Parent Letter Faith Reflection

  As I was leaving school last Friday I glanced at one of the “What I’m Giving Up for Lent” assignments that is tacked above my desk.  The 4th graders did these posters on Ash Wednesday, that beginning time of Lent when we are hopeful and encouraged about what we will do for Lent.  This poster I was looking at had two panels.  The first panel showed an smiling Super Snake, the neat snake character created by Brady, happily announcing, “I gave up meat for Lent.”  The second panel shows a sad, droopy Super Snake lamenting, “I want some meat.”  If you, like Super Snake, are hitting that Lenten wall and are feeling a little worn down by changes you’ve made for Lent, take heart by what Nick’s poster promises.  In his poster he tells us how he has adapted and changed his routine for the better.  By doing this he says, he is growing stronger.  So continue on even with any struggles that come along.  We are half way through Lent and if we stay the course, by Easter, we will see that we have changed for the better.  I will be tweeting both of these posters later this week.

   Alani, this week, wisely tells us we shouldn’t jump to conclusions when something happens to us.  We should stop and look beyond the surface of what happened, and we should still extend forgiveness, even if our first thought turns out to be correct.

Mercy Essay

 by Alani

   When someone does wrong to you you automatically feel anger or disappointment towards them.  Do you ever stop and think why they did this, or if it was just a silly mistake?  When someone hurts you mentally or physically you always have the option to show mercy, to extend forgiveness.  I think I can show mercy by forgiving people who have hurt me whether it was done on purpose or simply a mistake.

   One time I gave a friend some money to buy something at a bake sale and they said, “I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”  The next day I didn’t get the money back but I forgave them because they showed they were sorry.  You should always forgive someone because you can be the other person hurting someone and not know it.  You want to forgive people as much as you can so they will know how to forgive you one day if you do wrong to them.

   “24 Hours For The Lord” is coming up on March 27th-28th at Our Lady of Hope Parish on Del Rosa Avenue in San Bernardino.  It is a time of 24 hour Adoration with Confession available throughout the entire time.  I went last year and it was a very peaceful and prayerful time.  The Del Rosa church is large enough that even with a sizable turnout at the time I was there it felt like I was alone with Jesus.  Adoration begins on Monday, March 27th, at 7:00 a.m. and concludes Tuesday, March 28th, at 7:00 a.m.

   Last week I went to the V Encuentro here at Olive.  The 5th Encounter is meant to be a way to reach out to Hispanics in our community to help encourage them to be involved in parish and civic life.  It was mostly in Spanish so I will have to get back with more information next month after I talk with Esther, THNJs Hispanic Ministry Coordinator, to get the details of what they discussed.  In the meantime please read Bishop Barnes letter about the V Encuentro in the current diocesan BYTE.  Do consider coming next month on April 19th, even if, like me, you don’t speak Spanish, as it’s a way for us all to work together to build community.

   Thank you.  Mrs. Alhadef