Thanks to the following families who helped this past week:
For hosting students over the weekend: Mrs. Kelly Choi, Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Manzano, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Rivero, Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Schardt, Mr. Ed Unterman.
Announcements
• This week’s photo gallery includes: students working on their Mother’s Day cards and First Honors Dinner at Doheney State Beach.
• There are no classes Monday, May 10th in honor of Mother’s Day. Students report to school Monday evening by 7:30 p.m.
• Sophomores take the preliminary ACT test this week (PLAN) as well as a preliminary Catholic Intellectual Tradition Assessment.
• Thursday, May 13th is Ascension Day at St. Michael’s Abbey. We will celebrate with a special Mass at 11:00 a.m. followed by a parent sponsored lunch.
• Our Spring Choir Concert takes place on Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m.
For hosting students over the weekend: Mrs. Kelly Choi, Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Manzano, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Rivero, Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Schardt, Mr. Ed Unterman.
Announcements
• This week’s photo gallery includes: students working on their Mother’s Day cards and First Honors Dinner at Doheney State Beach.
• There are no classes Monday, May 10th in honor of Mother’s Day. Students report to school Monday evening by 7:30 p.m.
• Sophomores take the preliminary ACT test this week (PLAN) as well as a preliminary Catholic Intellectual Tradition Assessment.
• Thursday, May 13th is Ascension Day at St. Michael’s Abbey. We will celebrate with a special Mass at 11:00 a.m. followed by a parent sponsored lunch.
• Our Spring Choir Concert takes place on Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m.
• St. Michael’s Abbey members are featured on the cover of the Catholic World Report, May 2010 edition. This article reports on a new study which finds that most new vocations go to orders that observe a traditional religious life.
Baseball This Week
• Tuesday, May 11th @ Southlands Christian; 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, May 12th vs Southlands Christian @ STM; 3:30 pm
Homily of the Week by Fr. Chrysostom Baer O.Praem.
Fr. Chrysostom, among other things, is the Dean of Students at St. Michael’s Prep School
Not too long ago, Fr. Sebastian mentioned that, in the Gospel text under consideration that day, the Holy Spirit was mentioned three distinct times, though never explicitly. I
n much the same way, our three verse Gospel passage today makes three distinct mentions of the Holy Spirit, and never explicitly, in particular with reference to His place in the interior life of the Trinity, to His work in our lives, and to the goal to which He leads us.
Jesus says, “As the Father loves Me.” The eternal Son is the perfect image of the Father, proceeding from the Father as the concept from His intellect. But between the Father and the Son there proceeds from their will a love so intense as to be the Third Person of the most Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit. He proceeds from both, yet from Him no Person in the Trinity proceeds, just as He is sent by both Father and Son to work in the world, yet He Himself sends neither of them.
“As the Father loves Me, so I also love you.” The Father loves Christ with the Holy Spirit, and Christ loves His disciples with the same Holy Spirit. He is the soul of the Mystical Body, Pope Leo XIII teaches, that unifies and sanctifies both Head and members. To remain in His love is to be alive in God; to be separated from it is eternal death.
“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” The Holy Spirit is sent to us not only in habitual sanctifying grace but also in actual grace, by which we make supernaturally good acts. Thus Jesus tells His disciples that His own obedience to the Father’s commandments is a result of that love, and so must ours be. If even the grace-filled soul of Christ—which was utterly replete with sanctifying grace, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and all the charismatic graces—still needed the actual help of the Holy Spirit to bring such greatness to bear on the decisions of the here and now, much less can we poor sinners do any eternal good on our own without the help of God’s Love.
Now, the different Persons of the Blessed Trinity are credited with
different works, according as they are appropriate to the different notion of His Person. Thus to the Father, from Whom everything proceeds, is ascribed power, as we say in the Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” To the Son, Who is the concept that perfectly images all the greatness of the Father, is ascribed Wisdom. And to the Holy Spirit, the Love of both Father and Son, is credited the work of sanctification, which is possession of and therefore rest in the divine goodness. For love desires what is good for one’s friends, and nothing is better than the goodness of God.
When we possess this goodness, there can be joy, but only if we realize it. If, for example, our parents had created for us an bank account of tycoon proportions, yet we never knew about it, we would be unable to have any joy over it. And so Jesus says, “I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” He tells us so that we may repeatedly turn our focus to the surpassing good that is ours through the Holy Spirit, Who completes His work in us by bringing us to the unalterable rest of the Beatific Vision. It is a joy Jesus knew at the heights of His soul from the first moment of His conception but which will be complete in us only in heaven.
From this arise three things which working together can make this eternal bliss attainable. First, the humility of the Holy Spirit, Who is content not to be mentioned explicitly, even when He works wonders in us. Second, just as the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and Son, it is through our obedience to the commands not only of Christ Himself but of every legitimate authority that we know we remain in the Father’s Love. But if we are to exude the joy that is properly Christian, then we must always keep before our mind’s eye all the good we possess through Christ in the Holy Spirit, to prevent us from shrinking into our human mediocrity and sadness and to spur us to run the race so as to win the complete joy that will never end.
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 b
e reproduced by the parents or friends of St. Michael’s without written permission of the author.
Catholic High Schools’ Graduation Rate Much Higher Than That Of Public Schools
APRIL 30 (Catholic World News) -- A report released by the National Catholic Education Association has found that Catholic high schools in the United States have a 99.1% graduation rate, compared to a 73.1% graduation rate at public schools. The report also found that 84.7% of Catholic high school graduates attend four-year colleges, compared to 44.1% of public high school graduates.
Prayer Requests
• Aid to the Church in Need, an international charity of the Catholic Church, which is seeking God’s blessings upon their work and their national directors during the month of May.
• Ms. Barbara Greer-Haeuser who waits for the results of a biopsy.
• Mrs. Delores Hasset, godmother of Mrs. Debbi Holke, who is suffering from cancer
• Mrs. Maureen Mitchell, aunt of Mrs. Debbi Holke, who is suffering from cancer
• Mrs. Harriet Nordeck, one time teacher at St. Michael’s, who is close to death
• Mr. Bill Ortega, who has a pulmonary blood clot
• 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.
• For the repose of the soul of Mrs. Ermelinda Carino.
• For the repose of the soul of Dr. Richard Wetzel.
Baseball This Week
• Tuesday, May 11th @ Southlands Christian; 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, May 12th vs Southlands Christian @ STM; 3:30 pm
Homily of the Week by Fr. Chrysostom Baer O.Praem.
Fr. Chrysostom, among other things, is the Dean of Students at St. Michael’s Prep School
Not too long ago, Fr. Sebastian mentioned that, in the Gospel text under consideration that day, the Holy Spirit was mentioned three distinct times, though never explicitly. I
n much the same way, our three verse Gospel passage today makes three distinct mentions of the Holy Spirit, and never explicitly, in particular with reference to His place in the interior life of the Trinity, to His work in our lives, and to the goal to which He leads us.Jesus says, “As the Father loves Me.” The eternal Son is the perfect image of the Father, proceeding from the Father as the concept from His intellect. But between the Father and the Son there proceeds from their will a love so intense as to be the Third Person of the most Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit. He proceeds from both, yet from Him no Person in the Trinity proceeds, just as He is sent by both Father and Son to work in the world, yet He Himself sends neither of them.
“As the Father loves Me, so I also love you.” The Father loves Christ with the Holy Spirit, and Christ loves His disciples with the same Holy Spirit. He is the soul of the Mystical Body, Pope Leo XIII teaches, that unifies and sanctifies both Head and members. To remain in His love is to be alive in God; to be separated from it is eternal death.
“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” The Holy Spirit is sent to us not only in habitual sanctifying grace but also in actual grace, by which we make supernaturally good acts. Thus Jesus tells His disciples that His own obedience to the Father’s commandments is a result of that love, and so must ours be. If even the grace-filled soul of Christ—which was utterly replete with sanctifying grace, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and all the charismatic graces—still needed the actual help of the Holy Spirit to bring such greatness to bear on the decisions of the here and now, much less can we poor sinners do any eternal good on our own without the help of God’s Love.
Now, the different Persons of the Blessed Trinity are credited with
different works, according as they are appropriate to the different notion of His Person. Thus to the Father, from Whom everything proceeds, is ascribed power, as we say in the Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” To the Son, Who is the concept that perfectly images all the greatness of the Father, is ascribed Wisdom. And to the Holy Spirit, the Love of both Father and Son, is credited the work of sanctification, which is possession of and therefore rest in the divine goodness. For love desires what is good for one’s friends, and nothing is better than the goodness of God.When we possess this goodness, there can be joy, but only if we realize it. If, for example, our parents had created for us an bank account of tycoon proportions, yet we never knew about it, we would be unable to have any joy over it. And so Jesus says, “I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” He tells us so that we may repeatedly turn our focus to the surpassing good that is ours through the Holy Spirit, Who completes His work in us by bringing us to the unalterable rest of the Beatific Vision. It is a joy Jesus knew at the heights of His soul from the first moment of His conception but which will be complete in us only in heaven.
From this arise three things which working together can make this eternal bliss attainable. First, the humility of the Holy Spirit, Who is content not to be mentioned explicitly, even when He works wonders in us. Second, just as the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and Son, it is through our obedience to the commands not only of Christ Himself but of every legitimate authority that we know we remain in the Father’s Love. But if we are to exude the joy that is properly Christian, then we must always keep before our mind’s eye all the good we possess through Christ in the Holy Spirit, to prevent us from shrinking into our human mediocrity and sadness and to spur us to run the race so as to win the complete joy that will never end.
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 b
e reproduced by the parents or friends of St. Michael’s without written permission of the author.Catholic High Schools’ Graduation Rate Much Higher Than That Of Public Schools
APRIL 30 (Catholic World News) -- A report released by the National Catholic Education Association has found that Catholic high schools in the United States have a 99.1% graduation rate, compared to a 73.1% graduation rate at public schools. The report also found that 84.7% of Catholic high school graduates attend four-year colleges, compared to 44.1% of public high school graduates.
Prayer Requests
• Aid to the Church in Need, an international charity of the Catholic Church, which is seeking God’s blessings upon their work and their national directors during the month of May.
• Ms. Barbara Greer-Haeuser who waits for the results of a biopsy.
• Mrs. Delores Hasset, godmother of Mrs. Debbi Holke, who is suffering from cancer
• Mrs. Maureen Mitchell, aunt of Mrs. Debbi Holke, who is suffering from cancer
• Mrs. Harriet Nordeck, one time teacher at St. Michael’s, who is close to death
• Mr. Bill Ortega, who has a pulmonary blood clot
• 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.
• For the repose of the soul of Mrs. Ermelinda Carino.
• For the repose of the soul of Dr. Richard Wetzel.
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