Shine Your Light: Celebrating Mercy at Emmanuel College
At Emmanuel College Warrnambool, Emmanuel Day is much more than a celebration of our school. It celebrates who we are, where we have come from, and the Mercy tradition we are called to carry forward. As we approach Mercy Day each year, Emmanuel Day provides our community with an opportunity to pause, remember, and give thanks for the people whose faith, courage, and commitment have shaped our College.
Our story began as far back as 1872 in the traditions of Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice. In Warrnambool, Sister Philomena Maguire and Brother Egan played significant roles in establishing and developing Catholic education in Warrnambool, and we remember their presence and leadership with deep gratitude. Our story draws on the complementary tradition inherited through the College’s unique history, when the amalgamation of two schools in 1991 created the Emmanuel College as we know it today, a Mercy School.
Our theme for Emmanuel Day in 2026 was “Shine Your Light: Presence, Pride and Positivity”, inspired by Catherine McAuley’s enduring words:
“We should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us.”
These words became more than a theme for the day. They became an invitation to our students and staff to consider what it means to belong to a Mercy community today.
Our Emmanuel Day liturgy drew upon the words of Jesus in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.” Reflecting on this Gospel, our community was reminded that light is not something we are called to keep for ourselves. Following Christ means allowing that light to be visible in the way we encounter others — through compassion, justice, respect, hospitality, service, and courage.
For us, this is where the Mercy story becomes a living story.
Catherine McAuley understood the importance of presence — being attentive to the person in front of us and responding to need with practical compassion. Her life reminds us that Mercy is not simply something we speak about; it is something we do. It is found in relationships, in hospitality, in service, and particularly in our response to those who may feel forgotten or marginalised.
This commitment to practical Mercy is also reflected in the fundraising undertaken as part of Emmanuel Day. Each year, our celebration gives our community the opportunity to look beyond ourselves and stand in solidarity with others. Funds raised on the day support Mercy Works and the Ruben Centre in Kenya, connecting our local celebration in Warrnambool with the wider mission of Mercy.
This aspect of Emmanuel Day is especially important to us because it reminds students that Mercy is active. It asks something of us. By supporting communities beyond our own, our students are encouraged to recognise our shared human dignity and understand that their actions can contribute to greater justice, opportunity and hope for others.
We spoke also of pride — not pride in status or achievement, but a deep gratitude for the tradition entrusted to us. We want our young people to know the story of Catherine McAuley, to understand the values upon which their school was built, and to recognise that they now have a place within that continuing Mercy story.
And finally, positivity calls us to be people of hope. Catherine McAuley brought light into situations of hardship and uncertainty. Edmund Rice did the same through education and care for young people. Their example challenges us to notice the light in others and to believe that our own actions, however small, can make a difference.
Throughout our liturgy, we prayed in gratitude for Catherine McAuley, Edmund Rice, Sister Philomena Maguire and Brother Egan. In remembering them, however, we were also reminded that the work they began is now entrusted to us.
That is perhaps the greatest significance of Emmanuel Day.
We are proud of our history, but Mercy cannot remain only in our history. Our challenge is to ensure that Mercy is visible in the present — in our classrooms, our relationships, our leadership, our prayer, our service and in the way we respond to our local and global community.
As our students left the Emmanuel Day liturgy, the invitation was simple: How will you shine your light?
For Emmanuel College, this question sits at the heart of our identity. We honour Catherine McAuley most authentically not simply by remembering her, but by continuing her work — becoming, in her words, “shining lamps” for those around us.
In doing so, Emmanuel Day becomes our celebration of Mercy Day: a celebration of a story we have inherited, a charism we treasure, and a light we are now responsible for carrying forward.
