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.