The month of October at St Paul’s Missionary College is synonymous with its purpose and ethos to live up to the title of being a Missionary College. As an entity of the Missionary Society of St Paul, the run-up to Mission Sunday is filled with numerous and various activities for students and staff alike.
A full week of events accompanied the College Community. The centrality of it was the gathering of schools with their respective masses and the sharing of experiences of members of staff and members of the MSSP hailing from recent missionary experiences.
Senior School students had the opportunity to meet online with MSSP brothers who are currently residing in the International House of Formation in the Philippines. It was a moment to interact, ask and gather more information on their calling but also their experiences, for the majority of them, being away from their home.
At the end of the week, Junior School students and Senior 1 students were surprised by receiving a gift – a book was generously donated by the MSSP community. The storyline of the book, “L-avventura ta’ Nick u Ella” by Fr John Curmi, hails from Peru, one of the countries students hear about so frequently thanks to the MSSP missions in this far-away land.
Most of the week was also marked by the opportunity for all students in both the Junior and the Senior School to have breakfast together. Breakfast items supplied to students and staff were generously sponsored by others in order to assist the College as many donations as possible. ‘Kolazzjon ghalik u ghalija’ was an initiative
in support of a local NGO who closely work with the MSSP Missions in Pakistan. Their current project is to assist the MSSP fathers to provide breakfast to 500 school children everyday who attend the MSSP school in Lahore. An initiative which was not only supported by students and staff, but one where students’ families have been encouraged to participate in.
Special Assemblies concluded the long week of events with Junior School Students and Senior School Students meeting online once again Br Marco Cabatuando MSSP and Br David Pace MSSP ahead of their ordination to the diaconate. Both Br Marco and Br David know our students well thanks to the pastoral work they both carried out at our College. Students were able to continue asking questions about them, their mission and above all their next steps in their vocational journey.
All these activities and the ongoing efforts to live such an intense week is fruit of the dedicated work and collaboration among members of staff as well as the SPMC Chaplaincy teams. A week were all involved, came together, beyond their daily tasks, to ensure the values of being missionary may truly be grasped and
understood by their students. Being present, supporting one another and being mindful of the needs of others, especially the weakest and the most marginalised, thus, living up to the charism and spirituality of their founder, Joseph de Piro.