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CCD Family Newsletter
May 8 - May 15, 2024
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Thank You For Sharing Your Children with Us!
On behalf of the entire catechetical team here at Our Lady of Sorrows, thank you for sharing your lovely children with all of us! It was (usually) a joy being with them for 25 weeks. And thank you for supporting all that we do by bringing your kids to Mass, reinforcing the lessons learned at CCD in your home and creating an environment where faith and love can flourish.
And thank you for all of the wonderful end-of-the-year treats and flowers! Our catechists were overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity. And hands down - all the handwritten notes from the kids were their favorites.
Registration for the coming catechetical year will begin in June.
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Thank You Catechetical Team
Kindergarten - Eileen Pucillo
Grade 1 - Eileen Pucillo & Kate Walker
Grade 2 - Nicole Hooks, Kathleen O’Rourke, Kathryne Squilla & Kathi Thiemer
Grade 3 - Margaret Johnston & Maria Pollard
Grade 4 - Theodore Deluhery, Tierney Norris, Tom Maddi & Maria Santoliquido
Grade 5 - Liz Ebert & Genevieve Serrette
Grade 6 - Virginia Archibald & Fr. Andrew Lee
Grade 7 - Vincent Asselta, Agathe Lorenceau & Sr. Duyen Nguyen
Grade 8 - Vicki Robertson
Substitutes - Jane Kachmar-Desonne, Lori Unterkoefler & Nora Van de North
Floater - Nancy Piasecki
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Family Mass
OLS' next Family Mass is this Sunday, May 12th at 10:00 am. The Church will be celebrating the Solemnity of the Ascension. Our First Communicants will also be crowning Mary at the end of Mass. Coffee and Donuts will be held in St. Joseph's Hall with a special craft for the Ascension for the kids. Join us for some Mother's Day refreshments!
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Homeschooling Connection
It's just about time for Mrs. Noll to get a little face time with our homeschoolers!
Our exit interviews will begin the final week of May. If you have not already done so, please sign up for a time via SignUpGenius. Each discussion will last about 20 minutes. If it not a quiz, but a faith-based discussion with Mrs. Noll who is looking forward to discussing the year's big topics with all the homeschoolers.
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Ask Your Child...
Ask your children if they can guess why Mrs. Noll gave out stickers with a heart and the words "Love is a Verb." This week we talked about how LOVE was one of the 472 most common words in the English language that can be both a noun and a verb. In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus admonishes his disciples (and us) to "Love as I have loved you." Ask your child if he or she can remember the ultimate way Jesus showed his love for us (dying on the cross) and some ways that we can put our love into action.
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We'll Miss You!
We're really going to miss this year's 8th grade class when CCD resumes in the fall - they truly are a nice group of young people. But we look forward to seeing them at Mass throughout the year and bumping into them at Youth Group events. As a reminder, information at the OLS high school youth group will go out in September. Generally speaking though, Youth Group meets Sunday evenings from 7:30 - 9:00 pm.
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Certificates of Attendance
We know life gets busy and it can be hard to make it to CCD. That's why we were very impressed by the 14 students who had perfect attendance this year at CCD. We gave out certificates at the beginning of each Opening Service to each of our super diligent (and apparently remarkably healthy) students. We love it when all of us can be together to share ideas and perspectives. Congratulations!
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Congratulations!
Congratulations to CCD student Tommy Walmsley and CCD parent Ed Peterson on their recent recognition at the Archdiocese of Newark's CYO Athletics Awards Ceremony. Tommy received the Sportsmanship Award which is presented to an athlete who displays outstanding sportsmanship through service or actions, on and off the athletic field. Coach Peterson received the Discipleship Award which is presented to express gratitude to adults who have demonstrated a commitment to young people and athletics in their parish or school. Well done!
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Hail Holy Queen
As we continue our study of traditional Marian prayers during the month of May, this week we turn our focus upon the Hail Holy Queen prayer.
The Hail Holy Queen prayer, originally known by its Latin name, Salve Regina, is recited at the end of the Rosary and is also used in night prayers. It dates back to around the 11th century and is still sung today as a hymn in various forms, among them a beautiful chant.
St. Alphonus Liguori thought so highly of the Hail Holy Queen that he analyzed it in great detail in his well-known 18th century book The Glories of Mary. In this prayer we pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our “Mother of Mercy,” and humbly ask for her assistance. Many religious over the centuries (including quite a few saints!) have considered her help to be essential for our salvation.
Although crowned Queen of Heaven, Mary is by no means haughty, given such a title! She’s a queen who wonderfully blends her majesty with her humility in her desire to be of service to us. She wants to dispense God’s graces through prayers such the Hail Holy Queen, the Memorare, and the Rosary.
She wants to help us in asking for God’s forgiveness for our sins. And, contrary to a sad misconception, Mary was never meant to replace her Divine Son as the focus of our worship. She herself acknowledged, in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 1:46), that her soul magnifies the Lord. She’s always ready to point us in His direction on our path towards Eternal Life.
God has given her all His graces for us. They come from God through Mary. All we need to do is ask for them with a humble, loving, and contrite heart! Try adding the Hail Holy Queen to your daily prayer list!
Hail Holy Queen Worksheet for Adults and Kids
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SAINT / FEAST OF THE WEEK
Solemnity of the Ascension
40 Days after Easter
(or 43 Days after Easter in the Archdiocese of Newark)
The Ascension refers to the day celebrated 40 days after Easter when Catholics celebrate the fact that Jesus returns to God after being with his disciples after the resurrection. It is a central element of our tradition and is included in the creed recited at Mass each Sunday. If a diocese celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension on a Thursday, it is a Holy Day of Obligation and Catholics are required to go to Mass on that day. The celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension may also be transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter as it is here in the Archdiocese of Newark.
The scriptural basis for this feast comes from Acts 1:9-11: And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
This is not meant to be taken as a literal passage in the sense of a “beam me up” kind of story. The Ascension signifies that Christ is no longer bound by the time and space that he was while he was in the fullness of his humanity. Jesus is Lord and that means that Lordship goes beyond mere humanity. Others may claim kingship but the only one who is Lord and King is Jesus. Most importantly, the day signifies that God can be experienced anywhere and not just in time and space. (Mike Hayes, Busted Halo)
2-Minute Video from The Religion Teacher: The Ascension
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Solemnity of the Ascension Crafts and Ideas for Kids
Who doesn't like a good parfait?!? (Cue Donkey's "parfaits are delicious" scene in the original Shrek) Make celebrating the Ascension of the Lord even sweeter with a blue jello cloud parfait. Jello not your thing? Try one of the fun crafts on the Catholic Icing website - or, better yet, come to Coffee and Donuts after the 10:00 or 11:30 Mass on Sunday and make a classic "Jesus Ascending into the Clouds" craft.
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In the Liturgy of the Word, the Church feeds the people of God from the table of his Word. Previewing the readings before Mass then is then a bit like looking over the menu before you get to a restaurant: you have a better idea of what you can expect so that you can enter into the experience more fully prepared. And like a good discussion during a meal, discussing the readings and how they can be applied to your family's daily life helps your family to truly go out and proclaim the gospel after leaving the church.
Here are a few resources to help your family delve deeper into the Liturgy of the Word:
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