Marist Board and Leaders commissioning 2024

Marist180 Board, Committee Members, Trustees and Senior Leadership.

February 15 saw the first meeting of the Marist180 Board for the year, held at St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill. It was also an opportunity to:

·         Have senior leaders and managers from Marist180 join Board and Committee Members for a meal and table sharing

·         Have the remaining Members of the St Vincent’s (Westmead Old Boys) Committee join us for Dinner, to celebrate the give thanks for their association and support, as they decided in 2023 to disband/discontinue

·         Hear and recognise the strong support, affirmation and commitment that the Marist180 Board has for the important services and programs that Marist180 staff generously provide

·         Commission the senior leaders and managers in their ‘Marist’ work and ministries as another year commences

·         Farewell, recognise and express gratitude for the contribution of two Board members as they conclude their time as Directors, Frank Malloy and Karen Iles (Karen was unable to attend in person).

Westmead Old Boys Committee Members: Robert McDonnell, Ray Aquilina, Paul Aquilina.

Marist180 Board members and CEO: Clinton McDonald, Br Michael Callinan, Theresa Ardler, Mike Munro, Barbara Perry (Chair), Peter Monaghan (CEO), Br Anthony Robinson.

The shared commissioning drew from Marist and Vincentian sources, recognising the shared heritage of St Vincent’s Boys Home, when the St Vincent De Paul Society and the Brothers joined forces to found and share/collaborate in the work, the ministry of ‘Westmead’ from 1896-1968. This Commissioning took the following form, and included:

78. The strength of family spirit gathers us, who serve as leaders at Marist180. The table of La Valla is a symbol of the relationship that unites us. (GATHERED AROUND THE SAME TABLE, 2009) [GATST]

‘You can give me no greater consolation nor render greater service to your neighbour, than to place yourself in a condition to serve them for a long time.’ Vincent De Paul

All: We commit to our Marist180 value of belonging, and to creating houses, services and a workplace of inclusion and welcome.

79. The communion between our children, young people, and staff, complements and enriches our specific roles, experiences and different stages of life. There is a place for all at the table, we need each other at our side. (GATST)

‘Charity is the cement which binds communities to God and persons to one another’. Vincent de Paul

All: We commit to our Marist180 value of respect, fostering dignity and valuing difference as richness.

80. This sharing requires times together. Around the table people gather to speak, to laugh, to be together. It is necessary to seek out those moments and spaces for communication in depth, meetings of a quality that unites us in what is essential. Thus, it will be easier to understand the different ways of thinking and living, and accepting our own and other people’s limitations in a climate of true acceptance. (GATST)

‘It is not light they need but strength, and strength permeates through the external balm of words and good example.’ Vincent de Paul

All: We commit to our Marist180 value of presence, knowing our greatest resource and gift is time spent with another.

81. The table of La Valla is enlarged and it welcomes everyone around us... We want to be a source of peace in our professions, in our daily life, in our own heart. The efforts of daily life can distance us at times from and confront us with other people; we wish to experience these difficulties with peace and serenity, seeking to unite and not to divide.

‘Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favourable light at all times and under all circumstances.’ Vincent de Paul

All: We commit to Marist180 value of compassion, and aligning our minds, hands and heart.

82. The simple table of the first brothers keeps us in communion with other people, non-believers or from other religions, with whom we share a common commitment to building a fairer world....

83. Brothers and sisters in a shared humanity, we seek to build networks of mutual support as a way of making clear the interdependence of all peoples. We are invited and challenged to care for our planet as a ‘common home’ in which all human beings live. (GATST)

‘Noise makes no good, good makes no noise.’ Vincent de Paul

All: We commit to our Marist180 value of simplicity, to living simply so that others might simply live.

Br Anthony Robinson, Dr Frank Malloy, Barbara Perry (Chair), Br Peter Carroll.

The evening and gathering was rich, enjoyable and a tangible expression of gratitude, to Board Directors, Committee members, senior leaders and managers, and the Westmead Old Boys, for their efforts, energy, service and commitment to the Mission, Vision and Values of Marist180.

We thank the many people who brought the evening together and contributed in specific ways, especially Derilene Martin, Adriana Garcia, and the staff at St Joseph’s who provided the welcome and wonderful table hospitality.

Marist180 Board members and CEO: Clinton McDonald, Br Michael Callinan, Theresa Ardler, Mike Munro, Barbara Perry (Chair), Peter Monaghan (CEO), Br Anthony Robinson.