Students at Taranaki Diocesan School hold chapel service for Feast of the Assumption of Mary

Mary herself was only the age of some of the students attending the school today when she was chosen by God to serve in such a unique way, said Archbishop Sir David Moxon.

“When you go out into the world, to university, to work, to travel. Look around you and ask, is what you see equal and just. If not, how can you make it so?”

When Archbishop Sir David Moxon spoke to Taranaki Diocesan Students on Wednesday last week during the school’s chapel service in celebration of The Feast of the Assumption of Mary (St Mary’s Day), he encouraged them to act like Mary herself had.

“Often Mary is depicted or portrayed as being a really mild, meek person,” he said, adding that in reality, Mary was anything but.

Mary, he said, chose to bring up a child to follow justice.

“To become a living word.... Mary and her son gave their life to the cause of righteousness.”

When Mary was chosen by God for this task, she was only a teenager, the Archbishop said, adding she would have been the same age as many of the girls present in the chapel today.

Taranaki Diocesan School was originally called St Mary’s School only changing the name in December 2018, and the school community still celebrates Mary in several ways, including school chapel, where the service took place, being called The Chapel of St Mary.

Mary’s name comes from a form of Miriam, another biblical character who had stood up against injustice her said.

“She helped lead the Israelites to the promised land..away from slaver, from injustice.”

To live like Mary is to stand up against injustice, he said.

“When you look at the world around you. Ask yourself, is everything as it should be.”

In Kiwi terms that means asking is it a fair go, he said.

Over the past 35 years, he had spent many hours driving the highway connecting Taranaki and Waikato, he told the students.

“And the road has changed, but one constant is the roadworks. There are always roadworks.”

The current work, he said, was a mix of filling in potholes, and evening out the steepness - making the road more even.

“That goes with what Mary reflected on, words written in the Old Testament. ‘Every valley shall be filled, every mountain brought low’. It means there is a way forward, an even path.”

When the students leave school, he said, they should look for ways they can do that as a way to make the world more just.

“How can we fill the valleys, bring down the obstacles? It’s a lifetime of work, but it’s worth it.”