Taking Stock

Dear Families,

Lent is good for taking stock of how things are going. 

There is that old adage, I won’t share it here, but it's something about a frog and a boiling pot of water and jumping out. The idea is that slow, gradual change can be difficult to notice, and before you realize it, everything is different. 

Lately, I was feeling kind of down about my prayer-life. It was Lent, but things have been busy at school, and I have a one-year old at home with another on the way. My screen-time Lenten vow was going…okay. I felt discouraged. 

Suddenly though, I remembered that every day I am leading young people to pray not just in English but in Spanish as well. And two times a week I get to lead an entire school in prayer. I work next to a beautiful church where most weeks I get to go to mass twice a week, not even counting Sundays. Every meeting I’m in starts with a prayer, and every lunch duty starts with prayer. Every morning I drive to work in silence and try to think ahead about my day, and recognize where I might see God in it. Then in the evening before bed I reflect on if I was right. 

I live in a world steeped in prayer, and yet I am discouraged at my own lack of progress. My 20-something self, parish-less and living constantly for the weekend scene, might find my current self something more akin to a medieval monastic than any conceivable future self, and yet here I am. 

That is why environment matters, and why at SMV we try to be so purposeful with prayer. We are the slowly boiling pot, and when prayer is that way it just becomes something accepted, something normal, and hopefully something that sticks in the long run. It's boiling the frog, right? 

Lent comes along and is that subtle little nudge that asks, “how could we be doing this slightly better.” I know that’s on my mind, and on our teacher’s minds throughout this season of reflection. Continuous improvement, right? There’s a reason that phrase is in our mission statement. 

So, as we speed past Laetare Sunday toward Holy Week, I hope your Lent is going well, and if it is not, there is still time to make it a good one. Please know that here at SMV our staff and students are praying for you, just as we pray for each other, each day, hopefully a little more fervently than the last.

God bless,

Mr. Siggy Spelter

Principal

School Office Notes

Our 5th and 6th graders making sandwiches for the Guest House.

Hygiene Bags and Rice Bowls

With just a little more than a week to go, this is just a reminder that Hygiene Bags and Rice Bowls are due back at school on Monday, March 25th. Thank you for your participation in caring for those in need.

Seton Scholarship

Applications for a Seton Scholarship are due April 1, 2024. Please see here for a copy of the letter that was sent by Mr. Spelter a few weeks ago about this. You may also visit the Seton website for more information about this scholarship program.

Tuition Assistance Program

St. Mary’s Visitation’s tuition assistance program is dedicated to helping families during difficult times, it is not intended as long term financial aid. Various factors are taken into account in assessing a family’s eligibility, such as annual income, number of children in private schools and dependents other than children. There is no tuition assistance for K3 students.

Other requirements of families applying for tuition assistance include:

• Must have been contributing parishioners for at least one year prior to receiving aid.
• Must be volunteers in the school community and give time and talent to committees, classroom or other activities.
• A completed application and tax return.

St. Mary’s Visitation works with Facts Tuition Management Co. to provide a fair, impartial and consistent analysis of each financial aid application. Applications must be submitted by May 1st of each year. This is the only way to be considered for tuition assistance from the parish. Please see our website for details, and contact Monica Hiller, Director of Finance, if you have any questions, 262-782-4575 or mhiller@stmaryeg.org.