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 in addition to all-school Masses on Holy Days of Obligation. Additionally, students have the opportunity to attend Tuesday weekly Masses in the chapel and weekly confession. Additional chapel Masses are held each week along with bi-weekly Adoration of the Holy Eucharist. Athletic teams are able to 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 when there are no restrictions due to COVID-19. Additionally, students attend annual retreats with their class in addition to the opportunity to attend a Kairos Retreat in 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 85 hours of varied community service.