Rarely as staff do all of us get to gather together but this is what we got to do last Monday for our reflection day.
We are fortunate to have Father Tom Gleeson in our Parish and he shared with us the story of the Wirra and the connection it has to this school and the original custodians of this land. He blessed us with water from the Tjilbruke Spring and we all sang the following blessing (the first section comes from the language of the East Kimberly Aboriginal Community):
Kija Holy Spirit Song (Rammel Peters)
Ngapuny pirlirre ngenengka taan.
Maj pumane ngarri nimpin.
Ngenengka laarne laarne kawarren
Yilak yilak yawilan,
Ngapuny pirlirre ngenengka taan.
Holy Spirit in this land.
Reach out and touch her if you can.
From the high, high mountain,
To the deep, deep valley,
Holy spirit in this land.
Josephite Sister Kateri Duke engaged us with a Truth Mandala where we spoke about and reflected on sorrow and grief, fear, anger and outrage, and emptiness. Staff then drew their own personal mandalas as a way of processing these big feelings. The art people created was amazing!
We spent one hour together sharing a meal, something we all appreciated as, during the school day it is way too busy to do this. We also celebrated Holy Communion with all of us contributing to the bread shared during this sacred ritual.
We are very grateful for having had this precious time together and that Father Tom and Sister Kateri were able to share their gifts and talents with us.
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