From the Principal PRAYER – BECOMING BROTHERS
PRAYER – THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM (QUEST)
PRAYER – BUILD ME A SON
Be sincere in your love and care for each other. Learn to avoid what is wrong and hold strong to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and honour each other as brothers.
To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid.
Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hopes and achievements make you glad. Be patient in times of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of people less fortunate than yourself and genuinely welcome strangers into our community. Ask God to bless everyone who you encounter. Learn to forgive others and learn to genuinely appreciate others. When others are happy, be happy with them. When others are sad, comfort them. Reach out and offer the hand of friendship to everyone. Stay humble and don’t feel that you are more clever or stronger than your brothers. Work to earn the respect of others and do your best to live at peace with everyone. As you journey with your Brothers, let them see the extent of your generosity, the authenticity of your kindness, and the depths of your love. Always seek to be a Man for Others.
YEAR 8: QUEST RETREAT The Quest Retreat focuses on the values of service, family and brotherhood. Year 11 students (Peer Ministers) assist in providing an opportunity for the Year 8 students to reflect on who they are and what they hope to be as they continue their journey at Trinity College. Students take part in, learn about and reflect upon Christian Service and the value that this holds in helping them truly develop into a Man for Others. They are reminded of the love they are given by their families and have an opportunity to consider their relationship with their families and the bonds of brotherhood they have formed with their peers. Ideas on how to form positive and respectful friendships and relationships with girls are explored with the assistance of Year 11 students from Mercedes College. The boys also consider where God has been present in their lives and where they can see Him after they finish the retreat.
To right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star! This is my quest – to follow that star no matter how hopeless, no matter how far, To fight for the right, without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell, for a heavenly cause! And I know, if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest, that my heart will be peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this, that one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable stars! (originally: Leigh Mitch and Darion Joseph)
YEAR 9: BECOMING MEN The Becoming Men program seeks to assist the Year 9 students in becoming strong, healthy, purposeful students that grasp the opportunities that the College offers, ultimately becoming a respectful and purposeful member of society in the tradition of Edmund Rice. The process of ‘becoming men’ is a complex one, which challenges boys to navigate a constantly changing landscape of masculinity, self-belief, leadership and true mateship in determining the men they want to be. We believe the Becoming Men program can greatly assist the boys on this journey. We aim to enhance relationships in a positive way, improve our young men’s mental health, reduce their anti-social and risk-taking behaviours, all the while, developing their sense of self and leadership qualities. The Becoming Men program aims to provide a healthy and respectful Rite of Passage program which enables students to safely discover their emerging identity as they experience the physiological and psychological changes that are occurring within them. Whilst the program is mostly facilitated in class once a week as a part of the pastoral care program, it also involves a series of ceremonies and events which highlight key virtues that are important for our boys to develop as they mature. We highlight the importance of father-figures, mother-figures, women and role models through these ceremonies and events, and spend time in the lead up to these occasions discussing and reflecting on those people. Our hope is that we will inspire a generation of young men to honour themselves, their elders and their future to be genuine and authentic Men for Others.
One who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee – and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here, let him learn to stand up in the storm; here, let him learn compassion for those who fall. Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humour, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.” (originally: General Douglas A MacArthur) Live Jesus in our Hearts. Mr Darren O’Neill Principal
TRINITY NEWS – WINTER 2021
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