Principals Reflection

Last weekend’s Gospel reading from John 16 referred to Jesus as saying:

‘I still have many things to say to you

but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes

he will lead you to the complete truth,

since he will not be speaking as from himself

but will say only what he has learnt;

and he will tell you of the things to come.’

Jesus’ experience of an intimate loving God continued in the experience of the early Christians who glimpsed that, while the historical Jesus of Nazareth was no longer with them, Jesus as the Risen Christ was a powerful presence, still alive in their midst, and they experienced this as a powerful Spirit of love, courage, gratitude and peace, even in the midst of hostility and suffering. They knew with the certainty of experience, God as Father, as Son and Spirit. How this could be so, remained mystery, as it still is, but the experience of love has its own certainty, as Paul writes with conviction: ‘the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.’

Many of Paul’s letters that are contained in the New Testament are focused on supporting emerging Christian communities to be communities of love, to be true to the intentions of unselfishness, compassion, hospitality and mercy. Proverbs 27:17 highlights the double-edged sword that defines the term ‘community’ with the following quote: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." At times we naturally clash and test each other in our daily undertakings as humans existing in an imperfect socially constructed world, yet it is through these engagements that most of us become sharper. I am proud to be part of the St Patrick’s Catholic School community, which does not imply that I am always a ‘satisfied’ member of this community, just as being a member of a family implies the familial relationship is wholly and utterly satisfying. The occasional discontent and dissatisfaction that we all occasionally feel as a member of the school community usually derives from dealing with unreasonable demands that we find difficult to define as realistic. Jesus was unequivocal about the importance of love being the determinant of our responses and actions, and I am deeply grateful that, in association with so many of the people with whom I have the privilege to work with, we have learned humility and the importance of discernment and respect when discussing what can often be frustrating conversations because we may have failed to appreciate that another’s issue, whilst lacking substance to ‘me’, is very real to the ‘other’.

Stendahl, the 19th century French writer, was highly regarded for the acute analysis of his characters' psychology and he is considered one of the foremost practitioners of realism. He stated that we can acquire everything in solitude except character. I take heart from the reality that, just as there is strength in our differences, there is a degree of comfort when our ideals and sense of community overlap. There is a story about two fish who were swimming, and another fish passes by them and says, 'Hey boys, how's the water?' As they swim on, one says to the other, ‘What's water?' This story illustrates the point that sometimes the most important realities are things that we don't recognise around us, and for fish that is water, but for humans that's culture. ‘Culture’ in the sense of a shared pattern of norms and values that tend to be learned, tending to be passed on from generation to generation, whilst also tending to evolve for good reasons. My prayer this week is that all in our unique and, I believe, quite wonderful St Patrick’s Catholic School community, do our best to consider the reality of ‘the other’ with whom we may have in the past, or are currently, involved in discussions.

Regards

Rod Linhart

(Principal)