February 26, 2012

General
Announcements:
Reminder that the non-refundable tuition down payment for returning families is due March 20.

There will be no school on Monday, March 19th in honor of St. Joseph’s Weekend. No students will be allowed to spend that weekend at school. Students should return to school either Monday evening, March 19th or Tuesday morning before the first class on March 20th.

School opening and closing dates for the next academic year have been set for August 20, 2012 and June 6, 2013. Details for other important dates are being worked on and will be posted on the school’s online calendar.

St. Michael’s Prep School will welcome 7th grade students from St. Jeanne de Lestonnac and St. Juliana Falconieri for a Living History field trip on Wednesday, Feb. 29th. The Living History experience exposes students to highly interactive sessions in medieval history and allows them to interact with contemporary monastic life

Parent/Student Handbook

SECTION 10:
RESOLUTION, RESTITUTION, RECONCILIATION
Disciplinary action involving Resolution, Restitution, and Reconciliation is one means of responding to a student’s poor behavior choices (such as unwelcome teasing, bullying,horseplay, wrestling and fighting). This three-fold response
is well suited to bringing peace and reconciliation among the students
involved because it works to overcome the causes of the misbehavior.

Resolution involves the offender admitting his wrong doing. Restitution involves the offender rendering some service to the offended party. Reconciliation takes
place through the students working together (under the dean’s supervision) to
accomplish some project for the common good and in this process learn to work
and live like friends again.

In restoring the justice that was disturbed by the poor behavior choice, students actively and intentionally restore right order within our school community.

Sports This Week:
Tues. Feb 28th: Baseball vs SVC @ San Juan Sports Park; 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday,Feb. 29th: Baseball vs. Fairmont @ Windrow Park; 7:00 p.m.

Birthdays This Week:

Sunday,Feb. 26th: Giorgio Navarini

Monday,Feb. 27th: Anthony Hierro

Tuesday,Feb. 28th: Matthew Vu

Friday, March 2nd: Johann Schoenfeld

Homily of the Week by Fr. Benedict Solomon, O. Praem.
Among other things,Fr. Benedict teaches Religion.

“Get Behind me Satan.” How would we feel if Jesus said those words to us? Jesus
didn’t say them because Peter was evil; but because he had been thinking in a
human way. He didn’t blaspheme; he disapproved of Jesus being killed.

So Peter showed that he didn’t understand the purpose of the suffering and death
of Jesus. He didn’t understand that it was God’s will- so that man would be
saved; and because of his lack of understanding, he ended up wanting the same
thing as Satan- that man not be saved – so Jesus calls him Satan.

We naturally see reality the way men do, and not the way God does. We complain about things that annoy us or make us angry; but if we saw them as God sees them, they would be a means to holiness. We approach reality as though God didn’t have a plan and left us all to fend for ourselves; when in fact He is aware of everything, and uses it to accomplish His plans. We desire to be without any inconveniences, and in desiring this we end wanting the same thing as Satan-that we not grow in virtue- that we not be saved.

As we approach Lent we should try to see reality more as God sees it. We should see the inconveniences of life as our means of growing in holiness. During Lent we take on penances willingly, partly to help us accept the penances God wants send us. So let us ask our guardian angels to help us be more aware of how God wishes to fashion us by His grace; and ask them to help us be faithful to that grace.

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. Nghia Ho, father of Francis Hand, who is
recuperating from surgery
● Mrs. Jodie Meschuk, wife of Coach Aaron
Meschuk, who is expecting.
● Mrs. Rose Warnisher, grandmother of Will
Warnisher, who suffered a stroke and is in declining health
● 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 Mr. Rojelio
Espinosa

February 19, 2012

General Announcements:
• Monday Evening, February 20, 7 PM is the Winter Sports Awards Ceremony. All parents and students involved are asked to be on time for this event.
• St. Michael’s will host an Open House on Saturday, Feb. 25th from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm for families of 8th grade boys who are considering St. Michael’s for their sons’ high school years. If you know of a family you think might be a good fit for St. Michael’s, please encourage them to visit us at our open house for a tour and question and answer session.
• All students who wish to play baseball this year must have their sports fees paid this week.
• On Tuesday there will be a parent-sponsored/student run barbecue at 5:30 PM
• On Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) Mr. Jesse Romero will speak to the students at 7 PM about the importance of praying the Rosary
• Reminder that the non-refundable tuition down payment for returning families is due March 20.

Thanks to all the families who helped last week:
• Gomez Family for hosting a student
• Aragon, Lenahan and Tran Families for carpooling
• Mrs. Jennifer Bonello for organizing the food for the sports award ceremony;
and all the many families who contributed food and drink

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 4, Section 9

SECTION 9: HARASSMENT
St. Michael’s maintains a strict policy prohibiting harassment and bullying, including verbal, physical, visual and sexual. No person shall knowingly or intentionally by speech, gesture, or writing address another in a way that is intimidating, demeaning, derogatory or hateful as based upon a person’s age, gender, race, color, religion, or ethnic origin.

The administration, faculty and staff of the school are mandated reporters of child abuse whether the alleged abuser is an adult or a minor.

The school treats allegations of harassment seriously and investigates such allegations in a prompt, confidential and thorough manner.

This Week’s Photos: soccer team; choir singing for the Orange Diocese Council of Catholic Womem, at the Phoenizx Club in Anaheim; Frater Bruno, students and Mr. Ben Stein

Sports This Week:
Baseball pratice

Birthdays This Week:
Michael Martin: Feb. 22
Nicholas Di Napoli: Feb. 24

Homily of the Week by Fr. John Henry.
Among other things, Fr. John Henry is the school's College Counsellor and teaches English.

The evangelist tells us that, “Jesus sighed from the depth of his spirit,” in reply to the Pharisees’ request. What a response! Can you imagine Jesus responding in such a way to your prayer? You would ask yourself, “What did I say that would elicit such a response from the Lord?” Our Lord sighs to show that He is grieved by the request--but more especially, by the motivation behind it. What were the Pharisees asking for and why?

Have you ever asked for a sign to confirm for yourself a course of action? In itself, it is not wrong, but our motivation for it can be. We can show that we lack trust in God--as was the case, e.g., for Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. Elsewhere in Scripture we find that God Himself performs signs--like the parting of the Red Sea--or that He asks us to ask for a sign, as He encouraged King Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God….”

On the occasion we have before us today, our Lord “sighed from the depth of his spirit” because the Pharisees ‘came forward … to argue [with Him] and seek from [Jesus] a sign from heaven to test him.’ Our Lord performed many miracles—but never merely to silence or impress His opposition. Almost always we are told, either by the Lord Himself or by the sacred author, that He did them for these reasons: pity, compassion, mercy, to show that He had power to forgive sins. These are the “signs” to which the Pharisees and we are often blind. We look for other things, overlooking the grace and mercy held out to us by Christ Jesus, our Lord.

In truth, it is enough of a sign that the Almighty turns His face toward us, that He has compassion on us, that He gives us His full and complete attention whenever we speak to Him; it is enough that He pleads and commands us to seek, ask, knock, and that He promises to be there and hear us when we do. Maybe the most extraordinary sign of them all is when He says to us: “Go, your sins are forgiven. I do not condemn you”—no matter what we’ve done, or how often.

It is not uncommon for people to think that “if only” they could see Jesus in the flesh, see a miracle, see something extraordinary--they would be converted for life. That is simply not true. “This generation” to which our Lord refers in today’s Gospel is an allusion back to the generation of the Exodus—the generation that saw all sorts of signs and wonders and remained unconverted. God Himself testifies in Psalm 94: Forty years that generation tested me; though they had seen my works, they did not know my ways. We are converted not once for all by one spectacular experience, but by the grace and mercy of God, by His unmerited love for us, by His compassion for us--received one humble moment at a time.

Sometimes even spiritual people seek the extraordinary because they are “bored” with ordinary spirituality: carrying the cross, self-denial, sacraments, prayer, and growth in virtue. Either they start seeking the extraordinary or they stop seeking altogether. The Israelites in the wilderness, that generation, protested against God and Moses that they were sick of their ordinary food, the manna, the bread from heaven.

The picture of the Christian that emerges from the pages of the New Testament is not “exciting,” but it is real, supernatural, and beautiful to behold. It is a portrait of people who can and should mix with the world without picking up its mentality, its vices. They have the power to conquer without being conquered. They are transformed by an inner renewal, which shows itself outwardly in a thousand
unspectacular, yet attractive ways.

Verses from St Paul that we might pass over as moral exhortations for others, are really at the heart of our Christian identity: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, … live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to … God….”

On one occasion, Jesus asked, “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” In our Lord’s teachings, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, we find Him telling us many “un-extraordinary” things: not to worry, to call God your Father, to
trust, to forgive and be forgiven. Let us seek no more from the Son of Man than
to be the objects of His loving mercy, the grateful recipients of His grace,
given to us one ordinary moment at a time.

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
● Jodie Meschuk, wife of Coach Aaron Meschuk,
who is expecting.
● Mrs. Rose Warnisher, grandmother of Will
Warnisher, who suffered a stroke and is in declining health
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who
care for them.

February 12, 2012

General Announcements:
*Remember that this coming weekend is a 3-day weekend. There are no classes on Monday. February 19. Students return Monday evening in time for the 7:00 p.m. awards ceremony.
*First Honor students are dismissed on Thursday, February 16, at 2:20 p.m.
*A Parent Talk for Moms is scheduled for Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the mobile classroom. All are welcome to attend and bring a guest.
*The members of our student choir will perform at the Orange Diocese Council of Catholic Women 2012 Conference on February 14th from 12 Noon - 1PM. The venue is the Phoenix Club in Anaheim.

Thanks to all the families who helped last week:
· The Cara family for hosting students
· Mr. and Mrs. Aguilar, Mrs. Aragon, Mrs. Bonello and Mrs. Schoenfeld for supplying food for students at athletic events
· Mr. Rudy Aguilar, for taking pictures at recent soccer matches

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 4, Section 8
SECTION 8: BEHAVIOR CONTRACTS
There are occasions when a student’s behavior would merit the writing of an explicit contract. Many of these offenses are listed in the later sections of suspension, withdrawal, and dismissal. Contracts do vary in length of obligation. There are consequences for being “on contract.” Moreover, a contract potentially impacts an invitation for returning to the school and, if returning, any student who had begun a contract within one semester of a new academic year must pay the tuition IN FULL before being permitted to return for the next school year.

This Week’s Photos: Fr. Prior and Frater Bruno educating the students; our basketball team; the Blessing of Throats

Sports This Week:
●Congratulations to both the soccer and basketball teams as they come to the end of their season!
●As the school baseball season approaches, parents are reminded that, if their son is planning on being a member of the baseball team, his sports fee of $270 must be paid before the first practice. Also, no students are allowed to join the team after the first week of practices.

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

The lives of the saints are full of stories of both men and women who, moved by the misery they saw in others, ventured out and gave themselves in an heroic manner: St. Damien spent his life among the lepers of Molokai; St. John of Arc led an army to relieve her fellow French from the oppression of the English; Mother Theresa served the poorest of the poor in Calcutta; the great missionaries of North America suffered the harshest living conditions and even martyrdom to bring the gospel to the poor pagans of this land. Such is the potential for goodness found deep in the human heart, that when the suffering of another reaches such a high degree, it cannot but move one to pity.

Well, far greater than any suffering we can even imagine in this life is the suffering of the souls in purgatory. In fact, the way it has been expressed by St. Thomas and other Doctors of the Church is: “The least suffering in purgatory is greater than the greatest suffering in this life” [IV Sent., d. 21]. Some saints even say that the pain of sense suffered by the souls in purgatory is the same as that in hell; the only difference being that the pain of sense felt in hell is eternal and that in purgatory eventually comes to an end.

One of the reasons why the sufferings of say the poor of Calcutta moved Mother Theresa, or the sufferings of the lepers moved St. Damien, was because these saints were surrounded by the misery day in and day out. But, as the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” We, on the contrary, don’t see with our eyes the agonies that so many are going through right now in purgatory, so we fail to pity them and to pray for them as much as we ought. It’s all the more reason for today’s Mass for the souls of all the deceased members of this canonry, the Norbertine community of St. Michael's—something we celebrate twice a year. We need to remember the immense suffering they are undergoing; and we need to pity them and pray for them. If the sufferings of her French compatriots can move young Joan of Arc to lead army into battle, should not the terrors of purgatory move us to a little prayer and penance for our fellow Christians who have gone before us?

Two centuries ago, a religious sister, who would later found an order dedicated to praying for the souls in purgatory, said “If one of us were in a fiery prison and we could deliver him by a word, would we not say that word quickly? The poor souls are in a fiery prison, and our good God, to open that prison, asks only a prayer from us. Can we refuse this prayer?” (La Reverende Mere Marie de Providence).

Some theologians have held that the guardian angels visit the souls in purgatory in order to encourage and console them, and that they go around inspiring other human beings here on earth to have Masses said for those souls under their care—such a love they have for those who had been entrusted to their care in this life. We can recall the consoling words of a guardian angel sung to a human soul as it entered into the temporary pains of purgatory, as described by Cardinal Newman in his poem, The Dream of Gerontius:

Farewell, but not forever! brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

Our brothers and sisters of our Norbertine Order have passed from this life, and yet they are still very much united to us, not just in our memory as something of the past, but really and truly, now at this moment, by the bond of charity. Some of them, maybe many of them are undergoing the most horrible torments at this very moment. Let us pity them. Let us imitate the saints and the guardian angels and accompany our brethren with our prayers as they pass their “night of trial” in purgatory, that they and we might someday rejoice to behold the Face of Christ, to Whom be all glory and honor. Amen.

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
Prayer Intentions
● Mr. Glenn Emanuel, a member of the Norbertine Lay Order, who has a serious heart condition.
● Jodie Meschuk, wife of Coach Aaron Meschuk, who is expecting.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.
● Marge DeClue, past parent-league president.

February 5, 2012

Thanks to all who helped.
· For speaking to prospective parents at our Entrance Test on Jan. 28th: Mr. Ralph Martin, Mrs. Cathy Porretta, Mr. Andy Portka
· For hosting students over the weekend: Schardt Family; Porretta Family; Saglietto Family
· For preparing food for the soccer team: Aguilar, Schardt and Esser Families
· The many families who prepared a special parent lunch this past week

School Spirit Day

This Tuesday, instead of attending classes, the students will have a morning of fun spirit-building activities: football game, hiking, or surfing. This will give all—students, administrators and teachers—an opportunity to gain that necessary “second wind” as we continue a long third quarter!

Parent/Student Handbook: Chapter 4, Section 7

SECTION 7: CONDUCT DEMERITS AND DETENTIONS
When a student’s behavior is at odds with the standards established and sustained by the school, the student suffers demerits. Demerits may be given by teachers, administrators, and student leaders. Demerits vary in amounts from 5 to 100 points, with the exact penalty for each offense being determined by the Dean of Students. If a student receives 100 demerit points in a given week, he must serve a weekend detention at the school. During the detention time, students contribute their labor to advance an identified goal of the school. Their work must meet the pre-identified standards of the work supervisor. Detentions must be served within the same quarter relative to the offenses committed. When a detention obligation conflicts with family plans and/or flight arrangements, a student may request a change of date.

This Week’s Photos: Soccer; Entrance Test

Birthdays This Week:
Feb. 6th: Tuyen Vu

Sports This Week:
Parents, game cancellations due to rainy weather will be posted on our school calendar.
Monday: Soccer vs Southlands @ STM; 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday: Soccer vs CVCS @ STM; 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday: Basketball @ Fairmont Prep; 4:30 p.m.

Homily of the Week by Fr. Gabriel Stack, O. Praem.
Among other things Fr. Gabriel is the Headmaster and teaches Latin, English and History.

As more Americans worship football deities today than any other god, it's appropriate to begin with a little story.

One Saturday afternoon, while the Patriots were working through their season, a football friendly retiree was caught up in the game on a third-down and just a few yards to go. During the commercial break, his wife of 53 years came in and said, “it's time to drive me to church. I need to go to confession." The husband didn't respond. He probably didn't hear, so she said it again this time louder. The wife concluded he was trying to ignore her. She said it again. The Patriots had lost yardage; the disappointed husband looked blankly at his wife and said, “Dear, over the years, I've driven you to confession many times. I can't really say it's done much good.” And he went back to the game. The wife looked at him, put her hands on her hips, and replied, “Just think what I’d be like if you didn’t drive me to confession.” The husband blinked, got up, and turned off the TV. Sometimes the grace which heals us is obvious and sometimes it’s not.

The Evangelist Mark is a taciturn writer. Yet, this morning, he is almost extravagant in the amount of detail he gives us in recounting the cure of St. Peter's mother-in-law. He tells us that as soon as Jesus walked into the house, they immediately told him about her. Mark continues, Jesus took her by the hand and helped her up." Jesus' healing of the mother-in-law is so simple, one almost can't believe that it's enough; but when Jesus does it, it is. A simple gentle gesture: He took her by the hand and helped her up, and she is completely healed.

The holy evangelist, who gives us so much description in the healing of the mother-in-law, leaves unsaid so much of what happens next. After the Sabbath was over, well after sunset, the whole town crowded around the door and spilled down the street and into the darkness of night. It seems strange that people without flashlights, or halogens, or generators of any sort waited until dark to seek out Jesus. Because it was the Sabbath, no one was allowed to work; no one was allowed to carry a burden. What the people brought to Jesus for healing was indeed a burden – wounded hearts and minds, tormented spirits, tortured bodies. St. Mark doesn't give us any of the details. He writes matter-of-factly, Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases. And he drove out many demons. The evangelist Matthew is unequivocal and succinct. He cured them all.

In the darkness, with its tumult – how much could the crowd see? What exactly happened? Was it his word? his touch? the brush of his clothes as he passed? Who was healed? Who else? Whose cure preceded? Followed? Was there really a complete healing after all? It was so crowded and so dark and so chaotic.

In the darkness, with its tumult – how much could the crowd see? What exactly happened? Was it his word? his touch? the brush of his clothes as he passed? Who was healed? Who else? Whose cure preceded? Followed? Was there really a complete healing after all? It was so crowded and so dark and so chaotic.

Dark chaos. This is same the description of the formless void out of which God drew creation in the beginning. In Genesis, on the first day, God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. Jesus, the Light of the World, brought forth the new creation at Capernaum. Later, when sun was up, and they could look at themselves and their neighbors in the light of that new day, did the people of Capernaum recognize the full extent of what Jesus accomplished. Their response? They went in search of Him.

Here we are – at Sunday morning Mass. The Liturgy describes it as at “the threshold” of the Sacred Mysteries of our redemption. Analogous to the gospel setting, we are in the dark and crowding at the doorway. Today on account of our worship of the One, True, God – in, with, and through His Son, Jesus Christ, we are healed and made part of the new creation. What is our response?

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
● Mrs. Gretchen Augustyn, who suffers from severe back injuries.
● The paternal grandfather of sophomore Andrew Bonello who is hospitalized with a broken hip.
● Mrs. Marge DeClue, past parent-league president, who has declining health.
● Mr. Glenn Emanuel, a member of the Norbertine Lay Order, who has a serious heart condition.
● Jodie Meschuk, wife of Coach Aaron Meschuk, who is expecting.
● Those who are in the armed forces.
● St. Michael’s older priests and those who care for them.