Spiritual Life

St. Joseph High School has a vibrant spiritual life, which secular research and theory supports as benefiting all students in an educational environment. Academic research supports that collective worship “makes a significant contribution to the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, and emotional and intellectual development of pupils.” In fact, Harvard research notes that trends in secular education can result in students who suffer from a lack of a sense of community, confusion about values, a very tenuous sense of self, doubt about personal worth, belief system, and identifying a belief or value as larger than themselves and in which they could become deeply involved. John Whitely, UC Irvine Social Ecology Professor, noted in support of collective worship in education, “I conclude from this that those of us who care about the nation’s youth and their education must now work to construct conditions and promote values in education that we once took for granted.”

St. Joseph High School offers a weekly all-school Mass and penance services during the Advent and Lenten seasons. Additionally, we offer bi-weekly Adoration of the Holy Eucharist from 8:30-1:50pm starting August 28th. Athletic teams can participate in team Masses before athletic contests arranging this with the school chaplain. All families are welcome to attend any collective worship opportunities at the school. Students also attend annual retreats with their class with the opportunity to attend a Kairos Retreat their senior year. The Christian community service program is mandatory for all four grade levels including a theological reflection at the end of each academic year. Students who complete four years at St. Joseph High School will graduate with a minimum of 80 hours of varied community service.