St. John's students traveled around their popular town of Healdsburg as pilgrims rather than in cars as usual. Their walking retreat was a new way for them to pray.
"Every step is a prayer" taught by the Kaisha Pomo, became the day's theme after their freezing morning started with a typical student body Mass before they applied thousands of prayers to their city.
Director of Youth Ministry Stephen Morris, and the Diocese's unofficial pilgrimage guide, shared the history of Healdsburg from the Plaza to Oak Mound cemetery to the famous Memorial Bridge. Students learned of the relationship between Healdsburg and Sonoma county through an understanding of the entrepreneurs that established and farmed the land.
Students walked with a prayerful heart, realizing the importance of remembering "who walked before them."
Then International Catholic Hip Hop artists Joe Melendrez took the stage with his loud rapping and praying, a style that the students were absolutely unaccustomed too. Joe invited the 8th graders into the "God Pit" at the foot of the stage and led them in prayer and singing while they all jumped around. A youthful and joyful exuberance was heard throughout the campus.
This beautiful annual event kicks-off Catholic Schools week, and is a collaboration between Superintendent Dr. Adrian Peterson and Youth and Young Adult Director Stephen Morris.
The day also included a prayer exercise where students scribbled down their burdens on slips of paper and laid them at the cross. After lunch Joe Melendrez hosted a Vocations panel that included the newly ordained Fr. Maurico Rodriguez, Sr. Mary Emmanuel MSSR, and Young Adult Gigi Bazzano (Cardinal Newman '19) with her new baby Noah who stole the show.
The entire auditorium fell silent when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for a short Adoration time. In order to celebrate the true joy and hope of our faith, students were invited to spend time with our Lord fully present in the Eucharist.