Seven Last Words of Jesus

Throughout the season of Lent, we are making opportunities for our students to spend time in prayer more available.  Each class will have a special class-only Mass and they will also come to the chapel once per Lent to spend a few moments in prayer.  Yesterday I met with all of the freshmen during their theology classes and we prayed the Seven Last Words of Jesus.  It was quite simple and took less than five minutes but hopefully it was a chance to stop and spend time with each other (and God of course) in reflective prayer.

Senior Class Mass

As part of our Lenten observances, our chaplain Fr. Richard Dion has offered to celebrate Mass for each of the four classes over the course of Lent.  Today he celebrated Mass for the senior class.  In his homily, he reflected on the gospel from the previous Sunday which was about the temptations of Jesus in the desert.  He spoke specifically about the devil's insistence that Jesus turn a rock into bread to help alleviate his hunger.  The devil, Fr. Richard said, isn't interested in tempting us wth food per se but rather in tempting us with whatever we are hungry for - be it drugs, pornography, etc. and tricking us into "feeding" ourselves with evil things.  

I am fully aware that most of our students do not attend Mass on a regular basis and don't know the various responses and rites of the Mass.  So I created a program with all of the responses, readings, prayers, and texts for the priest so they could follow along better.  We will have these available for all of our class Masses this Lent as we try to evangelize our students.

Following Mass, we took a group picture with Fr. Richard, something I think we will do for all of the classes as a nice memento of our prayer and time together.

Morning Prayer

Yesterday morning, despite the snow delay, we celebrated morning prayer in our chapel.  Throughout Lent, we gather once a week in the chapel to pray one of the penitential psalm and to hear the gospel for the upcoming Sunday.  Yesterday we prayed Psalm 6 and listened to Luke's version of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  As always, we capped it off with donuts (which might explain the big crowd we got!).

Happy Birthday George Washington!

Looking good for 284 years old!

Today our country celebrates George Washington's Birthday.  Washington's actual birthday was Feb. 22 but since 1971, the holiday has been celebrated on the third Monday of February.  Many people call this day "President's Day" but as I remind the school every year, there is no such holiday!  Washington's Birthday was a federal holiday beginning in 1879 but in 1971, Congress moved the observance of the holiday to the third Monday in February.  If you are a nerd like me, you can read about the confusion in a great article here.













To mark today's holiday, our opening prayer was an excerpt from Washington's 1796 Farewell Address in which he announced he would not seek a third term as president.  In addition, during lunch we gave our birthday cake to the students.

Here is the excerpt we read for today's prayer:

I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it....

Morning Prayer

Throughout the season of Lent, we are called to pray more.  Thus, each week during Lent we will have a number of opportunities for our school community to enter more deeply into prayer.  One of the ways is through weekly morning prayer at 7:30am in our chapel.  We had our first morning prayer yesterday during which we sang the first verse of "The Glory of These Forty Days", prayed Psalm 51, listened to this Sunday's gospel of Jesus' temptation in the desert, offered intentions, and then prayed a final prayer.  We wrapped up with donuts for everyone from the greatest donut shop in Lowell, MA - Tops Donut!

The weekly morning prayers will follow the same pattern - singing one verse of a Lenten hymn, praying a penitential psalm monastic style and listening to the gospel of the upcoming Sunday.  It is our hope these these brief prayer opportunities will be a source of strength and comfort for those who attend.

Our Lady of Lourdes...pray for us!

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  This feast commemorates the 1858 appearances of the Virgin Mary to a girl named Bernadette Soubirous at a grotto in Lourdes, France.  A spring is underneath the grotto and over the years, millions of people have gone on pilgrimage to bath in the water, especially those who are ill or need healing.  Thus, Pope John Paul II created the World Day of the Sick on February 11 each year.  To mark this date, I put some water from Lourdes in our holy water font in our chapel and invited anyone to come to bless themselves with the water and to join me in praying for the sick during lunch.  Alas, only one boy came by but together we prayed the Hail Mary and this prayer from the Catholic Health Association of the United States:

God of healing and compassion,
You shower us with your in nite care, and comfort all in pain and affliction.

Look with abundant mercy on all who suffer
in body, mind or spirit. Grant healing and hope
to the sick, the wounded and the dying
in their darkest hours, so they may witness the power of Your Healing Presence in the world.

We thank you, Gracious God,
for all those who have contributed to the mission
of Catholic health care for more than 200 years in the United States. These are the women and men who inspire and inform the work we do every day.

Send your merciful love and empowerinG presence
to all who continue working to alleviate the suffering
of the sick, the lonely and the broken-hearted, wherever they may be. Sustain us, Your ministers of compassion and healing,
in our work in the world as we continue Your mission of love and healing.

May we be the face of your son, Jesus, who said,
“Come to me all who labor and are burdened
and you will nd rest for your souls,
for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
May all who work in health care and all those who suffer with family and loved ones who are ill
feel their burdens lightened through the intercession of our prayers.

We ask this, on the world day of the sick,
through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes,
whose feast we celebrate today,
and in the name of your Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. 

New Hampshire Primary Mock Election

This past Tuesday, of course, was the New Hampshire Primary and to mark the occasion, we had mock elections in our theology classes.  We printed off the actual ballots and some of our seniors made ballot boxes.  As expected, Bernie Sanders handily won on the Democratic side and Donald Trump won for the Republicans.  What I found interesting is that Hillary Clinton only got 15 votes total, and only 2 from seniors.  It sort of mimics what the pundits said about young voters.

Ash Wednesday 2016

Yesterday our school community gathered for Ash Wednesday Mass, the beginning of the 40-day season of Lent.  Our celebrant was our chaplain Father Richard Dion.  In his homily, Father Richard spoke of how so many people do not go to Mass on a regular basis, but they flock to churches on Ash Wednesday.  He thinks this is because they want to be marked, marked as believers and disciples of Christ.  He said that people often ask, "How/when do I take the ashes off of my forehead?"  He said, "If you think about it, we can never wash away the cross of Christ from us."

Following the final blessing, we acknowledge Mr. Powers '63 of our athletics office.  You may recall that Mr. Powers was very sick and in the hospital on two separate occasions in recent weeks.  However, he is now home and back to work, at least on a part-time basis.  I didn't even see him until halfway through the Mass.  But, we all gave him a huge ovation and welcome home.

We will have daily events here to mark the season of Lent and all are welcome to join us.  Schedule of events to come.

Snowed out

We always close out our Catholic Schools Week with a school-wide Mass.  This year it was going to be extra special as we invited local men and women religious to be with us as the Church concluded the Year of Religious Life.  We had well over 60 women religious RSVP, three religious priests, and two Christian Brothers, our good friends Bros. John McMahon, FSC and Edward Shield, FSC.  Bros. John and Edward arrived on Thursday as they live in New Jersey and New York, respectively, and joined the faculty for lunch (Thursday was a dress down day for staff only and we got a free lunch!).  The brothers also watched "LV's Ride" with some of the students.

However, there was a big snowstorm in New England on Friday so we could not hold our Mass and reception.  I know many of the religious were looking forward to the day so we rescheduled it for April 7, the feast of St. John Baptist de la Salle.

LV's Ride

In 2011, a group of Lasallian Volunteers and Bro. Ed Phelan, FSC, rode their bikes from Oregon-New Jersey to raise money for their organization and to bring awareness to poverty and social justice issues.  Lasallian Volunteers are 20 something's who spend a year or two after college serving in a Lasallian ministry, namely schools.  LV's are similar to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Americorps, etc.

The bike ride raised over $100,000 and was made into a short film called "LV's Ride."  On the Thursday of Catholic Schools Week, students came into Campus Ministry to watch the film and to learn a bit about the Lasallian mission.  Our hope is that the students are inspired to perhaps do something similar after college (service work that is, not necessarily a cross country bike ride!).  I told them they have the rest of their lives to work and that if the opportunity to spend a year or two in service presents itself, they should jump at it!

You can watch the film below if you're interested:

Feast of St. Blaise

Last Wednesday was the feast of St. Blaise, a 4th century bishop and martyr.  We don't know a whole lot about St. Blaise other than he was from Armenia, he was a physician turned priest/bishop, and he was martyred.  There are a lot of legends about him, especially one that he encountered a boy choking on a fish bone and after saying a prayer, the bone came out and the boy lived.  Another says that when he was in prison, a local woman brought candles to his cell so he could see at night.  These two legends form the basis of the traditions that have sprung up on his feast day - the blessing of throats with candles.  On Feb. 3, the Church blesses people's throats holding two candles, crossed like a cross, under the chins while saying the following blessing:

Through the intercession of Saint Blaise  bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

On Wednesday, students came to the chapel during their theology classes where I explained the tradition of the blessing of throats and the students then came forward to have their throats blessed.

Honoring our students

Last week of course was Catholic Schools Week but I never had the chance to post about the last few days of events.  On Wednesday, Feb. 3 we paid homage to our students by giving them a dress down day and free ice cream sundaes during lunch, personally scooped by teachers and administrators.  Unfortunately I underestimated the amount of ice cream we would need and despite Mr. Gadecki running out in-between lunches to get more, we still ran out during the second lunch!  I bought some more for the following day for the second lunch only.



I also learned that students like vanilla much, much more than chocolate and they love whipped cream (we went through 12 cans!).

Catching up

Sorry for the radio silence the past week on the old blog.  There has been a TON going on but we had a snow day last Friday and I left my laptop charger at work so I couldn't use the laptop all weekend and yesterday we had a half day due to the snow.

But, stay tuned for lots of updates!

"Give them through our hands..."

Continuing our observance of Catholic Schools Week, the junior class today made bologna and cheese sandwiches during their theology classes for the good people of New Horizons.  We got the idea from St. Francis Inn, the soup kitchen in Philadelphia we serve each summer.  Every Saturday a local church brings in sandwiches for St. Francis Inn's guests they are distributed during the Saturday meal.

Each junior was asked to bring in the bologna, cheese, bread, and tin foil to help.  They each made two sandwiches which should yield well over 200 sandwiches.  We will bring the sandwiches to New Horizons after school.

Following the assembly of sandwiches, I spoke with the students about our summer trip to St. Francis Inn and invited them to consider joining us.  We also prayed the following prayer from Pope Paul VI:

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men and women throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger.  Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding grant them love, peace, and joy.

Closing prayer of the day

As I mentioned in a previous post, for Catholic Schools Week, the freshman class composed and is reciting the daily morning prayers.  In addition, the sophomore class composed and is reciting the closing prayer of the day.  Today's closing prayer was read by Ally Twitchell '18:

Lord, Grant us the strength to continue working hard and striving for the best. God please help heal all the suffering souls and all the mistreated and forgotten in the world. Please grant us the knowledge of your existence so we can work towards the kingdom of heaven and live with you forever in peace. Amen 

Cathedral tour

The sanctuary of the cathedral

Last year, St. Joseph Cathedral underwent extensive restorations including the addition of an high altar, stations of the cross, and other cosmetic changes.  The high altar and stations came from a closed church in Boston, Holy Trinity Church.  The cathedral is now quite beautiful whereas before, even the most devout Catholic might say it was a little "lacking."  So for Catholic Schools Week last year, we took the seniors for a tour and we decided to do that again this year.  Half of the class took the tour this morning and the other half will go tomorrow.

Blessed Sacrament Chapel

The tours are led by Barbara Miles, the archivist for the Diocese of Manchester.  We began the tours at the cathedral's Holy Door which is located in the lobby area of the cathedral.  Every cathedral around the world has a Holy Door as part of the Year of Mercy.  Barb explained the significance of the Holy Door and the Year of Mercy and the kids then walked through it.  The doors were constructed for the occasion and have crosses on them from Ste. Marie's Parish and part of the communion rail from the former St. George's Parish which look more like gates when hung on the door.  Once you go through the door, there is a section with a statue of the Blessed Mother and some artifacts about the diocese.

Barb then took the students into the main area of the cathedral where she spoke about the stained glass windows and how they told a story for those who were uneducated or illiterate. Thus, they are very detailed and quite stunning.  Each one, she said, is insured for over $1 million!  The students were then shown the sanctuary, the new high altar, the bishop's chair.  From here, we went into the sacristy to look at some of the ornate vestments and instruments that date back to the founding of the diocese in 1884.  The tour concluded with a tour of the crypt, where five of the seven deceased bishops are buried, and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

The crypt

This is always a lovely tour and really a place where most of our students have never been.  They are impressed, I think, by the history and beauty of the cathedral and the treasures it contains.  I am so grateful to Barb for her amazing tour and for keeping the kids interested, not an easy task!

Prayer of the day

Throughout this week, our morning prayers will be read by members of the freshmen class who also composed them.  Today's was written by Caroline Schwamb '19 and read by Mitch Feren '19:

On this day during Catholic Schools Week, we pray for our parents.  With all that they give to us, we babe so much be grateful for.  With all the times they have watched out for us, may we always care for them and attempt to give back to them what they have given to us.

Thanking our parents

This morning we kicked off Catholic Schools Week 2016 and as always, we began by thanking our parents.  As a Catholic school parent myself, I know how hard it is to make that tuition payment each month, especially when there are much more affordable (i.e free) options!  We understand that if it were not for the sacrifices of our parents, our school would not exist.  So, as parents dropped off their children this morning, we greeted them with coffee and donuts as a very small way to say thank you.  Thankfully it was quite mild this year.  Last year it was so bitterly cold, we lucked out this time.