(02) 4655 7481
Our School Mission
As a Catholic and Good Samaritan Education School in the Benedictine tradition, Mater Dei respects the dignity of individuals and their unique contribution to our school community. We are committed to providing a holistic education for students that builds capacity to become fully participating members of their community and dignifies their giftedness. We strive to work with Parents/Carers to empower students to live enriched, independent lives.
Good Samaritan Education is enriched and inspired by the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Rule of St Benedict and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan
Our Benedictine Values
Love of Christ and Neighbour
Benedictine life, like that of all Christians, is first and foremost a response to God’s astonishing love for humankind, a love expressed in the free gift of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Love tops Benedict’s list of tools for good works (RB, 5:10, 7:67-69, 4.1–2).
Prayer
Benedictine schools cultivate a fundamental attentiveness to the ways in which God is present in the human mind and heart and, indeed, in all creation. St Benedict directed that nothing is to be preferred to prayer (RB, 43.3). Lectio divina is the slow meditative reading of Scriptures and other sacred texts with the intention of discerning how God is at work right now in the world and calling within the individual’s own heart.
Stewardship
At its core the Rule seeks to foster a fundamental reverence toward the creation that God has made. St Benedict exhorts his followers to regard all the tools and goods of the monastery as the sacred vessels of the altar (RB, 31.10).
Hospitality
St Benedict accords special attention to Christ’s unexpected arrival in the person of the guest, whom he describes alternately as poor and as a stranger. A blessing accompanies both the offering and the receiving of hospitality.
Community
Benedictine community is rooted in a particular place in which mutual service, especially in mundane everyday life, is demanded of all with no expectation of individual reward. It is a challenge to contribute to a living, flesh and blood community on such terms.
Justice and Peace
The aim of Benedictine life is to find peace. We must pursue it and work for it. It is an active ordering of life so that peace is the outcome. Peace is a feature of just communities – for peace to reign, justice is fundamental.
Discipline
Benedictine life is built around a fundamental discipline of prayer, work and relationships and seeks to free people to take delight in God’s presence within the self, the community and the world.
Parable of the Good Samaritan
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Rule of St Benedict
Dating from the sixth century, this ancient Rule continues to speak to the spiritual yearning of countless women and men, across the globe. The text of the Rule is remarkably brief, but it is refreshingly realistic in its understanding of who people are and who they can become. Although written for a group of monks, there are lessons for all contemporary people: lessons about mercy and humility; about hospitality, care and welcome; about living a balanced and sustainable lifestyle. It is intended for those who seek peace. It speaks about acceptance, compassion, and commitment to prayer and work. The Rule presents a gospel way of life, a life based on the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Good News, which Benedict called “the truest of guides for human life” - An excerpt from goodsams.org.au
Our primary and secondary classes take their namesake from our Benedictine and Good Samaritan Heritage.
| Class Name | Significance | Benedictine Value |
| Benedict | Named after Saint Benedict. Our Good Samaritan Sisters are of the Order of Saint Benedict. | Discipline |
| Gregory | Named after Sister Mary Gregory, Mater Dei’s first School Principal. | Hospitality |
| Polding | Named after John Bede Polding, the first Bishop of Sydney who founded the Sisters of the Good Samaritan in Sydney. | Stewardship |
| McCabe | Named after Bishop McCabe, the Bishop who approached the Sisters of the Good Samaritan to change Mater Dei to a special needs school as opposed to an orphanage. | Love of Christ and Neighbour |
| Gibbons | Named after Mother Scholastica Gibbons, Mother Foundress of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan | Prayer |
| MacKillop | Named after Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first Saint. | Justice and Peace |
| Samaritan | Named after the Parable of the Good Samaritan. | Community |