SNOW DAYS VS SCHOOL DAYS:
Well, this past week we had our first official day off from school due to the weather... bitter cold, not the amount of snow. Even though most kids hoot and holler for a snow day, there is something greater here than just a free day off. Whether it’s our Day School or our PSR, school is important...learning, reading, expanding our capacity to learn is essential for us, especially for our children. Please pray for our children, that they may learn and grow in their understanding of who they truly are...not based on momentary likes or passing preferences or desires of the day, but who God created them to be. I know this is a tough thing to understand, but I really believe that what St. Anthony of the Desert once said must be remembered: “men will surrender to the spirit of the age, but when the Church and world are one, know then that those days/the end times are at hand.” So we are given the responsibility to form and instruct each generation in knowing what it takes to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Next weekend, we lift up specifically the gift of our Parish Catholic School. Our Catholic school system is given the great responsibility to develop the whole child who comes to us. We are equipped, even though it can be financially challenging at times, to give our best in developing the mind, body, and soul of our students. Mind, in the sense that a student’s level of academic progress can be affirmed and challenged as they grow. Body, in the sense that God has created us to be identifiable in His image and likeness in our day-to-day world. (A Catholic school can help a student identify who they truly are and even on an elementary school level begin to ask the question: “God, what do you want me to do with my life?”) Soul, in the sense that we have a purpose and a mission in the Body of Christ that we fulfill here for the glory of Heaven one day. A Catholic education does not make our families or students entitled to anything or above anyone. A Catholic education calls us to be more fully human in the person of Christ and for the service of all. In exploring this, we discover the possibility of bringing true peace and purpose within our lives and, hopefully, to our world. This is our Catholic Tradition that has helped civilization throughout the centuries and remains so counter-cultural in our world today.
As your pastor, I have promised to do everything I can to continue the mission of Jesus Christ within our school. Thank you for being fully present and financially giving to help keep our school a priority for our parish family and local communities (since now we reach out to so many other areas to allow children to be a student at our parish school), so our children might learn how to serve through faith, friendship, and compassion. This weekend, as we begin our National Catholic Schools Week, we will have our School Open House on Sunday (27th from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.). Please consider setting some time aside to see what our school is all about after all these years. Bishop Perez will be here on Saturday, February 2nd at the 5:00 p.m. Vigil Mass to see for himself why we have Learned, Believed, & Soared for 70 years! Oh, what a pearl of great price we have in our St. Francis de Sales Parish School.
Pax, Fr. Bline
