Parent Letter Faith Reflection
Here is a reflection from Saint Peter Chrysologus to give us some food for thought in these last days until Easter: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So, if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”
A few weeks back I wrote about Education in Virture's (@EDUinVIRTUE)Take 5 This Lent challenge. They tweet suggestions you can do for Lent with the idea that you can then do it 5 times throughout that day. Our 7th grader has way more than 5 ideas on how we can help our communities; tidying up is one of these suggestions, which is what you’ll see happening in the video below.
Radical Community Care
by Anthony G.
These are some things that I think can help the community; I can have a can drive to help the community. That would give me many cans that I can donate to the poor. I can also have a clothes drive. I would give homeless people all the clothes I got from the drive. I can also support local businesses by shopping at their stores. I can help my neighbors by tidying up our neighborhood.
I can also volunteer at a local animal shelter and locate a home for abandoned pets. I can also help kids with special needs by giving them toys. I can make gifts for kids in the hospital and help people paint their homes. I can lead a hike and offer people to mow their lawns. Finally, I can help repair anything that has been broken or that has been damaged by fire.
This video of a little mouse cleaning up a messy workbench was what I showed 7th grade last week. It fits with our inward approach for Lent, doing things not to be seen and admired, but to grow closer to God. The 7th graders saw how things are not always as they seem, how God is like this little nocturnal helper when he cleans up our messes, forgives us when we sin, and works quietly in our lives. I don’t have their quotes this week because the stack of index cards they wrote their reflections on have gone missing. Funny that it should happen this week, perhaps I have a little helper mouse also.
Mouse tiding up some “bits and bobs”: https://twitter.com/ITVCentral/status/1108021056650936320
The upcoming Cinema for the Soul movie, The Hundred-Foot Journey, shows what ensues when an Indian immigrant opens a restaurant in a small French village a hundred feet away from a well established restaurant. Come watch a food fight with a nice ending, and no clean up necessary (unless you happen to spill your popcorn). Thursday, April 25th at 7 p.m. in the Olive Ave pastoral hall.
God Bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
5th Grade / Jr. High Teacher’s Aide