The Bonello, Dimen, and Schardt families for hosting students in their home over the weekend
The Aaker and Bonello families for driving carpools
Meet the Teachers Sunday, September 27th
a face-to-face between parents, their son, and their son's teachers.
Time: Freshmen 6:30 pm; Sophomores 6:50 pm; Juniors 7:15 pm; Seniors 7:40 pm.
Begin: in the parking lot near the library where Fr. Gabriel will distribute name tags,
Continue: the yellow classroom and the recreation room.
End: Behind the school for a reception.
Note: Three minute timeframe. If parents have more than one student attending, the conference is "private" and the other son should wait for his turn to lead his presentation about his learning.
The objective is to help your sons accept more of the responsibility and ownership for their learning. To demonstrate to what degree you son has accomplished this objective, he has prepared a sampling of his classwork to show you.
During your meeting with the various teachers, your son will succinctly:
· Introduce you to his teacher;
· Tell you the basic academic habits (note taking, summarizing reading, etc.) that he is good at;
· Tell you the specific things (knowledge, skills, abilities) in each class that he is good at;
· Tell you the things he is going to improve in (growth areas);
· Tell you the strategies/steps to achieve his goals;
· Tell you how you, his parents, can assist him to achieve his goals.
Your role as a parent is to
· Look at your son’s online grades before coming to the conference. This is easy when you log in at TeacherEase.com;
· Listen to son when he speaks about his strengths/weaknesses and goals for each of his classes;
· Briefly confirm (or correct) your son’s self-identified strengths/weaknesses and goals. Don’t plan on saying anything more than a few words – not more than one or two sentences
· Send a note to your son during the week which summarizes your view of the conference. Praise. Encourage. Exhort. Love.
Having a caring audience for learning gives students a powerful reason to continue to learn and to work hard. It gives extra value to their efforts at school. Listening well is the most important role of parents at the conferences. We’ll see you on Sunday!
Student Birthdays
9/20 Thomas Nguyen
9/22 Jack Mikolaycik
9/29 Jake Holke
College Representative Visits
The following college representatives will speak to students during lunch this week:
· Monday - University of San Francisco
· Tuesday - Arizona State University
· Thursday – Mount St. Mary’s
In addition, students will have the opportunity to speak to a variety of college reps when they attend the annual college fair at Santa Margarita Catholic High School Thursday, September 24th at 7:00 pm.
Admissions to St. Michael's Prep
Open House Dates: Sunday, October 18, 2009 and Saturday, November 14, 2009
Open House Times: 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Upcoming Athletic Events
Thursday, Sept. 24th: XC vs Bethel Baptist @ Mile Square Park; 3:30 pm
Friday, Sept. 25th: Fball vs. Christian Life Academy @ STM; 3:00 pm
Saturday, Sept. 26th: XC @ Dana Hills High School; time TBA
Weekly Homily by Fr. John Henry, O. Praem.
Among other things, Fr. John Henry teaches freshman English and Advanced Placement English.
“Behold your Mother.” This is our Lord’s command to us, on this commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows. What do we see when we look and behold our Mother? What does the Lord want us to see? We see that we are loved by a woman who is virgin, mother, and sinless. If you combine all three you get the most powerful love on earth and in heaven—second only to God’s. Virginity, maternity, impeccability. What is it like to be children of such a mother? What place does sorrow have in her love for us?
Love and sorrow go together in her somewhat in the way they did for St Paul: “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” The sorrow Our Lady had during Jesus’ passion is passed--but that we will not allow ourselves to be changed by it, here is a cause for ultimate sorrow. Her love for us, and her sorrow for us, is rooted in the fact that she saw the Lord’s blood shed for herself and for us. Our Lady saw the blood, the saving blood. She knows firsthand the power of that blood--and that for us, there is nothing that the Blood of Jesus cannot accomplish in our lives: there is no sin that cannot be overcome, no wound that cannot be healed, if we will trust in the love that poured out its blood for us.
Her motherhood over us reflects this truth--and so it is strong, true, compassionate, but never sentimental. She is At pains until Christ be formed in us. We are her children, but she will not “baby” us. As a strong mother, with our best interests at heart, she will not put up with our nonsense—whatever form our individual brand of nonsense takes--usually some form of self-love—acting out of wounded self-love, self-righteousness. Or taking an escape hatch from reality, from the Cross. Each of us has at least one escape hatch that we use to hide from ourselves, others, reality in general.
For Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, there was no escaping, no looking away, no desire to be elsewhere. When we desire to be elsewhere, she understands our weakness, but does everything in her power to bring us back. She knows we are headed in the wrong direction: away from Calvary, not toward it. Remember that she handled Christ as a baby, saw Him grow up, crucified and risen. Having been a first-hand witness to every stage of perfect love, she will not turn and allow us to indulge in counterfeit, self-love. She will not allow us to waste time believing that love consists in anything other than self-sacrifice, vulnerability, and truth.
From her place by the Cross, as from her place in heaven, all that Our Lady wants to accomplish in our lives is the formation of Christ in us. She is urgent about it; as she set out in haste to share the Lord with St Elizabeth, so is she insistent about Christ being formed in us. Our Lady tries to move us forward to our place in heaven, the place that she sees clearly; the place that Christ has purchased for us by His blood. When she sees us stalling, held by back by sadness or discouragement or fear or unbelief, she says: Quick--move on, trust in the Blood of the Lamb, and move forward!
Our Lady sees the end that each of us must reach, the graces necessary, how much time we have. She who beholds the face of God in perfect clarity sees everything necessary for us to reach that vision, and everything that is incompatible with that vision--mainly, our nonsense. When we protest over God’s will, when we say unfair, she sees something else. She sees our incomprehension, but also how everything fits mysteriously into God’s plan for us. Most especially, she sees the blood that once redeemed us and continually renews us.
Today, her message to us is: If you hear about Christ’s love for you and it makes you wonder, or if you think the testimony of the saints is exaggerated, resolve that problem quickly. You are headed for ruin if you leave any question in your mind about the love that should be the foundation of your life. She says, No matter what sins you’ve committed, or how often, or how premeditated they were: I saw the blood—I saw it shed for me and for you. Will we believe her and in the power of Jesus’ blood? “One of the soldiers pierced his side … and at once there came out blood and water. She who saw it has borne witness--her testimony is true, and she knows that she tells the truth--that you also may believe.”
In publishing this homily, we hope to share a portion of the spiritual treasure by which the students are enriched every day. However, this homily may not be reproduced by the parents or friends of St. Michael’s without written permission of the author.
Prayer Requests
· Mrs. Anna Guerra, who is recovering from knee replacement surgery.
· Mrs. Jodi Meschuk for a healthy pregnancy.
· Mrs. Betty Vaughan who suffers from declining health.
· St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.
· Those who suffer the effects of the current economic crisis.
· Those who are in the armed forces.
School events are regularly updated. Please check the school calendar. StMichaelsPrep.org/calendar Contact the school office for more information: PamChristian@StMichaelsPrep.org (949) 858-0222 ext 237
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