On Friday, the boys celebrated their Year 7 Form Mass in the College Chapel. This was a wonderful gathering where the boys were joined by many parents and extended family.

Apart from celebrating the Eucharist together, during this mass, Mr Ross Tarlinton and Fr Andrew presented the boys with their College Bible. Mr Tarlinton spoke to the boys about how special this should be for them and the importance of looking after their own copy of the Good News. He reflected on the fact that as Headmaster, the first thing that he received was his own copy of the Bible and he still has this today. He hoped that the boys would look after their copy so that in 6 years time when they graduate from the College, they still have their copy in good condition.

Fr Andrew was certainly entertaining while at the same time posed many challenges to the boys in the way that they live their lives. It would be a rare thing to see a cricket ball (autographed by Brett Lee) being thrown down the isle of the chapel!

The boys’ involvement in the mass was obvious at every level. Some boys read readings, others were involved in the dramatisation of the gospel, many were involved in the music … and lots more. Of particular note was the impressive way that the boys, as a form, sung at the mass. Sub Tuum, which is sung in Latin, is our traditional College song. Having only learnt this a week ago, the boys sung this with great pride and I have no doubt their rendition brought a few tears to the eyes of the parents who were there.

In the first place, Joeys is a Catholic school and it was wonderful to see the boys celebrate our Catholic traditions in such a wonderful manner.

Photo 1:  Liam Clark (Hunters Hill) receives his College Bible from Mr Tarlinton and will be followed by Ben Spencer (Barraba) and Jordan Lewis (Japan)

Photo 2: The boys get stuck into the sining at the mass with Will Nicholls (West Pymble), Patrick Stevens (Hunters Hill), Josh Ho (Hunters Hill), Tom Carrette (Hunters Hill), Tarkan Gursel (Henley) and Nick Porter (Hong Kong) clearly making their contribution.