“Yura jauiang yulang. Yura budbut. Bindadhan mareiin yabun”.The people will come to ceremony. Giving their hearts. Giving to God sacred time.

These lyrics, Dharawal language sung to the echo of the didgeridoo, opened the annual Catholic Schools Week Mass celebrated by the Diocese of Wollongong at St John Vianney’s Co-Cathedral, Fairy Meadow.

From the north, south, east and west; from the Yuin, Dharawal and Gundungurra over 800 staff from our diocesan Catholic schools gathered together to give thanks and praise to God and celebrate the “great learning” and the “great communities” of Catholic Education Wollongong.

With the congregation overflowing along the aisles and doorways, Bishop Peter shared how his life was changed through prayer, how he learned to listen to the voice of God in the silence and the solitude. He encouraged the faithful to make prayer an active and conscious part of their lives, beginning now in the Season of Lent.

As is tradition, new Principals were commissioned and new staff received a Bishop’s blessing. Director of Schools, Mr Peter Turner, inspired those gathered to “display heart, character and passion” as they light the way for students formed and educated under their care.

The liturgy was a true celebration of life, as all gathered shared their gifts, lifting their hearts and voices (and the roof) in song and prayer, sent forth nourished and uplifted to continue their work in Catholic Education, Diocese of Wollongong.

TIM HART