Teachers new to Catholic schools

Barry Slade, Sacristan of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Palmerston North, conducts a tour of the cathedral for teachers new to Catholic schools. Barry is a mine of information; his historical and anecdotal talk and tour of the cathedral was well received by course participants, many of whom were visiting the cathedral for the first time.

Fr John O’Connor of Our Lady of Victories Parish, Sockburn, Christchurch, facilitated day two of the Palmerston North Primary Principals’ Conference.

The day brought together principals, parish priests and lay pastoral coordinators.

John’s theme was ‘school-parish relationships in the missionary context of Aotearoa New Zealand’. Those who gathered enjoyed the experience and in answer to the question, ‘What was of particular interest or value to me?’ made the following observations:

‘The image of the boat spoke to me! We strive to build bigger and better boats when we should really accept Jesus/God’s invitation to walk with him on the water and once we do this all other aspects of life fall into place.’

Another said:

‘In relation to those issues which emerge between school and parish, the issues are not the important things to work on solving but rather it is the base that is important … our relationship/intimacy with God’.

Another observed:

‘The experience of love is the heart of all of the matter; get this right and all things fall into place.’