Catholic Schools Week

Catholic Schools Week begins tomorrow and runs for the entire week! Please consider supporting your Catholic School and let's continue to shine Christ's beautiful light to the children so they can grow in their love for Him!

All for the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, all for the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, all in union with St. Joseph.

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

The Daily Decade

The children in my class have been so very thoughtful about the families and children of Haiti. Their first response is to try to think of ways to send them money and assorted items.
We have started praying "The Daily Decade" everyday. I made a large drawn ten bead Rosary on a poster board. I hung the poster board in the front of the room. The children have placed a picture from the newspaper of a child in Haiti in the center of the beads and everyday have added other people that they would like to include in our prayers.
It is such a beautiful sound to hear 9 and 10 year old children lead the prayers for a decade of the Rosary, praying for others. They are so eager to spend time with Jesus.

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

A Beautiful Day

I had an absolutely awesome experience today. I had the opportunity to experience a talk by a woman who radiates Christ.
It was one of those experiences where you sit back and think, "Wow, I think she is speaking just to me."
She had known Blessed Mother Teresa and before her health made her choose a different path in life, she had been a Sister with the Missionaries of Charity. Now, if you know anything about me at all, you know that I have a great admiration for Blessed Mother Teresa. So this experience interested me right from the start.

Following Christ. Asking for Him to lead your life...to take you and use you in any place where He needs you to be and in any way that He needs you. Completely abandoning youself (and your wants and your will) and allowing Him to take control.
A bit scary? Absolutely. At least at first...

It completely amazes me how much your life can change when you just allow Him to be a part of it.

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

Report Card Comments

I just finished doing report cards.
Assigning grades is the easy part. It takes me hours and hours to write comments on my students' report cards. Yes, hours.

I consider it such a privilege and honor to do it.
...And it completely exhausts me.

I'm off to try to sleep.
It is hard to rest and relax after completing report cards.
At least it is for me!
Peace,
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

Agnes and Peter

Today right before Mass I was practicing the children's readings and petitions one last time with them. We were the only ones in the Church.
I noticed a little lady enter the Church and sit toward the back.
She was alone.
We continued to practice our parts and I saw her start to slowly walk toward us. (We were in the first three pews, way in the front.)
I went to meet her half way and she started talking about gifts. I wasn't really sure what she was talking about but she kept asking me if the gifts were taken care of. Finally I realized she was referring to the bread and wine.
She told me that today was the feast of St. Agnes. I answered back that I already knew that and that we would be talking about St. Agnes at the start of Mass.
Then her big smile happened...
She told me that Agnes and Peter (our Mass intentions) were her grandparents and she chose today because of the feast day.
Then MY big smile happened...
I had just practiced pronouncing their names (their last name is a long tough one to pronounce :) with the children.
She had heard the children practice her grandparents' names and just wanted to make a connection with us.
Oh my dear, beautiful Jesus! What amazing "coincidences" you place me in!

She made it a point to reconnect with the children (and me!) before she left the Church. She has absolutely no idea how much it meant to me to hear her say, "You are a true teacher!"

...and I guess now after reflecting on this I have to say that she left the Church smiling too.

Oh my Jesus, how I love you!
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

St. Agnes

Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Agnes. My class is responsible for the readings and choosing the songs to sing for our school's Liturgy. I had some fun with the kids when I introduced the name of St. Agnes. I wish I could write to you exactly how the children tried to say her name. It was beautiful. :)
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

The Words I Would Say by Sidwalk Prophets

Three in the morning,
And I'm still awake,
So I picked up a pen and a page,
And I started writing,
Just what I'd say,
If we were face to face,
I'd tell you just what you mean to me,
I'd tell you these simple truths,

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say,

Last time we spoke,
You said you were hurting,
And I felt your pain in my heart,
I want to tell you,
That I keep on praying,
Love will find you where you are,
I know cause I've already been there,
So please hear these simple truths,

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say,

From one simple life to another,
I will say,
Come find peace in the Father,

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
Thank God for each day,
His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say

This is the song that I have first on my blog right now. I think of my dad when I hear it. I remember my father as a strong, gentle, caring peacemaker. He taught me to pray and he taught me to care about others.

On this day when we think of the peacemaker Martin Luther King Jr., let's each find one way to be a peacemaker in our world. I tell my children in class that if each of us brings Christ's light to another, the world would be so much brighter.
Peace to you and your families,

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

St. Augustine of Hippo

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Children's Liturgy of the Word

Today at Mass, I had the awesome opportunity to lead the Children's Liturgy of the Word.
(I'm not quite sure how I was talked into filling more into my already way overloaded life...but I always seem to be able to squeeze more in.)
Anyway, I led the eight or nine children down to the classroom and introduced myself. You should have seen their faces and their looks. :)
They were expecting their usual teacher and these children weren't going to give me an inch. I loved it!!
After we read the Gospel and spent time talking about the miracle at Cana, we used a felt board to reenact (is that spelled right?) the story.
It was an awesome experience!
As I walked the children up to the Church to wait for the Prayers of the Faithful to dismiss them back to their parents, a little 4 year old reached up and grabbed my hand. We walked back to her parents hand in hand.
It was funny because my own 4 year old had the other hand.
I am thankful for these unexpected blessings.
:)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow at school we will be finishing a project. All last week we worked on the theme, "What is a Peacemaker?" Tomorrow we will finish up the topic and complete our huge bulletin board. We need more peacemakers in the world.

The picture at the top of my blog is my father and my oldest daughter. My father was a peacemaker.

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!