Recently a group of our students have come together to sing in praise of God and enjoy the gift of music.

The quotation above is attributed to St Augustine and is a lovely expression of the way the heart can be uplifted when singing in praise of our God.

The preparations for Jubilate, the Catholic singing festival were very special, and we were delighted that a group of our students were keen to participate in this special event which we celebrated last night. It was delightful to see families and staff of the schools there supporting our students and we were pleased with the willingness of our young people to assist in looking after the young students from St Mary’s, Hokitika from the end of the rehearsal until around 6:30pm when we all went along to the church.

Jubilate was a lovely celebration of all that we hold dear in our faith and in our sense of community. Sacred music is a very important part of our Catholic tradition, and it was great to be able to share some of that tradition with our young people. We will continue to work on developing a culture of song in praise of God.

Singing Group

We will continue to have a group gathering to sing together as an extra-curricular activity in preparation for our masses and the band is also keen to support the singing at the final mass, so we look forward to a special opportunity for music there too.

Youth Group

The youth group will continue to meet after the seniors leave but we will meet in MM1 so as to avoid the noise levels being too much near the NCEA examination centre.

Year 13 Retreat

The Year 13 retreat is fast approaching and will be held on 1 and 2 November. After the Town versus Country sports event the Year 13s will travel in cars to Punakaiki where we will have a time of reflection on the year, on their faith journey at John Paul II and on all that the future holds for them. It will be a very special way to complete their journey here and we encourage everyone to attend. Further information is being sent out directly to the students and families involved but it would be great if we, as a faith community, could spend time in prayer for our Year 13 students who are coming to the end of their school journey.

We continue to hold all of our students, their families and all members of our community in prayer. May God continue to bless you all.