GALLERY: Called to Serve Mass 2019

Members of the Catholic Schools Council, Catholic Schools Office and school staff filled Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday night for the annual Called to Serve Mass. The theme for this year’s Mass was Feed my Lambs, Feed my Sheep.

Fr Andrew Doohan described the Mass as an “opportunity for the Catholic school’s community to gather in response to the call to serve that each of you hears”.

Prior to the Mass, the 25 Years of Service Awards were presented to 18 members of staff in recognition of their commitment to Catholic education. The awards were presented by Vicar General, Fr Andrew Doohan and CSO Director of Schools (Acting), Gerard Mowbray.

This was followed by the presentation of the Emmaus Awards, which recognise the significant service and contribution made by each recipient in various aspects of excellence in education in Catholic schooling in the diocese.

This year's Emmaus Award recipients, as nominated by their peers, were:

Fr Andrew asked the congregation to remember that “it is not enough just to profess, there is an action that flows from that profession of faith and love in Jesus. It is not enough for us to say I’m Catholic and then not do anything about it. If we are authentic in what we proclaim in word, then we are called to be authentic in how we live our lives and what we do.”

The commitment to ministry by members of the Catholic school’s community involves a pledge to strive for excellence and uphold the values of justice, equity, professionalism and respect for all.

Each school community marked this commitment with the tradition of bringing the names of all members of staff to the foot of the alter.

Fr Andrew urged the congregation to remember they “are called to act for the wellbeing of more than just ourselves”.

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Amanda Skehan Image
Amanda Skehan

Amanda Skehan was the Marketing Team Leader for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and a regular contributor to Aurora and mnnews.today.