Christmas Break

Like me, my blog is enjoying the Christmas Break. 

Remember that Christmas is a season not a day, and the happiness we feel on December 25th can last beyond that day. However, We have to choose Joy. 

Enjoy your families, and I look forward to posting again in 2015.

Joy

This past Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, which is a celebration of the Joy that is approaching with the coming of Jesus at Christmas. Our CKS students have had many opportunities to spread joy this holiday season—bringing in canned food for St. Vincent DePaul, purchasing toys for our toy drive, and adopting a Christmas “Angel” in our Parish.

Recently, Grace Casper, a CKS alumnus, and Sam Awad were recognized for the joy they have helped spread as Co-Presidents of the teen organization Teens for Haiti. This organization, completely run by teenagers has raised tens of thousands of dollars to give the people of Haiti a “hand up rather than a hand out.” To date the organization has raised money for a generator to power a clinic, a chicken farm project, and the expansion of vegetable farming program. More details can be viewed at their website http://www.teensforhaiti.com/.

The Tampa Bay/Hillsborough Human Rights Council honored Teens for Haiti with the Youth Leadership award at a ceremony Friday, December 12, 2014. There, alongside religious sisters, judges, and retired colonels, who were also honored for their contributions to the community, were two teenagers. This is an important reminder during this season of Advent that we are all called to spread Joy to others. I challenged our students this week to conclude this semester’s peace mission the same way we started it, with a smile. Each day, I asked them to find three people, smile at them, and wish them a “Merry Christmas.” Joy is contagious, and I hope our student do their best to spread it. 

Merry Christmas!

Immaculate Conception

Today, December 8, 2014, Catholics around the world celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. If you ask a Catholic what that means, you are likely to get a wide range of answers like, it celebrates Mary going to Heaven; it celebrates Mary saying “Yes” to God; or most likely, it celebrates Mary conceiving Jesus in her womb “magically.” Those answers would all be wrong. 

The Immaculate Conception celebrates Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb without original sin. This is a difficult concept to explain to students, especially the younger ones. We choose to focus on the fact that Mary, even as a baby was without sin. It is a reminder to us all that we are born with original sin and, more importantly, will continue to sin throughout our lives. Our God, however, in His mercy, provides an opportunity to confess our sins and repair our relationship with Him through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

All of our students will have the opportunity to receive Reconciliation tomorrow at school. I challenge all our CKS families to go to Reconciliation at least once this Advent season. Reconciliation times are listed in the church bulletin As we prepare our homes for Christmas, let us experience God’s mercy to prepare our hearts. 

Happy New Year?

"Happy New Year!" Fr. Len greeted the congregation at 12:30 Mass yesterday with this phrase. After several confused looks and several repeated expressions from Father, we realized he wasn't crazy! Yesterday, Sunday, November 30, marked the beginning of a new year for the Church calendar and the start of the season of Advent. This is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of Christmas.

At morning assembly, I asked students how many of them decorated their homes this past weekend. Many told me their "Shelf Elf" had come to visit, some talked about decorating their Christmas trees, and others told me about dads putting lights on the house. We often take time to make these outward preparations during Advent for Christmas. Do we take the same kind of time to prepare ours hearts? I asked the students to reflect on what inward preparations they wanted to make for the coming of Christmas.

Saint John Bosco instilled in the boys under his care a devotion to Mary, Jesus' Mother, daily communion, and frequent confession. As a school, we will provide our students an opportunity for confession next week; each Wednesday we offer our students an opportunity for communion at mass; and at the beginning of each day of Advent at school we will say a Hail Mary. Through the Intercession of Mary, we will ask God for patience during Advent to prepare our hearts for the coming of his Son, Jesus.

Gratitude

When I am under stress, I easily become frustrated with the world—and usually the people around me. For instance, I find myself blaming drivers in front of me, like they purposefully sought out my car, knowing I was in a hurry, and decided to drive 5 miles under the speed limit in front of me on a one lane street. This has happened often on my way home driving down Church Street. Usually, just as I am about to lay on my horn and whip around the car in the opposite lane, I will see a police officer down the road monitoring the speed limit with a radar gun. I immediately think to myself, thankfully the person in front of me was going so slow, or I would have probably gotten a ticket. As I decelerate to 5 miles under the speed limit, my stress level also decreases.

While I don't believe God bothers himself with getting me out of traffic tickets, I do believe He is constantly sending me the message that the path to patience starts with gratitude. It becomes more difficult to be upset with the world around us when we recognize the many gifts we have been given. One prayer process I like to use that helps remind me to give thanks to God is from Matthew Kelly’s book The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. The process involves the following steps: 

As we approach Thanksgiving and continue our school food drive—we are well on our way to reaching our goal of 10,000 food items—I challenged the students to take one minute each day when they wake up and thank God for three things. My hope is that with our gratitude we can change our attitude. 

CKS

This morning at assembly, I asked our students what CKS means to them. I had a variety of answers including the obvious, "Christ the King School," the altruistic, "Caring, Kind, Spirited," and the odd, "Castles, Knights, and Serpents." Other than the response from the child who still had Halloween on the brain, most of the children had some form of the first two. 

When I am asked by parents what CKS means to me, I tell them our mission: to inspire each child to grow in the love of Christ, the joy of knowledge, and the spirit of service. Simply put, CKS stands for Christ, Knowledge, and Service. This week we kick off our annual food drive, and our goal is to bring in over 10,000 food items for those in need in our community. It is fitting that we will also celebrate Veteran's Day this week and honor the service of our military. I challenged our students to honor the service performed by these heroes by bringing in food and performing a service to the poor. 

As we continue to "embrace patience" this quarter, performing acts of service can help us better appreciate the gifts God has given us, especially as we see what others have done with less. In his letter to the Phillipians thanking them for a gift, St. Paul wrote, "It is not that I am eager for the gift; rather, I am eager for the profit that accrues to your account." St. Paul was speaking of a Spiritual account. This week, while our students deposit items to fill the food banks, I am confident they will feel the Holy Spirit depositing Peace into their lives.  

8th Graders Organizing Food Items from Day 1

Perspective

As Agents of Peace at Christ the King, we have chosen to Embrace Patience this quarter. One key to embracing patience is having perspective. When we become frustrated, angry, or upset and are ready to lose our patience, perspective--knowing what another person has experienced--can change how we feel. For example, finding out a student has experienced a loss in his life does not excuse poor behavior but it does help me have a more compassionate response to him.

Another way to gain perspective is to remember that God is trying to reach us through our experiences. To hear that reminder, all we have to do is ask, like the prophet Samuel who said, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening." Perhaps, when we are about to lose our patience with someone or something, saying these words will alter our perspective and help us hear what the Lord is trying to say. 

Parents, remember, though, that while listening to the Lord may look like this for us, 

It will probably look like this for our children. 

Just because it looks different doesn't mean they aren't listening. Enjoy your families and Embrace Patience. 

Embrace Patience

By definition, patience is staying in control and positive during times of stress or when experiencing a long delay. A trip to the grocery store, an amusement park, or the school car line all provide opportunities to practice patience.

During times we experience stress, it is more difficult to be patient, as we are thinking about the inconvenience to us. When we focus so much on ourselves, we tend to forget about others and forget about God. As a result, instead of patience, most of us react to stressful situations with anger, frustration, or even tears. When we begin to feel this way, prayer can be a remedy, in particular a prayer found in the Divine Mercy image.

In the 1930's Jesus appeared to St. Faustina, a Polish nun, in a vision. He told her to paint an image of him exactly as he appeared to her. In her diary, she wrote that Jesus also told her "I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish," and to write the words "Jesus, I trust in You." at the bottom of the image. Below is one version of the image: 

A painting of this version is in our chapel here at Christ the King. To our students this morning, I offered those 5 words as a prayer to help them practice patience. When we are stressed, about to lose our temper, and become absorbed in ourselves, return to Jesus and trust that he will take care of us. This week, I challenged the students to say this prayer, "Jesus, I trust in You" three times in a row three different times a day, whether they are feeling stressed or not. The best way to practice patience is to keep ourselves from losing it in the first place. I trust that Jesus can help us do that. 

Red Ribbon Week

This week at Christ the King, we are celebrating Red Ribbon Week. The RRW campaign started in 1988, in response to the murder by a Mexican cartel of Enrique (Kiki) Camarena, an agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Before he joined the DEA, Camarena's mother tried to talk him out of pursuing a career with the agency. Camarena's response, echoing the words of Mother Teresa, was "I am only one person, but I want to make a difference" (http://redribbon.org/about/).

The goal this week is to raise awareness about the dangers of misusing alcohol and illegal drugs. The Student Government has planned activities this week around the theme, "I 'moustache' you not to do drugs."

Activities include a Red Ribbon Scavenger hunt for our EC4 and Kindergarten students, "Stomp out Drugs" dress day, a poster contest, and student pep rally on Friday. In addition to raising awareness about the destructive nature of alcohol abuse and illegal drugs, we encourage our students to remember the difference one life can make. This is in line with our Catholic values, and I "moustache" you to continue helping us make a difference in the lives of our children. 

Celebrate Youth!

Last Friday I attended the Salesian Youth Rally with the 3rd through 8th grade students from Christ the King, St, Joseph, and Villa Madonna. In all, there were over 500 students joyfully celebrating Don Bosco's life and Salesian legacy. I am often asked to explain what it means to be Salesian.

There are many books that explain in much better detail who Don Bosco was and what he did for the young and poor of Italy in the 1800's. To put it simply, though, Giovanni Bosco (often called "Don" which is Italian for "Father") was a Catholic priest who saw a need in the children of Italy, who were being exploited during the Industrial Revolution. He worked primarily with boys and started oratories where they could learn about academic subjects, life skills, and Jesus. 

At the youth rally, Fr. Steve Ryan, a priest from the Society of Don Bosco, summed up for the children what it means to be Salesian using the analogy of a hand:  the pinky represents Joy in all things; the ring finger represents Jesus, which makes sense since it is connected to the pinky, because you can't have Joy without Jesus; the middle finger represents devotion to Mary, her example being at the center of our lives; the index finger stands for kindness reminding us to point our hearts towards kind actions; and finally the thumb, which helps us complete our work, stands for doing the right thing, the best way we can, for the love of God. 

Those five principles, Joy, Jesus, Mary, Kindness, and Service are what it means to be Salesian. My Salesian challenge and Peace mission to our students this week is to pick a different Salesian practice each day and live it. I think our students are up for the challenge, are you? If we can incorporate just a little bit of the Salesian Spirit into our daily lives I think we will all find more Peace. 

If you still need some clarification, I think the picture below sums up what it means to be a Salesian today. 

Give Thanks and Spread Joy

This past weekend we celebrated our Auction at Christ the King. It is always amazing to see the community gather together in support of our school. I am always entertained by the enthusiasm of our guests at the event—I think the dance floor had as much excitement as the Live Auction.

Speaking of excitement, this past weekend was a wild one for college football—there were 8 upsets among teams in the top 25. I saw several videos of excited students taking down goal posts. There was also a small concert at Raymond James Stadium attended by many of our students. Dale Mabry was backed up with traffic in both directions, but One Direction was getting all the attention. However, I think the most exciting part of the weekend was the fall weather that finally arrived on Sunday.

This morning at assembly I asked our students how many of them cheered this weekend for a sports team or an entertainer. Most of them raised their hands and excitedly began chatting about the event. I asked our students this follow up question, “How many of you cheered this Sunday at mass”? There were fewer hands and even fewer excited conversations. “Why don’t we get excited for mass like we do for a football game or a concert?” I asked. I understand that wild cheering and tearing down goal posts may not be acceptable at mass, but there are many ways to acceptably show our excitement—like responding to the priest, following the readings, concentrating during prayer, and singing the songs. By doing these things, we show God our joy for his ultimate entertainment event—mass.

Our 3^rd through 8^th grade students will have a special opportunity to express this joy on Friday at the Salesian Youth Rally with Villa Madonna and St. Joseph. We all have been practicing songs and chants at morning assembly the past two weeks to prepare. My challenge to the students this week is to take joy in Jesus—through prayer, through mass, and through their actions. This will allow them to practice kindness for God, others, and themselves, helping them be Agents of Peace. 

God Bless,

Nick Tanis

Never Too Late

In the Gospel last Sunday, Jesus offered the story of two sons who had very different responses to their father’s request to go out and work. One son said “no” but later did the work while the other son said “yes” but never did do the work—there were no TV’s or iPads but I wonder what wild thing the father had to do to actually get his sons’ attention long enough to get a response. At different times in our lives, I am sure we have identified with all three characters from the story. At morning assembly, though, I focused on the first son and his choice. Last week, when talking about “toughness,” I mentioned how Jay Bilas’ father told him it took many steps to reach the top of the ladder but only one to fall to the bottom of it. In the first son from the Gospel, I see a parallel with a more positive twist—you can make many bad choices in your life but it is never too late to make the right one, just like the son who at first told his father no but obeyed him in the end.

My peace bringing mission to the students this week is for them to continue practicing kindness. However, this week, like the first son in the Gospel, they have to right a wrong. I challenged them to find one person they need to say sorry to and apologize. It could be a teacher whose class was disrupted, a parent whose request was ignored, or a classmate whose feelings were hurt. If students can’t think of anyone, my secondary challenge is to complete a task that could bring a smile to someone’s face. Some examples could be raking leaves—or in my case pine needles—without being asked; helping a friend study for a tough test; or praying a decade of the rosary for someone who is sick. Whatever choice our students make, it is important for them to remember it is never too late to make the right one—for when they do God will be waiting for them, and he will be smiling. 

Toughness

--From Monday's 9/22 Newsletter

I recently finished a book by former college basketball player and coach and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. The book was called Toughness and defined true toughness, on the basketball court and in life, as being able to persevere through difficulty and do what is right. One of the characteristics of toughness, as described by the author, is focus—focus on one task at a time. In today’s world of multi-tasking it seems like we spend more time dividing our attention among many different tasks than actually focusing on any of them.

Bilas shared a story about focus in his book from when he was in high school and spent his summer building houses for his father’s contracting company. Bilas was a gopher and had to run items from the ground, up a ladder, to men working on the roof. On his first day, he decided he would use his youth, energy, and strength to carry more material in less trips. Climbing up the ladder in a hurry, he missed a rung and crashed to the bottom. After checking to make sure he was OK, his father told him, “Jay, you cannot reach the top of the ladder in one step, but you can lose focus and get to the bottom in one step.”

I shared this story with the students at morning assembly today and pointed out how many times in our lives we have known this to be true—you do all the steps in a math problem but you carelessly add numbers incorrectly and get the problem wrong; you take notes all through a class and start daydreaming about what you’ll do after school and you miss something; or you are sitting in Church and start thinking about what you have to do later and miss an opportunity to hear God.

There are many things competing for our attention, so my mission this week to the students is for them to help one another stay focused on the present. I showed them a hand signal they can use to help one another. Ask them to show you when they get home. Hopefully this reminder will help them stay focused on the important things in life and develop mental toughness.