Thanks to those parents and friends who helped make the week a success
● Mr. Ralph Martin for his work preparing the baseball field for the upcoming season
● Mr. and Mrs. Schardt for hosting the weekender students in their home Friday evening
● Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dang, Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Le, Mr. and Mrs. Hung Nguyen, Mr. and Mrs. Hai Pham, Mr. and Mrs. Brian Tran, Mr. and Mrs. Huen Tran and Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Vu for providing an amazing traditional luncheon for our students, faculty, staff, and clergy to celebrate the Chinese New Year
● Mr. Ralph Martin for his work preparing the baseball field for the upcoming season
● Mr. and Mrs. Schardt for hosting the weekender students in their home Friday evening
● Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dang, Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Le, Mr. and Mrs. Hung Nguyen, Mr. and Mrs. Hai Pham, Mr. and Mrs. Brian Tran, Mr. and Mrs. Huen Tran and Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Vu for providing an amazing traditional luncheon for our students, faculty, staff, and clergy to celebrate the Chinese New Year
General announcements to Parents 
● Students will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on Friday, February 18th at 11:00 a.m. in the abbey church with Abbot Eugene Hayes officiating as the bishop’s delegate. All are invited to join us in prayer and in person.
● Student Led Conferences are now scheduled for Sunday, February 27th. This is a face-to-face meeting between parents, their son, and the teachers.
Time: Freshmen 6:30 pm; Sophomores 6:50 pm; Juniors 7:15 pm; Seniors 7:40 pm.
Begins: in the mobile classroom where Fr. Gabriel will distribute name tags,
Continues: down the sidewalk to the yellow classroom and the recreation room.
Ends: Behind the school for a reception.
Note: Three minute time-frame. 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 have your son demonstrate what academic skills he has developed this year. He will:
A) Tell you the strategies/steps to took to achieve the classroom goals he established last fall
B) Tell you what he will be doing in the fourth quarter to finish his year well.
● Students must wear bathrobes when walking to and from the shower from their rooms. Any student not wearing a bathrobe will be given one and charged accordingly. School bathrobes cost $100.00.
● St. Michael’s Annual Report, 2009-2010 can be viewed online here.
● Students will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on Friday, February 18th at 11:00 a.m. in the abbey church with Abbot Eugene Hayes officiating as the bishop’s delegate. All are invited to join us in prayer and in person.
● Student Led Conferences are now scheduled for Sunday, February 27th. This is a face-to-face meeting between parents, their son, and the teachers.
Time: Freshmen 6:30 pm; Sophomores 6:50 pm; Juniors 7:15 pm; Seniors 7:40 pm.
Begins: in the mobile classroom where Fr. Gabriel will distribute name tags,
Continues: down the sidewalk to the yellow classroom and the recreation room.
Ends: Behind the school for a reception.
Note: Three minute time-frame. 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 have your son demonstrate what academic skills he has developed this year. He will:
A) Tell you the strategies/steps to took to achieve the classroom goals he established last fall
B) Tell you what he will be doing in the fourth quarter to finish his year well.
● Students must wear bathrobes when walking to and from the shower from their rooms. Any student not wearing a bathrobe will be given one and charged accordingly. School bathrobes cost $100.00.
● St. Michael’s Annual Report, 2009-2010 can be viewed online here.
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)–Western
Catholic Education Association (WCEA)Please note that the Visiting Committee will meet with all the parents of St. Michael’s Prep on Sunday Evening, March 20, at 7:00 PM, in the modular classroom. This meeting will take no more than one hour. It is very important that all parents come to the meeting who can. In preparation for this meeting, please read the section of the Parent/Student Handbook listed below (Faith, Academics and Character are known as the schools “Expected Schoolwide Learning Results [ESLRs]. Thank you!
This week’s photos: Parent Lunch; Intramural Basketball; Weekenders
Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 1, Sections 1 and 2
SECTION 1: SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY
Drawing upon a tradition of over eight centuries in education, the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey govern and serve St. Michael’s Preparatory High School. The formation of a St. Michael’s student integrates faith, academics, and character. These advantages will continue to form him throughout life, long after he has left his school days behind.
FAITH
St. Michael’s welcomes young men who possess the aptitude and commitment both to receive and to enrich
what its school community has to offer. The heart of our unique school’s identity is the Catholic Faith, from which flow the truths on which we base our approach to education. The person and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ are the source and fulfillment of true happiness. The experience of Catholic Christian living leads the student to Jesus through a liturgical and sacramental life, supported by prayer, teaching, guidance and example. The sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist are available to students every day. The bishop confers Confirmation on eligible students every other year.ACADEMICS
Our program consists of challenging academic courses for the college-bound student. These courses endeavor to communicate knowledge in fidelity to the Catholic intellectual tradition, and so to form our students as men of insight and integrity, qualities which will enable them to be discerning, responsible citizens in a world which has great need of them. Our scholars center their efforts on preparation for college and fulfilling life work. While emphasizing the Western heritage of theology, humanities, the arts and the sciences throughout our curriculum, we seek to round-out a young man’s education through athletics as well.
CHARACTER
As a boarding school, St. Michael’s offers significant opportunities for a consistent and wholesome growth toward maturity. Much of the responsibility for the day-to-day running of the school is shared with the students who learn to cooperate with their peers and with those in authority in attaining common goals. A positive, but realistic self-knowledge along with an attitude of respect for others is the foundation of a young man’s moral character. The cultivation of individual dignity guides students to accept self-discipline and responsibility as essential aspects both of personal freedom and participation in a community. St. Michael’s fosters this character development in all areas of student life.
SECTION 2: MISSION STATEMENT
St. Michael’s Preparatory School witnesses to the fullness of the Catholic faith and teaches in fidelity to a sound Catholic intellectual tradition. St. Michael’s is exclusively a boarding school for boys, grades nine through twelve, who are capable of benefiting from and contributing to its spiritual and academic community. The School provides the academic attainments necessary for acceptance to a four-year college or undergraduate program at a university in the United States of America. St. Michael’s is served by Norbertine confreres and by others who share in the Norbertine teaching apostolate.
Etiquette Point of the Week
A gentleman knows that his clothes are the first thing others see – even before he has a chance to offer a handshake or open his mouth. A gentleman takes care that he looks his best, and dresses his best, every day. He understands that good grooming may not be immediately noticed, however, poor grooming will always be noticed. A Gentleman Gets Dressed Up, Bridges and Curtis; Brooks Brothers Press
Birthdays This Week:Feb. 14th Hieu Pham
Homily preached by Rev. fr. Brendan Hankins, O.Praem.
Among other things, fr Brendan teaches American Literature and is one of the school deans.
At the Super Bowl last Sunday in Arlington, Texas there were 103,219 people in attendance from all over the country. There were more people there than at any other sporting event this year and the second largest in history. At Lourdes in France there were 8 million pilgrims there last year from all over the world. That’s the equivalent of approximately 78 Super Bowls.
Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a 14 year old peasant girl in Lourdes, France and now it is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the world. Attracting, in particular, the sick and the suffering. Over 7,000 pilgrims have claimed to have been miraculously healed after visiting the shrine and bathing in the water that flows from the grotto where she appeared.
Why do so many go of the sick and suffering go to Lourdes? Why do so many go to Mary? They go to Mary for compassion – As Mary was united with her Son in his suffering so is she united with us in ours. It was from the Cross our Lord gave us to his mother as her sons and daughters and Jesus gave her to us as our Mother. Through his passion her heart was pierced and when we suffer she, in particularly, sees her Son in us who bear his image. Mary’s gaze rests particularly on the sick and suffering because her gaze was fixed upon Christ on the cross and she has a particular care for the sick and suffering because she sees her Son, who suffered for us in them.
They go to Mary for Hope - She saw her son suffer and die on the cross, but now she sees her Son who has risen from the grave. Now she brings us hope. Hope that Our suffering is not in vain. That there is no suffering that we endure that goes unnoticed or unappreciated. That our suffering now will become our glory later.
They go to Mary for healing. As sin entered the world through Eve and along with it sickness and suffering, through Mary, conceived without sin, our salvation and healing entered the world through her. The deaf man who was healed in today’s gospel was taken by others to Christ, but Mary brings Christ to us. She brought him into the temple for Simeon and Anna, she entreated him at the wedding feast at Cana for the couple and she has brought him to millions at Lourdes.
In an encyclical of Pope Pius the XII on the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes it says “No one has ever seen such a procession of suffering in one spot on earth, never such radiance of peace, serenity, and joy”. In the same encyclical, “Go to her, you who are crushed by material misery, defenseless against the hardships of life and the indifference of men. Go to her, you who are assailed by sorrows and moral trials. Go to her, beloved invalids and infirm, you who are sincerely welcomed and honored at Lourdes as the suffering members of our Lord. Go to her and receive peace of heart, strength for your daily duties, joy for the sacrifice you offer.”
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.
'The Splendor of a Catholic Education'
by Father Phillip De Vous, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Crescent Springs, Kentucky.
As we celebrate Catholic Schools' Week in the Diocese of Covington, and here at St. Joseph's, during the first week of February, we are mindful of what is the splendor of a Catholic education. The splendor of a Catholic education shows itself all the more shining and necessary in a culture where the secularist elites in law, government education, mass media, academia, advertising, and others — who act as self-appointed gatekeepers in order to control the official definitions of reality — want put our Catholic Faith and the demands of the Catholic way of life in a box. Our Catholic schools exist to teach our children to think, act, and live in an authentically, evangelically Catholic way so they can be formed as whole persons in Jesus Christ, who is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life."
The witness and work of Catholic education is all the more important when we recognize the diabolical power and persuasion of the culture of death — aptly described by Blessed John Paul II — which suffocates the souls and suffuses the lives of so many, leaving in its wake a great spiritual, moral, psychological and personal poverty. The idea that fuels the hateful, anti-human and atheistic worldview is that of secularism.
Secularism has become the regnant ideology in our time. Secularism, both as a philosophical idea and an uncritical ideology, artificially separates truth into two domains. The image of a two-story house is instructive to understanding the secularist worldview: The first "floor" of the house is the realm of "facts," generally narrowly defined in an empiricist and totally materialist way. So only the truths of science, as secularists define and understand them, are admitted to the first floor. It is only on this "floor" that "facts" are to be known and where "real truths" about the world — truths that are objective and verifiable — are found. Note the narrowness of this view and how far from actual human experience and reality it is.
Secularists confine "values" such as statements about beauty, morality, and God, to the second "floor" of the house. These are considered by secularists to be expressions of mere personal preference only, which have no basis in objective reality and thus are unverifiable. And since they have no foundation in objective reality and are unverifiable, according to secularist renderings, they cannot form the basis for public discussion or actions, personal or communal. So religion, which is the lived-life of the Faith, is treated like an eccentric aunt shut up in the attic.
The practical conclusion that one reaches if they buy or breathe in this worldview is that the Christian life, which the Faith gives us and forms in us and among us, is not really true and, if it happens to be true, then it doesn't really matter. Given the low rates of Mass attendance and participation in the whole life of the parish by those who have received and are in the midst of receiving a Catholic education, it is clear this pernicious and humanly-unfulfilling idea has been breathed in and bought by many in our day.
Catholic education in our time is a witness to a fuller, authentically human, and true way of life. In this our Faith forms the foundation, the first "floor" and second "floor" of the "house," as well as providing all the furnishings, as the human spirit is lifted to God on the twin wings of faith and reason. Authentic Catholic education stands over and against the materialist and secularist worldview that would define us as nothing more than the sum total of our possessions and earning power. The work of Catholic education in our Catholic schools is about teaching the next generation of Christ's disciples how to be men and women in full, not "folks full of stuff." In that regard our schools seek to educate the whole person, not just in the technical skills of living in the world, but in the truths that are indispensable in reaching their eternal destiny: life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The challenges of carrying out the work of Catholic education are faced by every generation who would apply themselves to this holy and necessary vocation. And it is often the case that at precisely the moment when something becomes the most challenging and difficult to accomplish is when the work is most necessary and urgent. I believe that to be the situation as it pertains to the work of Catholic schools. Catholic schools are more necessary, and their survival more urgent, than ever, especially as we recognize the debilitating and toxic moral, spiritual, intellectual, and spiritual environment our children and their families are exposed to on a daily basis.
It is a fact that the challenges involved and the sacrifices required in achieving and maintaining a Catholic school that provides an authentically Catholic education are formidable. The consequences, however, of not meeting those challenges and making those sacrifices in order to succeed in keeping the holy and necessary work of Catholic schools alive in our parishes and in the world are even more daunting and devastating, given the alienation and toxicity of contemporary lifestyles.
Catholic schools are islands of moral, spiritual, intellectual, and spiritual sanity in world that has been turned upside down. Catholic schools, and the work of Catholic education, provide the witness to hope and truth that our world needs to see in action, to which we all need to contribute, and that our children must receive. As our Bishop, the Most Reverend Roger J. Foys, D.D., has taught us on many occasions, "[W]hen it comes to Catholic education, there are many alternatives, but no substitute."
Blessed John Paul II was fond of saying that "Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is every human person." Catholic schools, in carrying out the work of Catholic education, are foundational and necessary in helping our children answer that question for their own sake and for the life of the world, now, and that yet to come — but already in our midst in the gift and mystery of the Church. All the sacrifices it takes to accomplish the work of St. Joseph School are nothing compared to the blessings we shall reap for our fidelity to this Godly task. That is the splendor of a Catholic education!
© Matt C. Abbott. February 4, 2011 Renew America February 8, 2011
Prayer Requests
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.
'The Splendor of a Catholic Education'
by Father Phillip De Vous, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Crescent Springs, Kentucky.
As we celebrate Catholic Schools' Week in the Diocese of Covington, and here at St. Joseph's, during the first week of February, we are mindful of what is the splendor of a Catholic education. The splendor of a Catholic education shows itself all the more shining and necessary in a culture where the secularist elites in law, government education, mass media, academia, advertising, and others — who act as self-appointed gatekeepers in order to control the official definitions of reality — want put our Catholic Faith and the demands of the Catholic way of life in a box. Our Catholic schools exist to teach our children to think, act, and live in an authentically, evangelically Catholic way so they can be formed as whole persons in Jesus Christ, who is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life."
The witness and work of Catholic education is all the more important when we recognize the diabolical power and persuasion of the culture of death — aptly described by Blessed John Paul II — which suffocates the souls and suffuses the lives of so many, leaving in its wake a great spiritual, moral, psychological and personal poverty. The idea that fuels the hateful, anti-human and atheistic worldview is that of secularism.
Secularism has become the regnant ideology in our time. Secularism, both as a philosophical idea and an uncritical ideology, artificially separates truth into two domains. The image of a two-story house is instructive to understanding the secularist worldview: The first "floor" of the house is the realm of "facts," generally narrowly defined in an empiricist and totally materialist way. So only the truths of science, as secularists define and understand them, are admitted to the first floor. It is only on this "floor" that "facts" are to be known and where "real truths" about the world — truths that are objective and verifiable — are found. Note the narrowness of this view and how far from actual human experience and reality it is.
Secularists confine "values" such as statements about beauty, morality, and God, to the second "floor" of the house. These are considered by secularists to be expressions of mere personal preference only, which have no basis in objective reality and thus are unverifiable. And since they have no foundation in objective reality and are unverifiable, according to secularist renderings, they cannot form the basis for public discussion or actions, personal or communal. So religion, which is the lived-life of the Faith, is treated like an eccentric aunt shut up in the attic.
The practical conclusion that one reaches if they buy or breathe in this worldview is that the Christian life, which the Faith gives us and forms in us and among us, is not really true and, if it happens to be true, then it doesn't really matter. Given the low rates of Mass attendance and participation in the whole life of the parish by those who have received and are in the midst of receiving a Catholic education, it is clear this pernicious and humanly-unfulfilling idea has been breathed in and bought by many in our day.
Catholic education in our time is a witness to a fuller, authentically human, and true way of life. In this our Faith forms the foundation, the first "floor" and second "floor" of the "house," as well as providing all the furnishings, as the human spirit is lifted to God on the twin wings of faith and reason. Authentic Catholic education stands over and against the materialist and secularist worldview that would define us as nothing more than the sum total of our possessions and earning power. The work of Catholic education in our Catholic schools is about teaching the next generation of Christ's disciples how to be men and women in full, not "folks full of stuff." In that regard our schools seek to educate the whole person, not just in the technical skills of living in the world, but in the truths that are indispensable in reaching their eternal destiny: life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The challenges of carrying out the work of Catholic education are faced by every generation who would apply themselves to this holy and necessary vocation. And it is often the case that at precisely the moment when something becomes the most challenging and difficult to accomplish is when the work is most necessary and urgent. I believe that to be the situation as it pertains to the work of Catholic schools. Catholic schools are more necessary, and their survival more urgent, than ever, especially as we recognize the debilitating and toxic moral, spiritual, intellectual, and spiritual environment our children and their families are exposed to on a daily basis.
It is a fact that the challenges involved and the sacrifices required in achieving and maintaining a Catholic school that provides an authentically Catholic education are formidable. The consequences, however, of not meeting those challenges and making those sacrifices in order to succeed in keeping the holy and necessary work of Catholic schools alive in our parishes and in the world are even more daunting and devastating, given the alienation and toxicity of contemporary lifestyles.
Catholic schools are islands of moral, spiritual, intellectual, and spiritual sanity in world that has been turned upside down. Catholic schools, and the work of Catholic education, provide the witness to hope and truth that our world needs to see in action, to which we all need to contribute, and that our children must receive. As our Bishop, the Most Reverend Roger J. Foys, D.D., has taught us on many occasions, "[W]hen it comes to Catholic education, there are many alternatives, but no substitute."
Blessed John Paul II was fond of saying that "Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is every human person." Catholic schools, in carrying out the work of Catholic education, are foundational and necessary in helping our children answer that question for their own sake and for the life of the world, now, and that yet to come — but already in our midst in the gift and mystery of the Church. All the sacrifices it takes to accomplish the work of St. Joseph School are nothing compared to the blessings we shall reap for our fidelity to this Godly task. That is the splendor of a Catholic education!
© Matt C. Abbott. February 4, 2011 Renew America February 8, 2011
Prayer Requests
● Mr. Joseph Kim, who is seriously ill. Mr. Kim is the father of Rev. Simon Kim.
● Mr. Bernard Betz, who is nearing death
● Mrs. Kathleen Pickett, grandmother of Bryce Pickett, who is fighting advanced cancer.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.
● For the repose of the soul of Michaeleen Saint Laurent
● Mr. Bernard Betz, who is nearing death
● Mrs. Kathleen Pickett, grandmother of Bryce Pickett, who is fighting advanced cancer.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.
● For the repose of the soul of Michaeleen Saint Laurent
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