St Mary MacKillop College celebrated its Opening Mass and the Sesquicentenary of the Sisters of St Joseph at the Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium last Thursday.

The Opening Mass, which was held during Catholic Schools Week, brought students together as a whole College for the second time this year following the Swimming Carnival in February.

The College’s foundation principal, Sr Noelene Quinane, addressed the 2,000 students, staff, and guests prior to the Mass, where she talked about the 150-year history of the Josephites and the College’s work to carry on the mission of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr Luke Verrell, who called upon the students to reflect on the notion that “Jesus did this for me” during his brief but powerful homily. There was also a focus on the College’s 2016 Liturgical Theme, “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” (Jude 1:2)

After Mass, the Class of 2016 spent the remainder of the day at the Wanniassa Campus for the Year 12 Mentoring Day. The senior students were able to spend time with junior students, where they helped with classwork and talked about the Isabella Campus and their experiences at MacKillop.

Year 12 also listened to a talk by the new Assistant Principal Pastoral Care, Mr David Johns, and caught up with some of their former teachers over morning tea.