was profoundly synodal.
The Eucharist brought together teachers, leaders, and staff from three distinct school communities in the parish, each with its own charism and context, yet united by one Gospel, one parish, and one mission. Standing side by side; primary and secondary, beginning teachers and experienced teachers, staff and leaders; the gathering made visible what is often lived quietly day by day: that Catholic education is not carried out in isolation, but as part of a larger family of faith.
That spirit was beautifully echoed in the reflections shared afterwards.
A teacher’s experience
For Michelle McCann, a teacher at Holy Spirit Primary School, one word from Fr Dave Austin OSA’s homily stayed with her: “whirling.”
As Fr Dave spoke of King David “whirling around before the Lord,” Michelle found herself remembering times when she choreographed liturgical movement: opportunities she described as “rewarding… a means of actively sharing my faith with the community.” Her reflection reminds us that worship is not passive. It draws us in – mind, heart, body – and invites our whole community, especially our students, into active participation.
Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair. Image: supplied.
For both Frances Garzaniti, Principal, and Catherine Moses, Religious Education Coordinator at Holy Spirit Primary School, the Mass struck a deeply vocational chord through the hymn “Here I am, Lord.” As they sang, it felt like a quiet but powerful invitation: to “show up again this year with openness, courage, and trust.” They heard the question “Whom shall I send?” not as poetry, but as a real call for educators. Their words named teaching for what it truly is: not simply a job, but a response to God – listening carefully, responding generously, and holding students in our hearts, especially when the year feels demanding or uncertain.
From Angela Calderwood, REC at Trinity Primary School, the Gospel (Mark 3:31–35) became the lens through which she saw the whole gathering. She held onto Jesus’ words: family is made up of those who listen to God and do God’s will. Angela’s insight was simple and profound: our community members are not just “others,” but brothers and sisters in Christ, called to care for one another with love and respect. Her hope for the year was clear – to build a community where everyone belongs – students, staff, families, and parish – so that faith is not only something we learn about, but something we live, especially in “how we treat the people next to us each day.”
For Gabriela Osterlund, Principal of Emmaus Catholic College, the Mass offered a consoling and challenging reminder: what we bring – however ordinary or incomplete it may feel – matters. In a diverse community, each person’s offering of patience, expertise, creativity and compassion becomes part of something larger in God’s hands.
“God does not ask for perfection,” she reflected, “but for generosity of heart.”
Gabriela also returned to the opening hymn Here I am, Lord as a leadership prayer: those moments of trusting God’s guidance and being willing to say, “Is it I, Lord?” and “I will go, if you lead me.”
Threaded through these reflections was the heart of Fr Dave’s message. The Eucharist, he reminded us, is where Christ is truly present: in the gathered community, in the Word proclaimed and “broken open,” in the bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ, and finally in the sending forth “to make a difference”: to be Christ’s loving presence in families, school communities, and the wider world.
And then Fr Dave offered words that seemed to gather every person in the church into one family and one mission:
“Like Jesus, we come as we are – hopefully refreshed by our time away – certainly with our personal experience: our family… Let us allow Jesus to affirm us here, at this time… as he asks: ‘Who are my mother and my brothers and sisters?’ Then, Jesus looked around and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers and sisters. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother!’”
Image: supplied.
Discipleship in action
In that moment, the three schools were no longer simply neighbouring communities within one parish – they were revealed as a family of faith, bound by discipleship.
As Catherine and Frances observed, gathering together reminded everyone that we are “not working in isolation,” but strengthened as one parish community with a shared purpose: to serve young people with care and compassion, united by Gospel values. Gabriela named it as seeing ourselves as “one shared story, not three separate communities,” and Michelle expressed it simply and beautifully: “Though we are many parts, we came together… as one family.”
At the start of this school year, the Eucharist did not merely mark a beginning – it shaped the way forward. It called Holy Spirit, Trinity, and Emmaus – together with the parish – to be a communion of communities: listening, praying, supporting, and serving, synodally. It invited each staff member to bring what they have, to say “Here I am, Lord,” and to help form school cultures where every child is seen, valued, and encouraged to grow – academically, spiritually, relationally, and personally.
One parish. Three schools. One faith. One shared journey – sent forth to “go make a difference,” with Christ at the centre of it all.
Fr Percival Sevare, OSA is the Parish Priest at Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair.
This Mass celebration supports the Diocesan Pastoral Plan priorities of Pray, Formation and Community. Visit Synodality to learn more.
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