Ash Wednesday

The public sign of ashes traced on our foreheads to mark the beginning of the season of Lent and the journey to Easter offers us several important reminders.

We all need that call on a semi-regular basis to stop, or at least slow down, and do a bit of stock-taking.  It might be on a personal level, or we might be considering the family as a whole.  How are we all going?  Is everyone doing okay?  What's working really well?  What's not working so well?  What might I need to do differently to change those aspects of my life that are not taking me where I want to be or forming me into the person I want to be?

For many of us, ushering in the New Year is one of those moments of reflection and we typically end up with two or three 'New Year resolutions' which, despite the best of intentions, may or may not end up with much lasting change.  One of the problems here is that lasting change is not easy to effect even when we know it needs to happen and perhaps, we need more than one day a year to consider and plan for that change.  So, the Church gives us the 40 days of Lent for this task before we celebrate the greatest of transformations, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The other reminder that Lent offers is that change is often hard to achieve by ourselves. The shared public marking of ashes calls us to an awareness of the many others sharing in this endeavour of change.

The prophet Joel calls all to this task, "Sound the trumpet in Zion!  Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, call the people together, summon the community, assemble the elders, gather the children, even the infants at the breast."

Sound the trumpet; make a noise about this! Order a fast; we can't keep rushing around at full speed without food in our stomachs.  Call the people together; for change to occur we need each other, we can't do it alone.

This year we paused to reflect on the need for change personally, nationally and even internationally considering the devasting bush fires we experienced over the summer.

"Traditionally, Christians commit themselves to repentance and renewed faith in Jesus Christ on Ash Wednesday."  We are called to join the dots this Lent. "We must live out that faith in relation to our damaging consumer economy, over-dependence on fossil fuels and the devastation we, as a species, are inflicting on God's world."  In our own lives the same is true.  Our relationships, attitudes and our behaviours can, over time, without us hardly recognising it, turn toxic.  What was lifegiving can turn to ash.  We need to turn again to God, the author of life.  To Jesus, the one who lived in such a way as to give life to others.  To the Holy Spirit, who empowers the life of Christ within us.

After an opening fortnight which reached its usual chaos from an administration perspective, the past week has provided a sense of relative calm and resultingly has blossomed into routine practices and procedures.  Training times, venues and locations were frequently altered to cater for rapidly increasing numbers in Summer Co-Curricular, whilst additional and combined teams have been created.  I'm sure this has, at some point, caused inconvenience for some and I offer a warm thank you to families who continually do their absolute best to ensure students are present at trainings, meetings and competitive fixtures throughout the week.

The beauty of the aforementioned is that we are continually creating more opportunities for more students to participate in a variety of activities at a variety of levels.  Regardless of the increased effort and organisation this may require, the positive outcomes that occur far outweigh the effort.  Sometimes the most memorable moments involve students who aren't particularly interested in co-curricular, or confident enough to attempt something new.  After some initial hesitation, the result is very often a sense of pride, relief and enjoyment.  Above all else, students experience that overwhelming feeling of a 'team' and the countless benefits that occur through their involvement.

As recently as Tuesday afternoon this past week, it was one of those defining moments that the Co-Curricular Program at Rostrevor College is slowly reaching those dizzying heights we endlessly strive for.  As I patrolled the grounds to check-in with Team Coaches and Managers, it dawned on me that every single major facility we have available was being occupied by a Co-Curricular Team.  There was a genuine sense of energy at every training, coupled with competitiveness and the willingness to train with a purpose for the benefit of all involved.  When these behaviours are ever-present, they rapidly spread amongst our students and instils in them the very essence of what it means to be a Rostrevor College student.

Ultimately, there will always be certain areas which can be improved upon in all aspects of life in general.  From a co-curricular perspective, defining our culture as one that is both competitive and respectful is approaching the point where it will continually pave the way for relative successes to follow.