HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A DEDICATED MAN

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

I would like to dedicate this week’s Chronicle to a very special staff member, Roberto Lopez. Since today is his birthday, all of us here at Saint John’s School decided to celebrate and honor this important man. 

This morning after Mass, more than 200 Saint John’s students and staff gathered in the gym and surprised Mr. Lopez. Mr. Bradberry led us in singing “Happy Birthday”.  He was presented with his birthday cake with many candles, some which he had a difficult time blowing out. All of the students and staff enjoyed his birthday cake as their luncheon treat. 

Who is Roberto Lopez?  What does he do at Saint John’s School and Parish?  What doesn’t he do for us?  He is the humble, quiet man who always wears a smile and never, ever complains.  Just what is his title?  Maintenance?  Surely the school and parish could not “maintain” without him.  He wears so many hats. 

You might not recognize him, as could be the man wearing the big straw hat repairing a broken sprinkler or riding the lawn mower during 100 degree weather.   Or, he could be the Eskimo looking man shoveling snow from our walks when the thermometer reads  –minus 3 degrees. Perhaps he looks like a doctor wearing blue examining gloves as cleans up a body spill after a sick child.  Sometimes, he is a carpenter with a hammer and an electric drill.  What?  Who is the man on the roof fixing a leak or is he working on our air conditioning system.  Did you know he also is our plumber we call when the sewer backs up?  He has been our key man when we have had problems with bats, mice or an occasional raccoon.  Roberto also can be found on the computer which controls our gym temperatures. 

Roberto was born in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, and grew up in Juarez.  He has three brothers and two sisters.  He is so happy when he can travel back home to visit his mother.  Twenty-seven years ago he married his lovely wife. Irma.   Irma says, he is a wonderful husband and father.  “Dulce”, you were a lucky child, to be adopted by Roberto and Irma when you were just a newborn baby. 

Please join me in thanking Roberto for all he does for us here at Saint John’s parish/school.

Shalom,   Mrs. Schmitt

 Watch Roberto surprised by the SCHOOL!

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

Psalm 136.1 Give thanks to the LORD for he is good. His love endures forever.

Thanksgiving is a day when we reflect on God’s blessings in our lives.  1621, in Plymouth , Massachusetts the Plymouth Colonists and the Wampanoag Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving,  to give thanks for their blessings..  Thanksgiving became an official holiday in 1863.  President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a national observance during the Civil War.  In the United States Thanksgiving Day is always the fourth Thursday of November. 

 Today it sometimes seems like turkey and football are the major ingredients of the traditional American Thanksgiving .  Yet , the spirit of the holiday calls for something much more.  Although it is not a Holy Day many of us Catholics will attend Mass. 

Since  Thanksgiving Day is next Thursday , I would like to take this Chronicle opportunity to use this most appropriate time of the year to send my most sincere appreciation to each of you for making Saint John’s  Parish/School the special community it is. First of all, the staff/faculty join me in thanking you parents for sending your child(ren) to us each day.  How grateful we are to have the parent/school team to work for the success of each child! 

I would also ask you to join me in thanking Father Frank and Father Sam for their support and involvement in our school.  They are such a blessing.  Our children love them. 

Enjoy your weekend and have a very special Thanksgiving holiday.

Shalom

Mrs. Schmitt

THE YEAR OF FAITH

Dear Saint John’s School Families,
As we continue to celebrate the YEAR OF FAITH which began on October 11,
and will close on November 24, 2013, there are countless opportunities to
become involved in ways to grow in our faith.  As Catholics, the word faith is
seen and heard everywhere, especially, since October.   Perhaps it would be
good to truly focus on just that word, and the meaning it has for each of us.
Just a simple word, but so complicated, so rich, and worthy of our spending
time and energy searching for our own understanding and appreciation of how
faith touches our lives.  Just what is faith?
Webster’s dictionary defines faith as firm belief in something for which there is
no proof, without doubt or question, belief in the traditional doctrines of a
religion , belief and trust in and loyalty to God, BELIEF, without doubt or
question.
The CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH is an excellent source to seek
help in attempting to understand faith.   143 by faith man completely submits
his intellect and his will to God.  146 Abraham thus fulfills the definition of faith
in Hebrews 11: 1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen”. Because he was “strong in his faith,” Abraham became the
“father of all who believe.”  Faith is a grace…….  Believing is possible only by
grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit.  148 The Virgin Mary most
perfectly embodies the obedience of faith.  Christian faith differs from our
faith in any human person.
160 To be human, “man’s response to God by faith must be free, and…
therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will.  The act
of faith is of its very nature a free act.”  “God calls men to serve him in spirit
and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not
coerced.”  Faith is a personal act.
What a challenge it is to continue to understand and grow in this YEAR OF
FAITH.
Shalom
Mrs. Schmitt

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

The two special Catholic Holy Days this week provided the opportunity for our students to learn more about their class adopted saint and also the meaning of All Souls Day.  Teachers included in their weekly lesson plans specific activities and assignments focused on their saint.  How special were the Junior Kindergarten’s Mother Theresa’s puppets the children made to decorate the Preschool door!  I was amazed how much the Saint Francis of Assisi’s class (Kindergarten) knew about Saint Francis.  When I visited their classroom, each child had information to share with me, and of course, about Father Sam and how he blessed them and their animals.

Father Sam’s homily this morning continued their lessons on Saints and Souls.  He had an excellent question and answer dialogue with our students.  What a teacher he is!  He challenged all of us attending today’s Mass to become saints.  His explanation of “HOW TO BECOME SAINTS’’ led directly to the topic of purgatory. 

His description of purgatory was excellent.  He told a story of one walking in a very muddy field.  And, after arriving home found that his mother had just shampooed and cleaned the carpets.  It would be so necessary for their shoes (souls) to be cleaned before they would be welcome to enter their home. Purgatory he explained was where after dying, our souls go to be cleaned before entering the perfect place in heaven.   He then requested that children pray for someone special who had died, in order to help that person get ready for heaven. 

Hopefully, these two Holy Days were meaningful for our children, and that is why we attended and celebrated Masses together.  Perhaps, your child will ask you to join them tonight to pray for grandma or grandpa or for a special someone.

Shalom,

Mrs. Schmitt 

p.s. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back this weekend.  We will see you Monday, at 7:45 a.m. Standard daylight time.