St Teresa of Avila left it written in her dialogues that the world may always know “Whatever you ask of St. Joseph, you shall receive.” It is in this spirit that the Marist brothers placed a statue of St Joseph at the heart of our school. St Joseph in the Catholic tradition is the greatest saint after the Immaculate Virgin Mary. The honour is given to St Joseph as he was God’s foster-father, through being the earthly father of Jesus the Son of God.

In our High School we can learn a lot from St Joseph as Jesus was his pupil and St Joseph was the teacher through whom He “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Surely this is what our Marist brother ancestors thought of when they placed the statue of St Joseph outside of the M-Block, that every pupil and teacher who walked by would be reminded of the “School of Nazareth.”

Our pupils who go through trades and learn carpentry skills can be reminded of Jesus who learned and applied these skills day in and day out, in a “hidden life” as a carpenter until the beginning of his public ministry at the age of 30. Jesus would have used maths as well to make sure things were built correctly and would have learned this from his father, also it is absolutely clear and most important that Jesus was taught his Jewish faith by his dad.

In this way, St John Paul II wrote about St Joseph in the following way;

“Having learned the work of his presumed father, he was known as "the carpenter's son… At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption.”

St John Paul shows us that school-work and our work as teachers can be brought near to God can be filled with his presence. Let’s remember this every time we see the St Joseph’s statue outside of M-Block. 

Let’s also remember to entrust the most difficult parts of our lives to the prayers of St Joseph, who unfailingly helps all those who seek him.