Edition 7 Term 4
The celebration of Founders’ Day is an annual reminder of our school’s heritage and beginnings. We hold an assembly each year, where we focus on the history of John Paul College and take the opportunity to remember those who have gone before us and whose work continues to be of benefit to us all. Founders’ Day is a celebration of all those who have worked to build up this College and served within the various capacities to allow each of us today, to benefit from all that this school offers.
John Paul College was formed in 1979 with the merger of Stella Maris girls’ school and Marianist College for boys. Both schools were located on the McMahon’s Road site where our school is today, but were operating for a period of time as two separate schools. In 1979 Stella Maris and Marianist College formally merged and became John Paul College. It is the beginning of the co-educational school which we celebrate on Founders’ Day. This year is the 44th year of operation of John Paul College as a co-educational school and 55 years of education at the McMahon’s road site.
This time of the year is significant within the wider context as our Founders’ Day is aligned deliberately with the time when the Catholic church celebrates All Saints Day. While many canonized saints are celebrated with their own individual feast days, All Saints’ Day recognizes them as well as those whose sainthood is known only to God. All Saints Day and the following day of All Souls, where we remember and pray for all people who have died, is a time in the year when we remember all who have lived lives of faith and who are no longer with us, so it is appropriate to frame our own remembrance day within this larger understanding.
This time in the College and Church calendars should also remind us of God’s call to each one of us to be holy people, people of generosity, people of perseverance, people of courage and a people in community with one another, following the example of our founders and the saints. Each person is invited to be the face of Jesus to others; in service and solidarity. So our celebration of Founders’ Day, in association with the feast days of All Saints and All Souls, is a time to remember the sacrifices made by our founders: Chaminade, D’Houet, Olsen and Turner, and all who have made sacrifices to build up John Paul College. It is also an opportunity for each of us to recommit ourselves to follow their example and live our lives as disciples of Jesus.
Each year, Founders’ Day has a specific focus on one founding tradition of the College. This year we are reminded of our school’s Catholic foundations, as expressed in the College motto: ‘With Him is the fullness of life”. John Paul College was formed in a time where the church was changing and becoming more conscious of understanding the needs of different people around the world and the role of schools and other institutions in God’s mission. The second Vatican Council, commonly known as Vatican II, was a meeting of Catholic leaders held in the 1960s where the pope, John XXIII, called for a reimagining of what many people saw as an outdated church in order to better connect with people in an increasingly secularized world. It was felt that a number of the Church's practices and teachings needed to be examined and presented in a more understandable and relevant way to lay people. It was this period of renewal of the church and a seeking for ways to connect lay people with their faith that was the backdrop to the formation of John Paul College.
To honour that time and spirit of renewal, John Paul College was founded with the name honouring four popes who influenced the Catholic church direction at that time: Pope Paul VI, Saint John XXIII, John Paul I and Saint John Paul II.
As we celebrate the foundations of our school, and thank God for his blessings, it is important for us all to remember our own call to holiness and to take up the challenge of renewal for ourselves by our own acts daily of generosity, perseverance, courage and connecting with each other in this special community that is John Paul College.