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.