Fathers Day

With Father’s Day occurring this Sunday, I would like to wish all Fathers, Grandfathers, and significant others in the lives of our students in our CRCCS community a Happy Father’s Day. It was wonderful to celebrate a special Father’s Day Mass together on Friday 2 September at 8:00am and then to gather together after Mass with a breakfast with our Dad’s and their children in the College cafeteria.

Being a dad can be difficult at times and I would like to again share an abstract from an article titled – ‘A Checklist for Catholic Dad’s' by Randy Hain which you may find useful:

“I have a long way to go, but I believe living up to the expectations below will keep me headed in the right direction:” (Randy Hain)

A Checklist for Catholic Dads

Surrender

We have to surrender on an ongoing basis to Christ for his will to be done in our lives. Guys, we are not in charge … as much as we want to be! St. Ignatius of Loyola once said: “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to him and if they were to allow his grace to mold them accordingly.”

Be a Man of Prayer

Our children will be much more likely to pray if we do. Work on developing a daily prayer routine with the goal of at least an hour a day devoted to prayer. Sound difficult? Think about how much TV we watch a day or answering email. Consider how much time we spend in our cars each day and how much time we devote to exercise. We have more than enough time for prayer if we schedule it and integrate it into our day. Also, imagine the powerful influence we can have on our children if they see us on our knees in prayer each night at family prayer time.

Understand Our True Vocation

For those of us blessed to be married and have children, we must recognize that helping our families get to heaven and being good husbands and fathers—not our business careers—is our real vocation. Ask yourself: “Is my work serving my family? Or is my family serving my work?”

Invest Time

Our children need our time. Put down the smartphone; turn off the TV; cancel the golf outing. Let’s spend more time with our kids! In the absence of a father’s time with his family, you can bet there are countless bad influences ready to take his place and guide his children in the wrong direction. I paraphrase author-theologian Scott Hahn, who wrote that in our modern age the father or mother who is willing to walk out of the office after forty hours in order to have more time with his/her family is the real hero.

Be Courageous

Christians are meant to stand out, not blend in. Blending in speaks to conforming so that our faith becomes part of the mainstream … and we need to fight the culture. These are difficult times, and we have a responsibility to love and defend Christ, be great role models for our families and stand up for our faith.

Practice Detachment

Are we too focused on acquiring toys, bigger houses, nicer cars or the next promotion? We need to let go of the things that are in the way of our prayer lives, Mass attendance, charitable giving, volunteering, time with our families and certainly our relationships with Christ.

Love Our Wives

Husbands, we must love and cherish our wives, plain and simple. Our children will learn to love others by how they see Mum and Dad love each other. We need to say, “I love you” to our wives and our children as often as possible. Let’s show our wives respect and cherish the critical role they play in our families. “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” So said Theodore Hesburgh.

Today’s kids face significant challenges and strong fathers, without a doubt, are part of the solution.

Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on how we are doing as fathers and as husbands. Take the results of this reflection to prayer and reconciliation. Most importantly, commit to make the necessary changes.

As Catholic men, we have a responsibility to be strong fathers and husbands, leaders in our parishes, good stewards in our communities and humble followers of Christ.

Let’s look to the inspiring example of St. Joseph, patron saint of fathers, workers and the universal Church, for his obedience, humility, selflessness, courage and the love he showed to Mary and Jesus. If we can emulate St. Joseph even a little each day, we will be that much closer to becoming the men and fathers we are called to be.

Taken From: MEN OF FAITH, SURRENDER & STRENGTH BY RANDY HAIN
http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2015/05/randy-hain-checklist-for-catholic-dads/

Spring Music Concert

On Thursday 1 September Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs held its annual 'Spring Concert' in the Performing Arts Centre. On the evening a range of musical items from individual students and College Ensembles were performed.

The 'Spring Concert' is part of an ever-expanding Music events program being implemented at the College and highlights the growing instrumental and ensemble programs at the College including the Concert Band program. The College profile is increasing in the Performing Arts area, with performances by the Chamber Choir, at a major Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) event, the 'Women in Leadership Celebration'. They will also perform at the National Catholic Education Conference being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in September.

We witnessed high quality performances, by our amazing students as they showcased their musical and singing talents in an engaging and entertaining way.

There were performances from various ensembles including the College Choir, Chamber Choir, and a performance from the Concert Band marking the further development of the band program at Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs.

We again saw our students and staff working collaboratively and creatively to bring out the best in each other. We are very proud of them as they dedicated themselves to many hours of rehearsals, at lunchtime and after school.

A highlight of the evening was the combined finale item, featuring the College Choir, Chamber Choir supported by a Band made up of our Instrumental Staff and Ensemble Directors.

Thank you to the parents who attended the concert and for supporting their child’s musical aspirations by allowing their child to have instrumental music lessons or be part of the many College ensembles, choirs, or bands.

We thank the College Head of Music Performance Dr Chris McGillan for overseeing the Spring Concert as well as the instrumental music staff and the performing arts teaching staff for their dedicated work, which enabled this concert to occur.