This past week we celebrated First Reconciliation with second grade. It was a beautiful testimony of our faith and education. Seventh and eighth grades participated in their annual retreats at St. Jude Catholic Church. The introduction of Net Retreats have brought youth and energy into our retreats. Our students have expressed very positive comments about this year's retreats. We also scheduled very productive parent-teacher conferences this past week. If you did not have the opportunity to meet with your child's teacher, you may still do so by emailing the teacher directly.
We now enter into Holy Week as we near the most sacred and important Catholic celebration, Easter. Lent ends as the Tridium (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) begins. We must remind everyone that the school will be closed Thursday, April 13th through Monday, April 17th. School resumes on Tuesday, April 18th. As we enter this most holy season, I was truly touched by Pope Frances' homily on Easter Sunday in 2013. I wanted to share this reflection as his homily is timely and the words needed by all.
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Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives! Are we often weary, disheartened and sad? Do we feel weighed down by our sins? Do we think that we won't be able to cope? Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence, and let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change, there is no sin which He cannot forgive if only we open ourselves to Him.
Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome Him as a friend, with trust: He is life! If up till now you have kept Him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won't be disappointed. If following Him seems difficult, don't be afraid, trust Him, be confident that He is close to you, He is with you and He will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as He would have you do.
On this radiant Easter, let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary, who treasured all these events in her heart and ask the Lord to give us a share in His Resurrection. May He open us to the newness that transforms. May He make us men and women capable of remembering all that He has done in our own lives and in the history of our world. May He help us to feel his presence as the one who is alive and at work in our midst. And may He teach us each day not to look among the dead for the Living One. Amen."
Pope Francis 2013
We wish you a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter!
