Advent Journey - How Catholic schools prepare for our Lord's coming

St. Emily School "By Our Works, We Show Our Faith" 

As an Advent initiative, staff, students and parents of the St. Emily School got together to prepare food hampers and gift bags for families in need - both in their school community and in other school communities.   The project was a wonderful expression on the part of the St. Emily School community of the Ottawa Catholic School Board's pastoral theme, "By our works, we show our faith."   

The foyer at St. Emily demonstrates the 

"works" of the school community's faith

Advent at Monsignor Paul Baxter

On Thursday, December 13, I was pleased to participate in an Advent mass at Monsignor Paul Baxter Elementary School.  Father Jessi, Pastor of St. Andrew Roman Catholic Parish, celebrated mass in the school's gymnasium with students from all grades participating.  The students' enthusiasm for the liturgy was palpable.  Students were involved in the readings and Prayers of the Faithful, and a large student choir sang several Advent favourites such as "Stay Awake, Be Ready".   I was particularly impressed during the processional hymn when all of the students not only joined in on the singing of "Maranatha" but also, in unison,  performed gestures to accompany their singing.

At the conclusion of mass, I visited several classrooms and was struck by how the students and teachers were marking the Advent Season.

Prayer table in MPB classroom 

Simple Faith - Book Review

Simple Faith 

by Margaret Silf

For a short book with a plain title, Simple Faith poses some tough questions and supplies many profound answers.

Its author, Margaret Silf, opens by asking Who is God for Me?   Subsequent chapters raise similarly difficult questions such as Does Life Have Any Meaning? and What is My Life’s Center?

In response to the first question, Silf concedes that we are incapable of understanding fully the nature of God.  God is “a mystery much deeper than human hearts can fathom”.  However, she then lists several ways that God reveals “Godself” to us – through scripture, creation, the lives of saintly people, and every day events and relationships.

Silf’s answer to the meaning of life should inspire every person of faith: Each of us “can personally help nudge the human family a little bit closer to God’s dream of shalom.” In other words, the small decisions and actions of our lives do carry significance and will make a difference.   As for one’s core, it is “the deeper center of gravity we call God” rather than self-interest.

Simple Faith also answers the questions Who is Jesus and How should we follow Him?  Through his life and death, Jesus is “the fullness of God’s love”, and following Him means journeying in “the way of Love”.   

I particularly like the advice offered in this book about how we should pray.  Our prayer life should involve daily reflection on the personal significance of passages from scripture (lectio divina) and on those experiences which trigger strong reactions in us – both positive and negative.

For me though, the most probing question in this little book of many challenging questions is one near the end – How will I spend my time, and who with?  Simple Faith tells us that “faith is as faith does” – that is, that we must show our faith through altruistic actions.  It also reminds us that while faith is a personal journey, it must also be “a community matter”, lived out through our relationships with others.

   

Caring For God's Creation

St. Joseph Recognized for Environmental Programs

L to R. Councilor Scott Moffatt, Councilor Jan Harder, Mayor Jim Watson,
Principal Sue Arbour, & Councilor Maria McRae

During an assembly on Friday, November 30, St. Joseph High School was recognized by the City of Ottawa for its outstanding environmental programs, and specifically, for being the first area school to launch a Green Bin program. 

In the opening prayer, Chaplaincy Leader Donna Hughes perfectly framed the school's environmental initiatives within the context of Catholic education, reminding the students in attendance that "by our works we show our faith."  Principal Sue Arbour then spoke.  She listed some of St. Joseph High School's impressive environmental initiatives, which have garnered it Gold EcoSchool status: reusing milk bags to make sleeping mats for developing countries, having bottled water- free days, participating in spring clean up, and creating a unique green space of sugar maple trees on school property. 

St. Jerome School, like St. Joseph H S, recycles milk bags by turning
 them into blankets

After Barrhaven Councilor Jan Harder congratulated the students of St. Joseph, Councilor Maria McRae, Chair of the City of Ottawa's Environment Committee, spoke about the need to separate reusable from non-reusable garbage in order to sustain our landfills longer, including the one across the street from St. Joseph.

Then it was time for Mayor Jim Watson to present St. Joseph High School with a Certificate of Achievement for being a "shining example of environmental awareness".  The mayor acknowledged that St. Joseph was the very first school to have a Green Bin program and that there are now 160 schools in the Ottawa region involved in this program. 

Mayor Jim Watson addresses the students of St. Joseph H S

The grade 7/8 students who attended the assembly enjoyed it very much. particularly when Mayor Watson and the councilors handed out Green Team t-shirts to those students who were first to answer questions related to the Green Bin program.

Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week in Review

St. Francis Xavier students pledge to Take a Stand and Lend A Hand 

Ottawa Catholic schools participated in Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week (November 18-24) in a variety of ways.  At St. Francis Xavier High School, students took a pledge not to idly sit by while classmates were bullied, but instead, to take a stand against bullying and lend a hand to potential victims.  Many students also participated in a school-wide initiative to perform random acts of kindness while peer mentors at the school conducted workshops on topics such as cyberbullying, the hurtful impact of words, and the role of bystanders.

St. Francis Xavier Principal Mike Curry & students display their acts of kindness

Other schools had guest speakers.  Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson spoke for the second year in a row at Mother Teresa.  Motivational speaker and magician Jim Jordan engaged students st St. Matthew High school as he highlighted the various types of bullying that exist. He described effectively how the bystander is the solution to all bullying incidents. By speaking up and doing something, students remove "the oxygen" from any bullying incident.

St. Matthew students listen to Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan

At some schools, students responded in creative ways.  At Lester Pearson High School, students in one of Ms Kim Samson's French classes created the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PldplzercX4