Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

As we come to the end of a term that has been challenging for the whole community, we turn to Jesus for renewal and refreshment and we ask him to provide the solace, comfort and peace that only He can provide.

In this reassuring scripture passage from matthew’s gospel Jesus reminds us that he walks with us always. There are struggles in our lives and challenges and at times life is not restful. Rather, it can be very stressful. However, no matter what the challenges are, if we stay close to Jesus, our friend and brother, he will bring peace to us in deepest part of our soul.

Today we pray that everyone will have a restful, refreshing break and that all of our families and all members of our church and school community will be safe on roads, refreshed by rest and relax and enjoy the extra time spent with family. We also pray that all members of the community will keep Jesus close to their hearts and spend a few minutes each day in prayer, aware as we are that this brings rest and comfort.

A big thank you!

A big thank you to all who have supported our winter warmer effort. We have a lot of warm blankets and clothing and non-perishable food items to give to St Vincent de Paul to help those in need this winter. May God bless you all for your generosity.

Thank you also to our Student Council and Catholic Character Hub for the bake sale on the final day of term, the proceeds from which will go together with all the money raised by all of the Catholic Secondary Schools across Aotearoa and be sent to Oecusse School in Timor Leste where there are 800 students and no working toilet facilities. We raised $210 thank you for your support. You can use this link to see what this is about and to view and hear a message from our Bishops: https://www.caritas.org.nz/ycc-day

Youth Group

We had a great time yesterday with a fun youth group session and then a movie night in the library. It was a lovely way to bring everyone who has been involved together to celebrate the end of our term as a group.

The youth group will begin again on the first Thursday back next term and all students from Year 9-13 are welcome to join us. It’s a lot of fun and new members are always welcome. Come for some discussion, games, shared food, making new friends and many other great activities. We also have some service activities planned for next term and we look forward to new people being part of our wonderful group.

May God bless you all and give you a restful, happy and safe break.