On the 27th of October the College celebrated the achievements of our Year 12 cohort with a Graduation Mass and Academic Awards presentation.  To comply with current health orders, we arranged for the Mass and presentation to be held at St Bernard’s Parish, Batehaven at 5:00 pm.  This change of venue allowed for parents to attend this special event with their child. 

The Mass was co-celebrated by Fr Martins Aloga and Fr George Azarkath with Seminarian Mark Ha assisting. The theme of the Mass was “Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead” from the first letter of St Peter. The message was one of hope and joy and of embracing what will no doubt be exciting futures for all our graduating class.

As a Catholic school, it is important that at significant events and celebrations we embrace the gift of the tradition of the Church through the celebration of Eucharist. The sacrament of Eucharist is also known as Holy Communion and as the name infers is about being in communion (community) with Christ and, with each other. It is through the receiving of the Body of Christ or the Blessings of the Church that we come together to honour our history, our core values, and the shared belief in the importance of God in our lives. The Mass was a significant way to acknowledge what has been, for some of our students, 13 years of Catholic education.

I would like to thank Mrs Belle Barling, Faith Formation Coordinator for her planning, coordination and vision for the Mass. As with all Masses at Carroll College, a highlight was the music ministry lead by Mrs Ros Maher, Creative and Performing Arts Coordinator, supported by Mr Matt O’Brien from our Support Staff. Thank you to our Year 12 musicians and singers who lead the service and shared their gifts with the community: Darcy Coppin, Gemma Ferguson, Maeve Hatton, Sam Heffernan, Bree Mealy, Timothy Nguyen, Damia O’Loughlin and Joshua Vanzetti. Finally thank you to Ms Emma Mullins for her creation of the beautiful name tags on the pews and the student gifts and to Mrs Jacqui Heffernan and Mrs Krys Wise for their work and oversight in making the space look so special.

Erica Drewsen

RE Coordinator