Catholic Life and Reflection

When I began my journey as REC my faith was not where it is today. I have been blessed by many experiences and a great deal of learning, however, the biggest impact on my faith has been the charism of the MSC’s.

In my time, I have had the privilege of working with Father Gerard, Father Kimi, Father Michael and Father Chung. Each in their own way have guided me and grown my faith. Although four very different men they have shared a common factor, their MSC charism, to be on earth the heart of God, in practical and honest ways.

At the moment, it is Father Chung who comes to visit a different classroom each week. Sometimes he does Maths with the students, sometimes he chats about what they have been learning in Religious Education but really, he just wants to build relationships. He wants to be present.

Yesterday, he came at Recess. He learnt how to play handball with Year 4. He went down the new slippery dip, much to the delight of Year 3 and he played soccer with Year 5. The kids were thrilled! Even though he didn’t realise, there was more than one soccer game going on and accidentally ended up joining another game.

What we want for our students is to see what it means to 'be on earth the heart of God'. What I see when Father Chung is interacting with the students like this is that he is meeting them where they are at. Play is extremely important to children. It is where they find their joy and sometimes their sadness but just being present and joining in means we value it.

In turn I hope they understand how having faith is part of who we are, even if we love soccer, handball or slippery dips. God is with us in all we do.