This spiritual attribute has abundant evidence in the many and varied works of Mary Aikenhead Ministries, be they enterprises of great scale or small simple acts of personal redemption. It lies behind the readiness of those who live in fidelity to the spirit of Venerable Mary Aikenhead and in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of Australia to embark on ministry with confidence and surety. Further, it calls us to recognise the presence of the Divine in each and every person, and in the ministry we undertake; such recognition remains a defining characteristic of all works conducted under the governance of Mary Aikenhead Ministries. This attribute is lived and experienced daily as a spirituality of possibility.
Trust in Divine Providence recognises that we conduct our education ministry through a deep and active relationship with our faith, inspired by the example of Jesus. Adherence to this spiritual attribute, one that was a distinctive expression of Venerable Mary Aikenhead’s spirituality, requires our colleges to be communities that understand and enact the immanence of God in the lives and work of all.
Trust in Divine Providence implies that Mary Aikenhead Ministries’ colleges experience and express their faith and spirituality not in a reliant context but a relational one, where we are called through our faith to be hope-filled partners in ministry rather than passive hopefuls. We are communities of abundant hope, confident that our God lies at the heart of who we are, and what we can become.
Those who belong to our college communities experience the joy of the Gospel through this spirituality that promotes engagement with, and expression of, our faith in all endeavours, and affirms the presence of the Divine in each and all. Confident that we strive through our ministry to co-create the world through our faith, we exist as communities of opportunity and renewal.
Programs of faith formation and religious education promote faith and spirituality that bring each member of the community to an understanding and expression of a personal relationship with God, and an abiding and profound belief in this relationship in both their lives and in the work of the ministries.
Bringing to life trust in Divine Providence also requires that each college community endorses and advances recognition of the presence of the Divine in each and creates an environment that affirms and celebrates our unique humanity. It requires our college communities to develop and sustain relationships based on reverence for the individual and to foster an understanding that we are never alone or abandoned.
Living in fidelity to this spirituality demands that we accord due recognition and respect to the intrinsic dignity and unique personhood of everyone, and ensure that our college communities are known by their acceptance of individuality, their welcome of diversity, and their celebration of our shared and common humanity as people of God.
Mary Aikenhead Ministries’ colleges are characterised by a tangible culture of enthusiasm, hope and joyful expectation.
Catholic colleges under the stewardship of Mary Aikenhead Ministries will be known through:
Cultural Characteristics
- a spirituality that recognises and proclaims the immanence of God in our mission;
- a regular and visible commitment to scripture, personal and communal and prayer, liturgy and action for social justice as an expression of, and encouragement to witness to, faith;
- the flourishing of a faithful and faith-filled community of hope and trust in what can and should be; and
- a culture that understands and welcomes diversity and recognises the presence of the Divine in every person.
Catholic colleges under the stewardship of Mary Aikenhead Ministries may evidence this by:
Evidential Indicators
- consistent and inclusive liturgical and faith development opportunities that recognise and support a Church which is in active relationship with the world and her people;
- programs that encourage positivity, hope and resilience in students and staff and provide opportunities for personal growth;
- the development of planning that is focussed on possibilities for renewal of resources, personnel and programs;
- providing a school environment that promotes trust between individuals and the encouragement to act in ways that promote individual dignity and respect;
- courageous decision-making, after discernment, that recognises that God’s providence is a ‘rich bank’;
- polices that are based on the principles of redemption and mercy in their design and application.