Catholic Character

   /   
Monday 28 August was the feast day of Saint Augustine of Hippo who was famous for his prayerfulness, writings on prayer and theology and his conversion to the faith following a life that was moving in the opposite direction.

On Monday during our karakia to begin the week, each member of the school was given quotations from Saint Augustine to think about and share with others about which one stood out to them. 

They were then encouraged to keep the quotations and read over them, spending even a couple of minutes each day in the presence of God because, as the image above shows, Saint Augustine reminds us that we can never find true peace outside of the presence of God.

Below are some of the quotations given to staff and students on Monday:

  • To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.

  • A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps.

  • Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

  • God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

  • Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.

  • God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.

Social Justice Week

Social justice week runs from 3 - 9 September and for the first time, rather than have a different focus each year, Caritas have put out a three-year plan. For the next three years the focus will be on peace and responding to conflict. The overarching tagline is:

‘Imagine Peace For All / Pohewatia te Rangimārie mō te Katoa’ and each year there will be a unique focus. For 2023 the focus is: ‘Peace begins with you! / Ka tīmata tonu te Rangimārie i roto i ā koe!’.

This theme will form the focus of Karakia on Monday, some activities in Religious Studies classes, prayers and messages throughout the week in student notices and an activity of prayer cards or peace messages. The cards will have a range of different images and quotations related to inner peace and will look like this:

Students and staff will be invited either to write a prayer on it and keep the card to pray with it or to write a message of or prayer for peace for another student or staff member and to give the card to that person. They may, of course, choose two cards and do both. The cards will be placed in the library and in the staffroom to make them easily accessible for everyone. Seniors, in examinations, are encouraged to pop into the library to participate in this activity too as it will likely ease the stress of the exams.

Competitions

The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch Commission for Justice and Peace have put out a competition for students of Catholic Colleges in the Christchurch Diocese and we encourage students to enter. The information is below:

Year 9 and 10

Create a poster which uses words and images to illustrate the message of Social Justice Week 2023 - ‘Peace begins with you.’

  • Entries should be a poster, either A4 or A3, coloured or black and white and be in digital format .jpg.

  • The winning entry will be the one judged to have best incorporated the theme ‘Peace begins with You’ and entries should reflect Catholic Social Teaching and Principles.

  • Entries are to be submitted by 3pm Friday 13 October 2023 via the DRS: joanie.roberson@johnpaul.ac.nz

  • The prize for the winner is $300 plus there is a winner’s class award of $100.


Year 11-13

Senior students who wish to enter the competition need to write an essay or create a multimedia presentation that answers the question: How does the real, personal peace we need help us to become the peacemakers the world needs?

  • The entry can be an essay (word limit 1500 in pdf format) or any multimedia presentation in powerpoint, movie, or song (of no more than five minutes).

  • The winning entry is the one judged to have best incorporated Catholic Social Teaching and Principles in the presentation or essay.

  • Entries are to be submitted by 3pm Friday 13 October 2023 via the DRS: joanie.roberson@johnpaul.ac.nz

  • The prize for the winner is $500 and the Justice and Peace Cup plus there is a winner’s class award of $100.


Resources that can be used by students to assist them could be: Caritas 2023 Social Justice Week resources, Fratelli Tutti Encyclical, Laudato Si’ Encyclical, Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Chruch or the CCJP Diocesan webpage cdoc.nz/what-we-do/ccjp

Posters will be put up around the school with the information needed by students on them and students are more than welcome to approach the DRS with any questions they may have regarding the competition.

Catholic Youth Mass

The Youth Mass for this term will be held at Saint Patrick’s Parish on 17 September at 9:30am. At this mass young people in the parish, including students from JPII and St Patrick’s Primary School are invited to participate in the various ministries in the mass. All young people in our community are invited to attend the mass and as the Eucharist is the most precious, intimate connection we can have with God, we really do encourage as many young people as possible to participate in this special event.

After the mass, refreshments will be served by the youth and there will also be fundraising activities for the Antioch Camp in Christchurch on 22-24 September. Activities will include a car wash, bake sale and a BBQ. We ask you to support us by ensuring that the young people in your household are able to attend and participate if possible.

Antioch

All students in Years 9-13 are invited to attend the Antioch Camp in Christchurch from 22-24 September. While this is not a school activity (it is parish-based) support for our young people to attend will take the form of transport to the camp being provided through the use of the school van with the DRS as the driver and the parish youth worker also attending. We strongly encourage young people to sign up for this great event at which young people minister to young people, supported by older people who ensure that the camp runs smoothly and safely.

This is a really special opportunity for young people to encounter the person of Jesus Christ through the sharing of other faith-filled young people, through music and song, liturgy, discussion and activities. Mealtimes are special experiences of communion with other young people with shared values and principles.

Prayer for Exams

We pray for all of our students who are sitting derived grade exams in the coming week. We prayer for peace and confidence, for clarity of thought and the calm to express their knowledge and ideas in the most effective way possible. Below is a prayer that students themselves might pray just prior to each exam.

A prayer for students sitting exams:

Jesus, my friend and brother,

I pray that as I enter the exam, that You will fill my heart with perfect peace that only comes from You.

Please also give me clarity of thought and prompt my mind to remember all of the things that I have studied.

Give me the wisdom and the ability to transfer my thoughts to paper effectively.

Be with me at all times throughout the exam as a constant, peaceful presence and supportive companion.

Amen.