May 29, 2011

Thanks to those parents and friends who have helped this week:
● For contributing to last week’s choir concert reception: Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Aaker, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dang, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas DiNapoli, Mrs. Tina Halim, Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Le, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Pickett, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Porretta, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Portka, Mrs. Maria Salazar, Mr. and Mrs. Aniceto Sandoval, and Miss Rosemary Warnisher
● For donating a parent sponsored lunch for our students and faculty: Mrs. Tracey Pickett, Mrs. Tracee Portka, and Mrs. Ann Rincon
● For providing photos of recent events at the school: Mr. Rudy Aquilar, Mr. Morty Howard, and Mr. Brian Tran
● For donating 400 rosaries for the school to distribute: Mrs. Regina Lim

● June 1st is the deadline for paying the Book Fee. It is also the deadline if you plan to take advantage of the discount offered for paying 100% of your 2011-2012 tuition.

Volunteer Opportunities
● Annual Bucket Brigade!! Come help us clean the school on June 11th at 8:30 a.m. We need several work teams to help clean after school is out for the summer. All volunteers are welcome. Snacks and beverages provided by Fr. Gabriel. To sign-up contact Mrs. Christian in the school office.

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 3, Sections 1 and 2
SECTION 1. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

St. Michael’s teaches all of its academic courses at the College Prep (CP) level. When higher levels are provided at Honors (H) or Advanced Placement (AP), they are indicated. These receive extra weight in calculating the Grade Point Average (GPA).

SECTION 2. GRADUATION POLICY
Seniors who earn less than a “C” as a semester grade in any class do not graduate from St. Michael’s until that grade is remediated. If this unfortunate circumstance arises, then two courses of action follow. (1) As the senior did not have all the necessary graduation requirements, he does not participate in the Commencement Exercises. This ceremony is one of the privileges reserved to those who have met their academic and social obligations as established by the school. (2) The senior will redo the course work in an approved summer school program. Once the course work is completed, the senior receives his diploma and resumes his place with his classmates.

This Week’s Photos: First Honor’s outing, Seniors enjoying Dana Point Harbor, Alumni Lowell Schaper and Nick Porretta, Spring Choir Concert

Etiquette Point of the Week
When a gentleman is about to conclude his year at St. Michael’s Prep School, it’s always a polite gesture to let his teachers know how much he appreciates their efforts to educate him, help him, and make him a better person.
Words of wisdom from Mrs. Christian

Athletics
Congratulations to the Pioneers for winning the position of League Champions. The Baseball Awards Banquet is June 6th at 7:00 p.m.

Homily preached by Fr. Benedict Solomon, O.Praem.
Among other things Fr. Benedict teaches freshmen and senior religion

St. Jude asks Jesus if He will reveal Himself to the rest of the world as He did to the disciples. Jesus as usual, doesn’t give a straight answer.

He says-The Advocate, the Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. The answer Jesus gives is that He will show Himself to the rest of the world-but only through his disciples. But in order to be His disciples we need to love Him, not just with our words, but by obeying His commandments. Jesus says “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father , and I will love him and reveal myself to Him.”

In order for us to love Jesus He must have already been revealed to us. So how does He reveal Himself again? Those who love Jesus will see Him face to face in heaven, but also in a special way here on earth. Faith in Jesus is one without sight. But faith is perfected and deepened by the Gift of Understanding.

St. Thomas says that “In this life, when the eye of the spirit is purified by the gift of understanding, one can in a certain way see God.” Jesus, reveals Himself in a deeper way by sending the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit do not depend on our will, but we can prepare ourselves for them. We prepare ourselves for the Gift of Understanding by purity in body and soul.

“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” We prepare ourselves by; interior recollection in silence and solitude; By fidelity to grace, which means not denying any sacrifices asked by God, and in every thought and deed cooperating with the movements of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, we are to invoke the Holy Spirit through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary so that we can receive the Gifts. So during these weeks before Pentecost, let us prepare ourselves for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by purity, recollection, faithfulness and prayer.

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 without written permission of the author.

Prayer Requests
● Alumni Tom Cox ’05 who fell 30 feet while rock climbing and broke both ankles.
● For Mr. and Mrs. Meschuk who suffered a miscarriage.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.

Those who have died in defense of the country.

May 22, 2011

Thanks to those parents and friends who have helped this week: The many moms who set up and provided food for the reception after the Spring Concert.

Future Events
● School dismisses at 12:30 P.M. on Thursday, May 26th for the Memorial Day weekend. Seniors stay at school until Friday afternoon for the Baccalaureate Mass at 1:00 PM.● Graduation is Monday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. All parents and students are invited to attend our Graduation Ceremony. A reception will follow.

Volunteer Opportunities
● We are in need of parents who can help with the reception following our Graduation Ceremony. If you can help by donating an appetizer, a dessert or a beverage, please call Cathy Porretta at 951-940-1852.
● Annual Bucket Brigade!! Come help us clean the school on June 11th at 8:30 a.m. We need several work teams to help clean after school is out for the summer. All volunteers are welcome. Snacks and beverages provided by Fr. Gabriel. To sign-up contact Mrs. Christian in the school office.

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 4, Section 2
SECTION 2:
St. Michael’s has a closed campus policy. Students are not permitted to leave the campus or receive any individual visitors without the permission of the headmaster or his delegate. Alumni and associate alumni are encouraged to visit the school and talk with the student body as a whole. All are to respect the privacy of the students by not entering the student residency. There is no special alumni privilege to visit brothers or relatives.

This Week’s Photos: Students helping out at the Blind Center; Justin Koh receiving an award.

Etiquette Point of the Week
A gentleman takes off his cap during the National Anthem, during the Pledge of Allegiance, or whenever the American flag is passing by.
50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know, John Bridges and Bryan Curtis; Rutledge Hill Press

Birthdays
5/24 Gregory Minder

Athletics
St. Michael's Prep has moved on to the 2nd round of the CIF Playoffs. On Tuesday, St. Michael's Prep will host Dunn School. The game is scheduled for 3:15 pm. Congratulations to the baseball players on their success so far!

Homily preached by Fr. Chrysostom Baer, O. Praem.
Among other things, Fr. Chrysostom is the Abbey Cantor

Only Jesus could teach the most sublime truths while under the duress of an imminent attack on His life, as He does in the Gospel today. For He reveals to the Jews that He and the Father both possess the divine nature: “I and the Father are one.” And if we take another translation that some prefer, we understand that Christ’s own possession of the divine nature is by way of procession—“That which My Father has given Me is greater than everything”—for what is greater than the divine nature? And what is the eternal procession of the Son other than the receiving of the divine nature from the Father? And if that’s not enough, Christ also reveals Himself as the Savior of all by indicating the ultimate effect of following Him, the purpose of His Incarnation: “I give them eternal life.” Still not enough, He reveals the deep personal relationship that man will enter into with God: “My sheep hear My voice; I know them and they follow Me.” They recognize His voice and follow Him because He speaks to them often, as a Good Shepherd will do. And because Christ is the consummate teacher, He has approached His loftiest doctrine, that of the inner life of God, by starting first with what is best known to His audience, the response to God’s word. Thus, Jesus has in a few sentences explicitly revealed, to those who but pretend interest, the two essential dogmas that we must believe for our salvation: the Trinity and the Incarnation.

And what is the reaction of the crowd? We read in the text immediately following today’s Gospel that even still the Jews pick up stones to kill Him. While they are doing so, Christ appeals to incontrovertible evidence that He speaks the truth: “I have shown you many good works from My Father. For which of these are you trying to stone Me?” He has worked miracles, and how! Water turned into wine, a paralytic of thirty-eight years walking again, five thousand fed from five loaves, and sight given to a man born blind. These are signs that the Jews in their fury cannot deny, and they don’t even try, but nevertheless they do not believe in Him.

Even as we shake our heads with our own disbelief at their hardness of heart, and even though we would rather cut off our hands that pick up a stone to throw at Christ, don’t we sometimes find the stone already in our hand and our arm pulled back to throw it at our neighbor, whether spouse or fellow student or fellow religious—the precise people through whom God intends to reveal to us the sublime mysteries of His love, the precise people with whom Jesus identifies Himself? We should instead wipe from our minds the blindness of the Jews in the Gospel today and rather than be incredulous of good motives believe the works of charity performed by those closest to us, works supernatural and therefore greater even than those natural miracles Christ performed, works that in some mysterious way reveal the inner life God.

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 without written permission of the author.

Prayer Requests
● Alumni Tom Cox ’05 who fell 30’ while rock climbing and broke both ankles.
● For Mr. and Mrs. Meschuk who suffered a miscarriage last week.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them

May 15, 2011

Thanks to those parents and friends who have helped this week:
● Coaching the Pioneer Baseball to CIF victory: Mr. Ralph Martin
● For providing luncheon for our faculty and students Mrs. Joan Dimen, Mrs. Mariam Schardt, Mrs. Virginia Schoenfeld, and Mrs. Elizabeth Tractenberg
● For hosting a hot dog grill during Thursday’s baseball game: Rudy and Roxanna Aguilar

Future Events
● School dismisses on Thursday, May 26th at 12:30 for the Memorial Day weekend. Seniors stay at school until Friday afternoon.
● Graduation is on Monday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. All parents and students are invited to attend our Graduation Ceremony. A reception will follow.

Volunteer Opportunities
● We are in need of parents who can help with the reception following our Graduation Ceremony. If you can help by donating an appetizer, a dessert or a beverage, please call Cathy Porretta at 951-940-1852.
● Annual Bucket Brigade!! Come help us clean the school on June 11th at 8:30 a.m. We need several work teams to help clean after school is out for the summer. All volunteers are welcome. Snacks and beverages provided by Fr. Gabriel. To sign-up contact Mrs. Christian in the school office.


Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 3, Section 15

SECTION 15: HONOR ROLL PRIVILEGES
Rewards and privileges at St. Michael’s are aligned with academic success.
Students who enjoy First Honors (94%-100% grade point average) will be treated by the administration to an off campus dinner once a quarter.

They may also bring their own computer and printer to school to use at their own desk. Personal computers are stored in the school office, checked out by the room-leader at 6:00 pm, and returned at 9:45 pm.

During the evening recreation period from 6:00 to 7:00, students on First Honors may play games on their computers, as long as the content of the game does not offend Catholic moral teaching. Watching films or any entertainment shows on one’s computer is strictly forbidden to all students at all times.

If a student plays computer games after the evening recreation, that computer will be confiscated for two weeks with a donation to the mission funds of $100. If any student assumes computer privileges that are not his, that computer will be confiscated for two weeks with a donation to the mission funds of $100. If any student watches a film or any other entertainment show on a computer, that computer will be confiscated for two weeks with a donation to the mission funds of $100. For this reason, students are strongly encouraged to place passwords on their computers to prevent others from unauthorized use. IPods used as movie-watching devices on campus will be confiscated for two weeks and may only be redeemed with donation to the mission funds of $100. All these infractions negatively impact the student’s conduct grade, 10 points “off the top.”

Room-leaders may also enjoy this privilege throughout the week at the First Honors level if they have maintained at least an 88% with no “D” or “F”. Recreational use of the computer (games, etc.) is likewise determined by this scale.

At no time does the school assume liability for loss and/or damage of the computer (hardware, software, information) or the radio (CD player, iPod™).

This Week’s Photos:
Pioneer Baseball Team, Freshman ambassadors helping with Living History.

Etiquette Point of the Week
A gentleman knows that a cell phone is a luxury and a privilege. He does not engage in loud conversations nor does he use foul or vulgar language while using a cell phone.  
50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know, John Bridges and Bryan Curtis; Rutledge Hill Press

Birthdays
May 19th Jonathan Bonello

Athletics
The Pioneer baseball team has won the Express League Championship and now moves on to the CIF Division 7 playoffs. Playoffs begin Monday May 16th. For game details, please check the school’s online calendar. Congratulations to our team, their coach, Mr. Ralph Martin.


Homily preached by Fr. Victor Szczurek, O. Praem. Among other things, Fr. Victor is the Assistant Headmaster and teaches Latin.

When one of the confreres here used to teach religion at the prep school, he used to tell the students that, when taking a test, if you don’t know the answer to a question you can always just write “God” in the blank and you’ll have a pretty good chance of getting it right, seeing that it is a religion course after all. Not bad advice. Let’s see how well it would work if we had a test on today’s readings.

Question #1: Why was Philip able to make sense out of the same scripture
passage that left the Ethiopian completely perplexed. Answer: God.
Question #2: How was Philip suddenly snatched up and transported to a different
town? Answer: God.
Question #3: How can eating Jesus’ flesh give us eternal life? Answer: God.
O.k., now let’s throw in an extra credit question: How can today’s saints,
Nereus and Achilleus, two simple chamberlains, endure the harshest punishments
without denying their faith and so win a martyr’s crown. Answer: God

Well, hopefully our students and all the rest of us will learn more about our faith than that, but it certainly is a very good start. God is the answer—the answer to more problems than we might think. Let’s try another quiz.

If you are confused, if the road of life seems dark at times, if you are unhappy
with your life, your school, your vocation, your fellow students, confreres,
your family or spouse, what’s the solution? God.
If you would like to see every person in the world transported not into a
different town but into the Church, how can it be done? God.
If you would like to have eternal life and unending happiness, how is it
possible? God.
And finally, how can you possibly persevere through all the trials which this
life has to offer? God.

See, when it comes down to it, it really is that simple. We only have to memorize one answer, one word, the Word, the Word Incarnate. Only we shouldn’t try every other possible answer first and only then see if God fits; God should be the One we go to first when filling in all those empty blanks in our life.

So, study your faith, your catechism and good catholic theology—no matter who you are; but when it comes to the test which we call life, don’t bother racking your brain over it, just use the cheat-sheet and for all your problems go with God as your answer.

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 without written permission of the author.

Prayer Requests
● For Mrs. Jodi Meschuk’s safe pregnancy.
●Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them

May 8, 2011

In honor of Mother’s Day, there are no classes scheduled on Monday, May 9th . Students should report to school on Monday evening by 7:30 p.m.


We are in need of parents who can help with the reception following our Graduation Ceremony. If you can help by donating an appetizer, a dessert or a beverage, please call Cathy Porretta at 951-940-1852.

Annual Bucket Brigade!! Come help us clean the school on June 11th at 8:30 a.m. We need several work teams to help clean after school is out for the summer. All volunteers are welcome. Snacks and beverages provided by Fr. Gabriel. To sign-up contact Mrs. Christian in the school office.


The Baccalaureate Mass takes place Friday, May 27th at 1:00 p.m. Graduation is on Monday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. All parents and students are invited to attend our Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation Ceremony. A reception will follow each event.

Thanks to those parents and friends who have helped:
● Mrs. Aguilar for making homemade cookies for our baseball team.
● The Le, Tractenberg and Tran Familes for hosting weekender students.


Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 3, Section 14
SECTION 14: COLLEGE COUNSELING
All St. Michael’s students plan on going to college. College counseling at St. Michael’s, therefore, focuses on
 college-readiness (in terms of standardized testing),
 individual and group advisement regarding college choice and financial aid, and
 support throughout the college decision-making and application process.
College readiness/standardized testing: School policy is that all seniors must have taken the SAT Critical Reasoning (formerly called the SAT I), the ACT, and two SAT Subject Tests (formerly called SAT II). Students and parents are made aware of testing dates and registration deadlines through parent meetings and reminder emails. In preparation for the SAT, all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders take the PSAT in October, on-campus and during school hours.
All students who study their course work at the advanced placement level also sit for the AP examination. Other students may take AP exams provided they have permission from their parents and the appropriate faculty member.
From time to time St. Michael’s additionally provides standardized exams of various types. Some of these include: National Greek Exam and National Latin Exam.
Advisement regarding college choice and financial aid: Individual student appointments during the junior and senior years assist students in doing online college searches and in determining a pool of colleges to which the student will apply. Each junior and senior is given a customized “handbook” of relevant information. Group advisement is done as needed. Juniors and seniors go together on a formal visit and tour of a local college, attend the Santa Margarita Catholic High School College Night, and hear presentations by college reps who visit St. Michael’s during the school year. Students have access to continually updated information about individual colleges in the college file and scholarship notebook available in the school library.

Support throughout the college process: St. Michael’s College Counselor is available by email at gloriaryan@StMichaelsPrep.org, voicemail (949-858-0222 x 319), and/or face-to-face appointments to parents and students throughout all phases of the college-decision and application process. Two college counselor presentations are scheduled at parent meetings in fall (college decision-making and applications) and early winter (financial aid for college). While targeted at senior parents, parents of students at all grade levels are encouraged to attend.

This Week’s Photos:
St. Michael students feeding the homeless; Entrance Exam; Fr. Victor with alumnus Peter Vu ‘02

Etiquette Point of the Week
A gentleman offers any assistance he can to physically challenged people. He offers them the same courtesies he would other people, such as opening doors.
50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know, John Bridges and Bryan Curtis; Rutledge Hill Press


Birthdays
May 9th Vitalyi Tractenberg

Athletics
Tuesday, May 10th: Baseball vs. Eastside Christian @ Amerige Park; 3:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 12th: Baseball vs. Eastside Christian@ STM; 3:15 p.m.

Homily preached by Fr. Victor Szczurek, O. Praem.
Among other things, Fr. Victor is the Assistant Headmaster and teaches Latin

The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body…The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation…What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?
The author of this beautiful praise of mothers, Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, the onetime Cardinal Primate of
Hungary, notes in his memoirs that, having returned to his diocese in 1945, after being imprisoned by the Nazis
only to find his homeland invaded by the Russian troops—after the churches had been ransacked by the communists, women raped, men killed, and the most horrible atrocities known committed—that great
cardinal says that, having returned to all this, “The first thing I did was that which was the most natural thing to do, I went to see my mother…” Today is Mothers’ Day, when we honor all mothers; but this whole month of May is dedicated to that greatest of mothers, the Mother of us all, the Blessed Virgin Mary. If, as the saintly cardinal said, it is most natural in times of need to go to one’s mother (and it is), then all the more so when it is a spiritual need we have. And for this we go to her who is our spiritual Mother.

Ever since that last hour of our Lord’s earthly life, as He hung upon the Cross, when He entrusted His Mother’s
physical needs to St. John—Woman, Behold your son—and when He entrusted St. John’s spiritual needs to His Mother—Son, Behold your Mother, ever since then faithful Christians have always been going to that same Most Blessed of Mothers in times of need. Is this because God does not want us to approach Himself? Isn’t Jesus the “one Mediator between God and man”?

First of all, we can, if we so wish, always go directly to any or all of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. And God’s divine authority is in no way insulted when we choose to go to Him through Mary. Quite the contrary. Think of a king, or a president, or a pope. Far from taking anything away from their dignity, going to them through a mediator actually brings out their dignity, their superiority, their authority. It serves as a
reminder that when we approach such persons of importance, we are not dealing with your “average Joe” on the street, but someone of high authority. So when our Lady stands between us and God, so to speak, this reminds us that, no matter what path of communication we might choose, we ought always to advance with humility and
reverence.

Not only does our Lady not take away from our Lord’s dignity, she is the very means He uses to bring us to Himself. Just as “the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us” through Mary, just as He chose to come to us through her, so it is through her that He desires us to come to Himself. She has already given physical birth to the Head of the Mystical Body, and by so doing can already claim the title of “Mother” of all those who
follow Christ; in addition she continues to give spiritual birth to us, the members of that same Mystical Body which is the Church, by communicating the graces obtained for us by her Divine Son, the Mediator between God and man. In the words of St. Augustine: Mary is indeed the Mother of Christ’s members, that is, of ourselves. For it is by her work of love that men have been born in the Church, faithful men who are the body of the Head, Whose Mother she was in the flesh. What a great sign of Christ’s love for us, that already allowing us to be adopted children of His Father, He brings to completion that familial union by allowing us to have the same Mother as He.

Yes, Christ is the one Mediator between God and man; He is the only One Who could save us, the only One Whose death could destroy death, Whose Resurrection could be the cause of our own. But our Lord knows, as Cardinal Mindszenty knew, that it is most natural to go to mother. And so, just as He willed that, the wine having run out at the wedding feast of Cana, the servants of the groom should tell Mary of their need, so our
Lord wants us to go to our Mother and tell her of our needs; for not only is she the one who will obtain from Him what we need, she is also the perfect example of how we ought to use those graces. She is the model of each and every one of us, and the model of the Church as a whole.

So if you are tempted to anger and hatred, handover your passions to Mary, whose own Son was murdered before her very eyes, yet prayed for His persecutors. If, while considering the present state of the Church, you’re tempted to despair, give your will to Mary, who was there when the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles at Pentecost and who continues to be the Mother and personification of the Church. If it is impurity you’re battling, look at Mary, the purest of God’s creatures, the ever-Virgin. If it is pride, submit your intellect to Mary, who is the greatest of God’s creatures, and yet called herself the simple handmaid of the Lord. Such
has been the practice of good Christians since the earliest days; hence the words of one of the oldest hymns in honor of our Lady: Under thy protection we take refuge, O Mother of God. Do not reject our supplications in times of need, but from all dangers deliver us always, O Blessed and Glorious Virgin.

May God grant us the grace and wisdom to follow the good example of Cardinal Mindszenty, namely, in times of need go home to Mother.

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 without written permission of the author.

Prayer Requests
● For Mrs. Jodi Meschuk’s safe pregnancy.
●Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them

May 1, 2011

Thanks to those parents and friends who have helped:
●Mr. and Mrs. Porretta for providing a parent sponsored lunch for students and faculty before Easter break

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 3, Sections 12 and 13
SECTION 12: GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA)
St. Michael’s records student progress at two levels. The official GPA is the 4-point scale of the academic record. The more common Honor Roll GPA is the 100-point scale which parents and students read on the school’s electronic grading program. With this second scale, instructors provide a more nuanced report of student progress. This second GPA includes nonacademic subjects such as P.E., and conduct.

SECTION 13: ACADEMIC RECORDS
The Grade Point Average (GPA) at the semester is based on the semester grades, not the quarter grades. The GPA is the added value of the grades received, divided by the number of subjects taken. The values of grades received in full-year courses are as follows: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. For those University of California approved courses at the Honor and Advanced Placement level, a 5-point scale is used. A=5, B=4, C=3, D=1, F=0. The values of half-year courses are half of the above, and the course is counted as only half a subject.

St. Michael’s uses a 4-point scale to record student achievement on the permanent record. There is no plus or minus (+ or -) on the permanent record. This GPA officially represents the student to other institutions. This GPA is distinct from the quarter report card which uses a 100 point scale.
Transferable credits earned in another school are entered on the student’s permanent record (transcript) and will be accepted toward graduation. Likewise, work completed in summer school is accepted as long as the student can demonstrate appropriate competencies.
The transcript of the grades will be sent to schools and other agencies upon request by the student or his parents.

This Week’s Photos: pick-up basketball game, visit to the Nixon Library, senior reflection

Etiquette Point of the Week
When a gentleman learns that a friend has been stealing, using drugs, or doing anything else that could get him in trouble or harm either himself or someone else, he knows it is his responsibility to speak up. He does not spread rumors, but he does tell his parents, a teacher, or a counselor that he is concerned about his friend’s behavior.
50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know, John Bridges and Bryan Curtis; Rutledge Hill

Birthdays
May 3rd Nicholas Hanson

Athletics
Tuesday, May 3rd: Baseball vs. TVT @ STM; 3:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 5th: Baseball vs. TVT @ STM; 3:15 p.m.

Homily preached by Fr John Henry Hanson, O.Praem. 
Among other things, Fr. John Henry teaches English and Scripture.
“We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” On the morning of the Resurrection, after the angel had appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other holy women at the tomb, they “went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples.” They were not expecting an angelic apparition. They had hoped for nothing more than to see the Lord’s body one last time, and to complete the anointing ritual for His burial. That was all they were hoping for. Their only obstacle was “Who will roll us back the stone?”

On the evening of that same day, two disciples were slowly making their way to Emmaus, not expecting a Third to accompany them. Nor were they expecting Him to interrupt their argument with an authoritative rebuke, and then to proceed to cite one verse after another from the Scriptures to prove that “the things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene” in Jerusalem were “necessary,” prophesied, planned, and carried out with all of the perfection of divine Providence.

At last, their ordinary evening meal is, quite unexpectedly, transformed into a Eucharist.

We have also heard in the reading from Acts of the crippled man who was hoping only for money, a handout, but received healing instead.

Isn’t it true that Jesus always exceeds our hopes? The Resurrection is supposed to impress that truth upon us and change us as it changed these first disciples: that we never again set our sad and fearful limits on what the Lord can do. Even when things go contrary to our expectations and holiest desires, God is still God; He has not been overpowered or outsmarted by human malice or trickery. Nor is our Christian hope simply the attitude that somehow everything will just work out. Much less is it the idea that if I wait long enough eventually I’ll get what I want and things will go my way. Hope is really something more courageous and supernatural than that. “We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” That is the cost and strength of our hope.

The Resurrection stands as the supreme witness of how Christians must now see the world and themselves: That God often makes use of evil to show His power. Even as God chooses weak instruments like ourselves to accomplish His will, so does He take humanly impossible and evil situations and make good out of them.

There was a large number of people in Jerusalem during our Lord’s trial and execution who did not want to see Him die. They most likely prayed against it. They prayed that Jesus of Nazareth would be spared this horribly unjust ordeal: “O Lord God! Do not let it happen!” Those whom He had healed were probably full of anger at the way Jesus was being treated. Many wept bitterly over it—all the way to Calvary and back. Was God listening to their cries, to their prayers? Not only was Jesus crucified, but He was tortured and mocked along the way.

Once the Lord had been raised and began to appear to His disciples, those same disciples were forced to rethink everything that they had believed before. Their outlook had to change in the light of the resurrection. They had to rethink good and evil, justice and injustice, human malice and treachery. What are these in God’s hands? The unlikely instruments of our redemption. The Lord had overcome the world using the same evil instruments that the world used to conquer Him in the flesh. Because of this, Christians cannot go into that same conquered world with simple enthusiasm and optimism. We must go with our hope centered in the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. That is the type of hope we need.

Often we might think that we have only one obstacle before us, and if it were gone then all would be well. A stone needs to be rolled back, and that is all. We are crippled or impeded in some way--remove that, and all will be well. Or we need some explanation, and with that clarity, all is made well. But maybe what we perceive to be obstacles are really God’s instruments, which He uses to challenge and enlarge our hope. The Holy Spirit tells us: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

It takes a courageous Christian spirit to believe this and to act on it. St Mary Magdalene and the other holy disciples suddenly became courageous. They knew that they had trials ahead of them, a hostile world to contend with. They knew that humanly speaking everything was against them. But, “If Christ is for us, who can be against us?” And because Christ is for us, and risen from the dead, we are justified in hoping against all odds that God can accomplish far more than we can ask for or imagine.

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 without written permission of the author.

Prayer Requests
● For Mrs. Jodi Meschuk’s safe pregnancy.
●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 Mrs. Dorothy Prellwitz