Sept. 3 - Picture Day - All Students and Staff 9:00 am
Sept. 4 - 1/2 Day of School - Noon Dismissal (NO BUS)
Sept. 7 - NO SCHOOL - LABOR DAY
Sept. 8 - SCHOOL RESUMES
Sept. 13 - Family Faith Formation Meeting 10:00 am in St. Joseph Hall
Sept. 17 - Constitution Day
Sept. 25 - Spirit Wear for Haiti - Pay $1 to be out of dress code ; all proceeds will be donated to our sister school, St. Michael's in Haiti!
Dear Parents,
Things are off to a great start in this our first week! We really appreciate all your patience, cooperation and support!
AM DROP OFF
Our morning drop off has really been going very smoothly. Here are a view requests to help things go even better: 1. Please encourage your children to have their backpacks ready to go, shoes on and tied, and masks on so they can step out of the car when you pull up and stop. We know things happen from time to time but we would like to try to keep things moving as much as possible. 2. When the line moves forward the lead car should please pull up a car or two further than the door so that when it stops we can unload 3-5 cars at a time. As long as the students step directly towards the school building to walk toward the door we should all be very safe. (We finally got our new orange safety cones so I will mark this off a little better for Monday).
I hope these make sense? Otherwise, I think things are going well. I really appreciate everyone's patience and understanding with other families as well as slow driving so that we are keeping safety a priority for drop off.
RAINY DAY VOLUNTEER LUNCH HELP NEEDED.
We could use some assistance on days that the weather looks bad during the hours of 11:30 to 12:30. This year we have two lunches and we want all student to have a recess in the gym. Therefore, the teacher lose a lunch break and they have to eat with the students in the classrooms. We are wondering if we could have pre-screened, healthy parents who have the time, to step in and supervise students while they are eating. The 3rd-8th grade eats after announcements from 11:35 to 11:55 (Three volunteers needed). Then the PK-2nd eats lunch from 11:55 to 12:20 (Three volunteers needed). It is possible that one sub could help for an hour, both lunch sessions. This would be a big help and allow teacher to get a needed break and get a few tasks accomplished in addition to eating lunch, etc. Please contact Mr. Lomas for questions and details. Of course, we can only predict the weather as it gets closer to each lunch time so we are looking for individuals who have the flexibility.
Parents and Families, Our school thrives on volunteer work helping out during the day and after school. We have some training that we must have on file from all of our volunteers this year. Please take a look at the links below and complete this training before signing up to volunteer. Thank you for your help!
Gregory was the prefect of Rome before he was 30. After five years in office he resigned, founded six monasteries on his Sicilian estate, and became a Benedictine monk in his own home at Rome.
Ordained a priest, Gregory became one of the pope’s seven deacons, and also served six years in the East as papal representative in Constantinople. He was recalled to become abbot, but at the age of 50 was elected pope by the clergy and people of Rome.
Gregory was direct and firm. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade taking money for many services, emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and the victims of plague and famine. He was very concerned about the conversion of England, sending 40 monks from his own monastery. He is known for his reform of the liturgy, and for strengthening respect for doctrine. Whether he was largely responsible for the revision of “Gregorian” chant is disputed.
Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading Lombards and difficult relations with the East. When Rome itself was under attack, he interviewed the Lombard king.
His book, Pastoral Care, on the duties and qualities of a bishop, was read for centuries after his death. He described bishops mainly as physicians whose main duties were preaching and the enforcement of discipline. In his own down-to-earth preaching, Gregory was skilled at applying the daily Gospel to the needs of his listeners. Called “the Great,” Gregory has been given a place with Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, as one of the four key doctors of the Western Church.
An Anglican historian has written: “It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle Ages without the medieval papacy; and of the medieval papacy, the real father is Gregory the Great.”
Reflection
Gregory was content to be a monk, but he willingly served the Church in other ways when asked. He sacrificed his own preferences in many ways, especially when he was called to be Bishop of Rome. Once he was called to public service, Gregory gave his considerable energies completely to this work. Gregory’s description of bishops as physicians fits in well with Pope Francis’ description of the Church as a “field hospital.”
