· For hosting students: Mr. and Mrs. Dimen, Mrs. Hippolito, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen
· For taking photos: Edward Lim and Don Nguyen
This week's photo gallery includes
· Visit to the Getty Villa in Malibu by the students of Latin II and Latin III
· Students helping Mr. Lieggi putting in an herb garden
· Landscape removal between the Abbey and School, preliminary steps to Edward Lim’s eagle project
Open House at St. Michael's Prep - Sunday, March 14 at 3:30 pm.
contact the school office for additional information. 949.858.0222 ext 237
Baseball:
Tuesday, March 9th vs. Crean Lutheran @ STM; 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 11th vs. Eastside Christian @ STM; 3:00 p.m.
In honor of St. Joseph’s Day, Friday, March 19th is a non-school day. Students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18th.
Weekly Homily by Fr. John Henry Hanson, O.Praem.
Among other things, Fr. John Henry teaches English
“A good measure, overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” As we very carefully measure out our food and drink and so many other things in this season of Lent, do we run the risk of missing the point? Our Lord indicates so in the portion of the Sermon on the Mount that we heard on Ash Wednesday. Maybe what enables us to keep our priorities in order, to accept our share of Christ’s passion, is having an appreciation for what has been measured out to us by the Lord. Our question, in the midst of our penance, should be: What shall I return to the Lord for all that He has given to me? because before we can measure out to others, and give to others, we first have to appreciate what we have been given.
What has been measured out to us? Mother Teresa, in speaking about the priesthood, once said something that all Christians can apply to themselves in some way. She said: When Jesus makes a man a priest, He gives Him
self entirely to him. That is, there is no measure in His giving. For the priest this should be a sober reminder to stay focused on what the Lord has given us: Himself. The Lord has nothing to offer us except Himself.All of us, priests or not, are tempted to think that we don’t have everything we need to be joyful, content, happy. We sit in the midst of treasures and still look around for something more. Is Christ withholding something fro
m us, something necessary for our happiness? Is Christ withholding Himself from us in any way? The circumstances of our lives, or rather our perception of them, seem to suggest this from time to time. Our own moral lives, our inability to renounce certain sins once and for all—these make it appear that something is lacking to us. Is it so? What does Scripture tell us? What do the saints tell us--the voices of those who see truly and judge rightly?In the parable of the prodigal son, the heavenly Father says, through the mouth of the father of the parable: “Son, you are always with me, and al
l that is mine is yours.” Saint Paul says, very briefly, “everything is yours; and you are Christ’s.” Outside of Scripture there are few passages from any age or in any language that parallel the beauty of this one from St John of the Cross:“Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother of God, and all things are mine; and God himself is mine and for me, because Christ is
mine and all for me. What do you ask, then, and seek, my soul? Yours is all of this, and all is for you. Go forth and exult in your Glory! Hide yourself in it and rejoice, and you will obtain the [desires] of your heart.”Is this the way we judge our lives—especially our lives in Christ? Shouldn’t it be? We tend to see many of the circumstances of our lives as basically unfair—things are not going the way I had planned, my ambitions have not been realized and probably never will be; I’m not as happy as I think I should be. Everyone else seems better off than I am.
One characteristic of the saints is that they never think that they have be
en short-changed, or tricked, or trapped by Divine providence. They live their lives according to the truth: Christ has given me all things and therefore all things that matter are mine. This is why we see in them, as it were, an endless source of love, devotion, and mercy.C.S. Lewis once said, arguing against those say that there is no hell, although we can apply the same truth to ourselves: Those who say there is no hell: What do they want God to do? Give everyone a second chance? A new s
tart? He has already given that to us on Calvary. And in giving Himself on Calvary, He has given us all things.All of our penances, prayers, and acts of mercy should lead us to appreciating that. And the beautiful thing about Calvary is that Christ’s love and mercy were so immeasurable there, at that time and place, that they are present here on this altar today as we represent His sacrifice. And we approach it, hoping for a new start, hoping to appreciate just a little bit more what God is doing for us and how much Christ is giving to us--so that we can go forth and measure out to others
something of what has been measured out to us.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.
Student Birthdays
March 9 Vitalyi Tractenberg
Prayer Requests
· Dr. Joseph Gloudeman who has the reoccurrence of cancer.
· Fr. Michael Huggins who struggles with cancer.
· Mrs. Amber Manly for a healthy pregnancy
· Cole Workman, a two year old who has just been diagnosed with autism
· Iris Workman, Cole’s six year old sister who is experiencing the reappearance of spina bifida
· St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them
· Those who suffer in the current economic crisis
· Those who are in the armed forces.
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