FROM THE RECTOR
HELPFUL PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS FOR THE JOURNEY
To the Salesian College Family,
During our present journey through our Coronavirus crisis and the various restrictions and deprivations that have been placed on us as residents of Melbourne and citizens of Victoria, it is most important that we nourish our minds and fortify our souls with appropriate spiritual nourishment and positive thoughts. We all need help every day of our lives, but never more so than in this present period of physical lockdown and mental uncertainty.
In order to assist you at this time, I have selected three pieces for your reflection and support. They are the ‘Prayer of Teilhard de Chardin’, ‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’ and ‘The Prayer of St Teresa of Avila’.
Prayer of Teilhard de Chardin
Patient Trust
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability –
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually – let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.
To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!
This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!
And I know, if I’ll only be true
To this glorious Quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest.
And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove. with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!
‘The Prayer of St Teresa of Avila’
Let nothing disturb you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things pass.
God never changes.
Patience achieves everything.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.
In Patient Trust,
Fr Greg Chambers
Rector