Sunday, 23 March 2014

Celebrating the feast of our patron - St. Joseph

St.Joseph - Pray For Us
-Ms. Sunita D’Souza


St. Joseph’s High School,
Wadala
19th March 2014

On 19th March, Wednesday, the entire family (students, teachers, past-pupils, parents and well-wishers) of St. Joseph's assembled in the Church of Our Lady of Dolours, Wadala for the Thanksgiving Mass at 9 a.m. Fr. Bernard Fernandes (Principal) was the main celebrant while Fr. Godfrey D’Sa (Rector) concelebrated at the Eucharistic celebration. It was indeed a precious moment for the Josephites as they gathered together to give thanks to the Patron of the school - St. Joseph.

Leading to the Feast of St. Joseph, there was a well-organised Earth- saving Novena which projected nine ways (for each day of the novena) of taking care of Mother Earth. The theme for the day was displayed on the special board exhibited in the church. The Masses on the days of the novena were well animated by the students and teachers of the school. Themes such as 'Save Electricity', 'Grow Vegetables - Urban Farming', 'Buy in Bulk', 'Don't Waste Food' etc. were highlighted wonderfully. Fr. Bernard thanked all the students and staff members for the prayerful and engaging animation during the novenas and urged everyone to continue practising the Earth Saving steps suggested during these days. He elicited the qualities of St. Joseph as J-just, O- obedient, S- simple, E – efficient, P - patient, and H- humble. He invoked the blessings of St. Joseph and stated that we in turn must imbibe his qualities. Fr. Rector talked of St. Joseph as a powerful saint and that we need to seek His intercession always and pray that he may guide and bless us.  

After Mass, there was a staff get-together in the school hall. Fr. Bernard warmly welcomed the staff members – past and present, PTA members and well-wishers for the family celebration on the occasion of the feast of our patron.  Fr. Godfrey then addressed the gathering and he focused on the qualities of obedience, hard work and the sense of duty and dedication which St. Joseph lived by, and urged everyone to follow in his footsteps.  The self-introduction round gave the staff members, both present and retired, a fantastic opportunity to get to know each other better and express their sentiments of gratitude on this auspicious occasion. Before the snacks and refreshments were served, Fr. Vivian led everyone in prayer offering our work in the hands of God, seeking the blessings of St. Joseph to be our protector and guide in all the work entrusted to us, so that we reflect his vision and mission wholeheartedly. It was an awesome fellowship gathering in which everyone could feel the true spirit of St. Joseph - a man who placed his trust in the Lord completely. 
St.Joseph - pray for us and bless us always!

'We Are Born For Greater Things!' is the motto of St. Joseph's High School, Wadala. Like St. Joseph, may we the Josephites constantly and consistently live up to this motto!      


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