Youth Mass St Patrick’s Cathedral
On Sunday 30th March, The Logos Project hosted the Diocesan Youth Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Year 13 leaders from Auckland and Hamilton Catholic schools were blessed and received certificates in recognition of the leadership roles at the Salt and Light retreat.
As the celebration also fell on Palm Sunday it was an extra special time. During Mass, the Passion of Christ was brought to life and student leaders had a special reflection time leading up to Holy Week.
Easter Liturgy
During Holy week our students were led by our Special Character Committee in a journey through the Gospel of Mark. Students took part in prayers and reflections leading up to Holy Thursday, when Father Kevin led us in a special Easter Liturgy.
Our college was then closed over the Easter break and we sent out students out to celebrate Easter within their own families, parishes and faith communities. We trust that you have all had a restful break and were able to celebrate together this most important event in the Christian Calendar.
The Resurrection of Christ reminds us of the joy of our faith and the unconditional love God has for all of us. As we head towards Term 2, we will take these gifts of the spirit of joy and love and use them to bless our neighbours, friends and whanau.
Mark 16:5-7
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth,[b] who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”
Young Vinnies – Commissioning Mass
Young Vinnies student leaders from SMC attended their commissioning mass during April.
Our Young Vinnies group is well underway this year. With over 80 students being a part of this great initiative, we are already seeing some great impact in the community. During Lent the group were making Easter cards to distribute to prisoners to offer hope and restoration at this special time of the Christian calendar. Many more exciting activities are planned for next term.
Blessings & encouragement from Father Kevin Murphy, S.M.
A poem on gratitude by Sr. Joyce Rupp for us all contemplate.
Prayer of Gratitude
We are grateful for eyes that can see and ponder, for taste buds that know the sensuous pleasures of eating and drinking, for hands that hold and touch and feel, for ears that can delight in music and the voice of a friend, for a nose that can smell the aroma of newly mown grass or delicious food, and can also breathe the air that gives us life.
We are grateful for the treasure of loved ones whose hearts of openness and acceptance have encouraged us to be who we are. We are grateful for their faithfulness, for standing by us when our weaknesses stood out glaringly, for being there when we were most in need and for delighting with us in our good days and our joyful seasons.
We are grateful for the eyes of faith, for believing in the presence of God, giving us hope in our darkest days, encouraging us to listen to our spirit’s hunger, and reminding us to trust in the blessings of God’s presence in our most empty days.
We are grateful for the ongoing process of becoming who we are, for the seasons within, for the great adventure of life that challenges and comforts us at one and the same time.
We are grateful for the messengers of God—people, events, written or spoken words—that came to us at just the right time and helped us to grow.
We are grateful for God calling us to work with our gifts, grateful that we can be of service and use our talents in a responsible and just way.
We are grateful that we have the basic necessities of life, that we have the means and the ability to hear the cries of the poor and to respond with our abundance.
We are grateful for the miracle of life, for the green of our earth, for the amazing grace of our history; we are grateful that we still have time to decide the fate of the world by our choices and our actions, grateful that we have it within our power to bring a divided world to peace.
Cedric Piggin, Verna-Lee Oliver, Father Kevin Murphy S.M
Special Character Committee
