From the Principal

Ultimately , it is the head , the heart and the hands that are the instruments by which commitment is understood , internalised , embraced and enacted .

The Jesuit educational mission , at its core and in its praxis , is a commitment to principles that demand academic , emotional and moral engagement . It seeks to instil values such as honesty , dedication , persistence , compassion and tolerance – values which are often given lip service by millennials who flourish on the fast grab of the techno rich age . To achieve this goal , students are offered the narrative of the past as a foundation upon which to build their sense of the present and the future .

When William J Byron SJ distilled key themes from Georgetown University – the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning in the United States – he captured the essence of the Jesuit enterprise :

[ It ] seeks to be a place where understanding is joined to commitment , where the search for truth is informed by a sense of responsibility …; where academic excellence in teaching is joined with the cultivation of virtue ; and where a community is formed which sustains men and women in their education and the conviction that life is only lived well when it is lived generously in the service of others . ( Byron , 1997 )

Commitment lived well , is the impulse to appropriate the many elements of the educational program :

While these are lofty ideals , they find daily expression in the life of the College . It is in the support the SEIP boys are given in their classroom and their Houses . As it is with the First Nations and refugee boys , whose life circumstances are affected by the institutions that have marginalised their lives . The service programs speak to the highest form of emotional and moral engagement , be they in aged care facilities on the north shore or the orphanages and schools that form part of the immersion programs across South East Asia .

And , it is in that expanded network of Old Boys who , while fulfilling their commitment to the school , undertake new ministries that support the works of the College through benefaction to the Bursary Program , signing up as mentors for the First Nations and refugee boys , assisting the Cana Camp and myriad of other activities through which the mission of the school is lived out .

Ultimately , it is the head , the heart and the hands that are the instruments by which commitment is understood , internalised , embraced and enacted . At times , it is not easy – something that Ignatius memorialised in his own prayer ‘ To give and not to count the cost , to fight and not to heed the wounds .’

As we move into the latter stages of the year , let us renew our own commitment towards the principles and priorities of Jesuit education in our school and in our world .

DR PAUL A HINE , PRINCIPAL

6 | IGNATIAN | JULY 2017