The family of Tuyen Vu for hosting a student over the weekend
The Terlisner, Porretta, Portka, and Vu families for participating in carpools
General announcements to Parents
● Student-Led Parent Conferences which had been scheduled to take place Sunday, Feb. 6th have been postponed. The new date is Sunday, February 27.
● There is a parent-sponsored lunch on Wednesday, Feb. 9th to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Parents wishing to help should contact Mrs. Cathy Porretta.
● “Raising A Man of God For Others” is the theme of the Parent Talk, Sunday, Feb. 13th at 7:00 p.m. The guest speaker will be Fr. Claude Williams.
● The following 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. Please mark your calendar now. All are invited to join us in prayer and in person.
Cristian Rodolfo Aguilar,
Faris Francis Sabah Al-Quaddoomi,
Andrew Peter Bonello,
Joseph Daniel Ngoc Dang,
Travis Donald Elmer,
Joachim Derek Quang Trung Giap,
Yongkyoo Kim,
Spencer Thomas Manson,
John Michael Mikolaycik,
Gregory Joseph Minder,
Bryce Pickett,
Scott Thomas Schardt,
Johann Issac Schoenfeld,
Jonathan Dang Khoa Tran,
Matthew Quang Vu,
Tuyen Minh Vu.
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)–Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA)
The Visiting Committee would like to meet with all the parents of St. Michael’s Prep on Sunday Evening, March 20. Please check here for a future announcement on the exact time. Mark your calendars now!
This week’s photos: Norbertine Sisters’ Solemn Profession; Sr. Christian’s talk to parents
Parent/Student Handbook: CHAPTER 12: Emergency Preparedness; Section 4
Section 4: EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS PLAN
When the earth moves, everyone should keep calm and go into the “duck and cover” position: in classrooms, under the desks; in the dorms, under a desk or your bed; in the dining room, under the tables. Do not wait for the “Duck and cover!” command from your teacher or for a bell signal. The “duck and cover” position means: Get under desk, bed, etc.; drop to knees with knees together; interlace fingers and with head down cover the back of the neck; stay there until movement stops.
When ground movement ends, the teacher will supervise the evacuation of the classroom. In the dorms, roomleaders will supervise the evacuation of their roommates. Do not evacuate until all movement has stopped. Follow evacuation plan for fires (above). The student body president with the help of the roomleaders take roll and keep everyone calm and orderly.
Keep calm. Panic kills.
Do not run for the door or go outside.
Your greatest danger is from falling or flying objects, so take cover in the “duck and cover” position and stay there.
If outside, get into the open, away from buildings and power lines.
In the case of a major earthquake disaster, the Emergency Earthquake Plan will be activated. This plan is designed to provide fast, efficient help to those who are trapped or injured, secure the plant from further damage, and organize resources to supply human needs for at least three days. This plan is coordin
ated by the plant manager of the Abbey. The dean of students and his assistant dean lead the efforts of those involved in the school.
Do not run for the door or go outside.
Your greatest danger is from falling or flying objects, so take cover in the “duck and cover” position and stay there.
If outside, get into the open, away from buildings and power lines.
In the case of a major earthquake disaster, the Emergency Earthquake Plan will be activated. This plan is designed to provide fast, efficient help to those who are trapped or injured, secure the plant from further damage, and organize resources to supply human needs for at least three days. This plan is coordin
ated by the plant manager of the Abbey. The dean of students and his assistant dean lead the efforts of those involved in the school.The plan is made up of teams who each have a specific task to carry out. Upon the event of a major emergency, every team leader should meet at the command post (which is the courtyard side of Fr. Abbot’s office) before doing anything else, to coordinate and organize the team efforts. The few moments taken at the beginning to organize will in the long run make for a more effective effort.
Each team has a coordinator and an assistant. The assistant is in charge when the coordinator is not around. Each team needs to keep in contact with the command post. The command post is in charge of all personnel and will shift persons and resources to meet these needs.
Each team has a coordinator and an assistant. The assistant is in charge when the coordinator is not around. Each team needs to keep in contact with the command post. The command post is in charge of all personnel and will shift persons and resources to meet these needs.
Etiquette Point of the Week
Before consuming bread, a gentleman breaks off a bite sized piece before consuming it. Bread should be broken into a bite-sized portion, one piece at a time, as it is eaten. Each piece of bread is buttered as it is consumed. At no time should bread be dipped or dunked in gravy or any other type of sauce on the dinner plate. A Gentleman at the Table, Bridges and Curtis; Brooks Brothers Press
Athletics
Monday, Feb. 6th: Soccer vs. San Jacinto CANCELLED
Wednesday, Feb. 8th: Soccer @ Southlands Christian; 3:00 p.m.
Birthdays This Week: Feb. 6th Tuyen Vu
Homily preached by Fr. John Henry Hanson, O. Praem.
Among other things, Fr. John Henry teaches English and Religion
“Let us persevere in running the race… keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” In the early 1970s, St Josemaria Escriva was speaking to a large group in South America and during a period of questions and answers a man stood up and asked, “Father, I have a friend who is away from the Church and I am trying to bring him back to the Sacraments. But he says that he doesn’t believe in priests, whether they dress like them or not.” The saint interrupted him and said, “Tell your friend that I don’t believe in priests either.”
Among other things, Fr. John Henry teaches English and Religion
“Let us persevere in running the race… keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” In the early 1970s, St Josemaria Escriva was speaking to a large group in South America and during a period of questions and answers a man stood up and asked, “Father, I have a friend who is away from the Church and I am trying to bring him back to the Sacraments. But he says that he doesn’t believe in priests, whether they dress like them or not.” The saint interrupted him and said, “Tell your friend that I don’t believe in priests either.”
The audience laughed, and he explained, “Certainly I love and venerate the Roman Pontiff and the bishops and all priests throughout the world, but I do not believe because of them. I believe Per Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum.” In a humorous way, St Josemaria pointed out how maybe this fallen-away man was focusing on the wrong things. Keeping our eyes fixed upon that same Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega of our faith, is something that we must do in this world, if we would persevere in running our race without getting sidetracked by the world.
The Gospel image of the hemorrhaging woman who approaches Jesus in the midst of a jostling crowd, all of whom are moving with and around Jesus, is a very practical illustration of what St Paul says elsewhere: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Run--follow--so as to win.
There are plenty of other things to focus on other than the Lord, otherwise St Paul’s exhortation would be superfluous. There are things which are obviously sinful, things not so obviously sinful, things which are not sinful at all but even good--but whatever it is, if it is less than God in Christ, it will not lead us to persevere in running our race. “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof, and all of these things will be added unto you,” our Savior said. Or as St Peter says, “Your faith and hope are in God.”
Keeping her eyes fixed upon Jesus was exactly what the hemorrhaging woman did. In seeking the Lord and finding Him, she found everything that the world could not give to her: healing, peace, joy, salvation, God. She found not simply healing, but her Savior from sin. And it is significant that she was seeking Him in a crowd, after she had exhausted all human means. Because the problem with the world is that the world with its crowd of technology, learning, science, and art cannot produce one crucial thing: a single happy person. Why? Because it cannot take away sin. It heals no one, comforts no one, saves no one.
The world is expert in counterfeiting happiness, and many people buy into it. It produces excited people, addicted and exploited people, but not happy ones. It has the power to make people absorbed in anything and everything except Jesus, but no power to fulfill.
Perhaps this is one reason why at every Mass we need to hear those familiar words of St John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” In the midst of a complicated, misleading world, we need that simple direction: Look here! Behold! Here is your happiness, here is your healing. It reminds us to keep our gaze fixed on Him. It was with such simplicity that the suffering woman found the Lord.
The world insists, and always will, that in order to be happy and fulfilled we need the many things that it has to offer: sense pleasures, the esteem of others, novelties, accomplishments that leave a mark on the world. Most people are convinced that this is the way to whatever happiness that this life can provide, or at least they have not been presented with a viable alternative.
Christianity insists, and always will, that you need not many and various things but only one thing to be happy. One thing alone is necessary and as the Church often points to Him through St John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God,” she also points to Him through this woman looking for healing. Here was the perfect victim of the world’s false promises: a “woman afflicted,” who had “suffered greatly,” and “spent all that she had,” and who was “not helped but only gre
w worse.” But: “She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd.” At that point, she made the transition of faith, from being a member of the crowd, to belonging to the cloud of witnesses, the ones who have learned to look through the world and to see Jesus.
w worse.” But: “She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd.” At that point, she made the transition of faith, from being a member of the crowd, to belonging to the cloud of witnesses, the ones who have learned to look through the world and to see Jesus. Is this who Jesus is for us, the One necessary thing? If we do not take the time to answer this question for ourselves consciously, then our actions, words, thoughts, fears, and desires will answer it for us. When we experience joy or sorrow, where is Jesus in the midst of it? When we need healing, to whom do we go? Where do we turn for consolation when we feel forsaken or misunderstood? Is Jesus really everything to us that we say He is? Is He the author and finisher of our faith
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
● Mr. William Brown who is suffering from an adverse reaction to chemotherapy ● Miss Lisa Hulbert who is awaiting her 3rd liver transplant
● Mrs. Nguyet Pham who has cancer. Mrs. Pham is the grandmother of sophomore Tuyen Vu and alumnus Don Khong.
●The grandmother of Bryce Pickett, who has cancer.
● Eldest brother of junior Michael Martin, Sean, who is being deployed to Afghanistan.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
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
● Mr. William Brown who is suffering from an adverse reaction to chemotherapy ● Miss Lisa Hulbert who is awaiting her 3rd liver transplant
● Mrs. Nguyet Pham who has cancer. Mrs. Pham is the grandmother of sophomore Tuyen Vu and alumnus Don Khong.
●The grandmother of Bryce Pickett, who has cancer.
● Eldest brother of junior Michael Martin, Sean, who is being deployed to Afghanistan.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.
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