--St. Joseph Cathedral School--

There a few items that should not wait until Monday, so I am sending out a short e-newsletter at this mid-way point:

Friday will be the last day for bringing in NEW boxes of Valentine cards and candy for the Samaritan Center.

Remember that fees need to be paid up before registration papers can be processed for your returning student next year. Registration will take place over the next couple weeks, so please make sure all accounts are taken care of. Payments for the year need to be made by MAY 9TH in order for students to get report cards.

Men's Cursillo Retreat weekend April 3-6, Women's Weekend April 17-20. Please join the Cursillo to reflect on God's presence in your life & How you can be present to Him.

Our next adult faith formation talk will be on Monday the 4th at 6:30 IN THE UNDERCROFT. The topic this time is faith and works. Learn how to answer the questions:

Congratulations to the following 4th and 5th grade students, who have qualified for the Talent Identification Program (TIPS) at Duke University:

Thomas Asmar, Abby Block, Hallie Gibbs, Michael Ginther, Andy Gladbach, Dane Haugen, Mary Howser, Blaine Jarrett, Wade Lueckenotte, Mitchell McElfresh, Kendra Ruether, Morgan Rundle, Logan Shaffer, Zachary Simon, Kendal Smith, Victoria Veit, Katie Verry, and Nick Westermann.

Mathias Dunville, Leighanna Henges, Sam Husting, Mariah Messenger, and Ben Mitan.

January 28, 2008

Just an F.Y.I. that a strong gas odor filled the building a little before 2:00 this afternoon. We promptly evacuated the building and contacted the fire department and the utility company. After our school was check out, we were informed that from two area businesses, the strong winds carried the smell to our area and that our school was safe to re-enter.

The students did a great job, as did the teachers in following the new evacuation plans we have implemented and practiced this year, such as the green and red "alert" cards designed to communicate the status of each group of kids as quickly as possible. I am very proud of how well everyone worked together for the safety of your children.

January 28, 2008

To start off this week, during the special youth Mass at 9:00 Sunday morning, Mrs. Denise Schebaum was awarded the Distinguished Graduate recognition that goes, each year, to a graduate of St. Joseph Cathedral who exemplifies the qualities we hope to see from all of our students. The graduates who have earned this recognition over the last several years bring discipleship into their homes, work, communities, and then back into the Church from which they received an education centered on Christ.

Mrs. Schebaum, a sixth grade teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School and wife to Melvin Schebaum, graduated from the Cathedral school and has also had three children attend here. Currently, her daughter Nicole (Nicki) is in eighth grade, her daughter Kristy is currently a sophomore at Helias, and her oldest daughter Katy is attending the University of St. Mary at Leavenworth, Kansas. She has served the school and parish in many capacities, most recently on the advisory school board and as a member of the athletic committee.

My Catholic education has supported me in several ways. One way is in the continuing practice of my faith. As a member of St. Joseph Cathedral Parish, I have been fortunate to serve in several stewardship capacities. The value of a Catholic education has truly become meaningful for me as I watch my own children progress in their faith and academics as students in Catholic Schools. I have also been fortunate that I can apply the values learned through my Catholic education with my students and through everyday collaboration with my co-workers.

In accepting this award, Mrs. Schebaum is representing all of you who have graduated from Catholic schools and taken the message of Jesus Christ and his church into the world. On behalf of the school community, I wish to thank all of you who have done this with such dignity.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is not some new belief, some tall tale the Catholic bishops dreamed up around a campfire one night. In fact, there is no evidence among the first, second, or third century Christians – men and women who learned from the apostles, themselves, or from their disciples – that Jesus had brothers and sisters through Mary.

John 16 tells us that the Holy Spirit would guide the Church to all truth. Are we really to believe that Christianity got it wrong for over one-and-a-half thousand years? That, perhaps, the Holy Spirit was asleep at the wheel all that time?

In Jewish culture, the word brother (adelphos in Greek) included blood brothers, for sure, but also immediate family, such as cousins and step-brothers. An overwhelming number of Scripture verses indicate this, such as we find in Gen 14:14; Gen 11:26-28; Gen 29:15; 1 Chron 23:21-22; Dt. 23:7; Jer 34:9; 2 King 10:13-14; 2 Sam 1:26; 1 Kings 9:13, 20:30; and Amos 1:9. In fact, this term was so commonly used for immediate family that Hebrew and Aramaic, the primary languages of the Jewish people, do not even have a word for cousin!

Another consideration, one can be supported by historical documents, is that Joseph was a widow and that these brothers and sisters are children from a previous marriage of Joseph. The Protoevangelium of James, a document dated within a century of the death of Mary, records that Mary had been consecrated to God as a young girl and that Joseph, an older, widowed man, married her as a way of protecting her against the less-than-honorable intentions of other men. According to the Protoevangelium, Joseph already had other children (and does this not help explain why Joseph, who might have been an older man, disappears so quickly from the Scripture narratives?).

A serious student of Scripture runs into some serious problems if he buys into the idea that Jesus had actual brothers and sisters:

1. James and Joseph are two of the men named as brothers of Jesus in Matthew 13. Yet Mt 27:50, Mk 15:40, and Jn 1925 jointly tell us that Mary, the wife of Cleophas, is the mother of these two men, giving credence to the idea that they were merely cousins of Jesus.

2. Mary is given by Christ to be cared for by the apostle John at crucifixion (Jn. 19:26-27). If Jesus had siblings, it would have been scandalous for him to put his mother in the care of a mere acquaintance instead of allowing one of his younger brothers to receive her.

Ancient Christian writings indicate that the mother of Mary, Anne, vowed to devote her child to the service of the Lord, as had been done to Samuel by his mother in 1 Sam. 1:11. Women had been doing this for centuries (1 Sam. 2:22), but for a woman, devoted service to the Lord at the temple meant a life of virginity instead of motherhood. Remember that, according to the Protoevangelium, the widowed Joseph married Mary primarily to protect her from others.

He chose her to be the means by which our Lord, Jesus Christ, would enter the world.

And this last point is so important if we needed one last bit of concrete proof that Mary was a perpetual virgin and that Christ had no brothers and sisters through her. The perpetual virginity of Mary helps us to understand how truly remarkable it was that Christ, our Lord, became man. After all, Mary is the gate through which Christ passed, and Ezekiel 44:2 allows no room for misunderstanding that no man shall enter the gate by which the Lord has entered the world.

As with most of the essays I post in the Cathedral Parents section, I have left out so much important information for the sake of brevity (in fact, this essay is about one-third of its original length, before I started slicing and dicing), that I strongly encourage you to do some additional reading. Here is a great essay to get you started. In addition, I could not more highly recommend adding the book Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn to your home library. While deep in context, Hahn writes on a popular level that is accessible to a general audience.

Parents/Students send notes of appreciation to the teachers and staff (This would make a great project at home!)

1. The Season of Lent begins this year on Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008, and ends with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, March 20, 2008, when the Easter Triduum begins. Lent is the principal penitential season in the Church year. All the Christian faithful are urged to develop and maintain a voluntary program of self-denial (in addition to the following items), serious prayer, and the performing of deeds of charity and mercy, including the giving of alms.

2. Abstinence – Everyone 14 years or age and over is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent.

3. Fast – Everyone 18 years of age and under 59 is required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

On these two days of fast and abstinence, only one full meatless meal is permitted. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each person’s needs, but together these two should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids (including milk and fruit juices) are allowed.

4. Exempt from fasting and abstinence regulations: pregnant and/or nursing women, manual laborers engaged in heavy, strenuous work, people who are sick and/or frail, as well as military personnel deployed or in hostile environments. People in doubt regarding fasting and abstinence should consult their parish priest/pastoral administrator or deacon.

If you have any questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki at the Chancery Office or at the Cathedral, 573-635-7991.

4th and 5th grade are collecting kites and Frisbees to send to Afghanistan for the kids to enjoy. If you have any you would like to donate, please send them to the office or Mrs. Jenkins by Friday, February 1st.

7th grade religion classes are discussing our call as Christians to serve others. Specifically, students are exploring the sacraments of Holy Orders and Matrimony, as well as other vocations. Students will spend some time recognizing those gifts that God has given them and how these gifts may be used to serve others in a special way.

6th grade math classes will take a break from their work with decimals to participate in a Super Bowl math activity on Friday. Information regarding this activity will be coming home today.

Miss Minor's 7th grade math class are finishing up their unit of study on number theory with a test this week. Following this unit, students will spend time working with decimals.

Miss Minor's 8th grade pre-algebra class is currently applying what they have learned about integers to operations involving rational numbers (decimals & fractions). In isolation these skills are not new, but applying them in combination of one another sometimes proves difficult for the students. The students are working hard and are determined to master these important concepts.

In the 6th grade S.S. this week and next, the classes are working on the Silk Road Map Activity. The students are designing a map of the Silk Road and Ancient China. They are also researching the various items traded along the route. These very colorful and creative posters will be displayed in the hallway when finished. Come by and have a look!

January 25, 2008

Second, when you get your Friday folders, keep a close eye out for the Catholic Schools Week button that is tucked inside of it. Sometimes it is easy for them to slip out.

Third, remember that our kick-off to Catholic Schools week will take place at the 9:00 Mass this weekend, where our Distinguished Graduate will be announced, followed by a reception in the Undercroft.

Last, you are invited to join our crowd of over 70 participants for the Adult Catechesis talk on Sunday night at 6:30 in the Chancery. This weekend's topic is "Baptism". Find out why baptism is necessary, why infants can be baptised, and what happens to people who are never baptised.

January 22, 2008

Grades are scheduled to come home today, a week after the completion of the second quarter.

I wanted to call attention to this to illustrate how meaningful the enrichment day was on many levels last week Tuesday. At the beginning of the year, many misunderstood the purpose of this enrichment day, which called for taking the students out of class at 1:00 to attend enrichment activities while the teachers worked on grades.

What those of us on the planning end realized is that the students were already attending these events throughout the year, but that there had to be a way to schedule them with a regularity that allowed teachers to plan larger units around them.

At the same time, I desired to get grades home to you as quickly as possible without compromising the accuracy of those grades. The process of reporting grades involves many steps. Not only do the teachers grade final assignments and figure term grades, but those grades often need to be compiled and examined for various reasons, including accuracy and honor roll. Yet, I know that many of you like to see the grades as soon as possible, before we have gone too deeply into a new term.

With the additional time on Tuesday, the teachers and staff put their full attention into figuring and reporting grades. I was so impressed and thought for sure we would be able to get them sent home by Friday. You can imagine my pleasant surprise when Mrs. Ponder reported that the system worked so efficiently that we would hit Thursday instead!

On top of this, the students seemed to really enjoy the activities that the Home and School enrichment committee, headed by Jennifer Case, put together. They interacted with and held large snakes and other reptiles through presentations from the Runge Nature Center and Carousel Pets. During the other half, the students enjoyed the energetic story-telling of Mr. Bobby Norfolk, an Emmy-award winning author, actor, and master storyteller. Imagine seeing over a couple hundred students all jump back simultaneously as the booming voice of Mr. Norfolk brought his suspense tale to a head.

Our next enrichment activity will take place at the end of third quarter. If you have the opportunity, I hope you will join us in helping out with these well-planned events.

Most people do not think of it this way, but you did attend a wedding this weekend.

The Mass is the form of Christian worship that has existed for 2,000 years, and we see the basic elements of it in the New Testament, particularly at the Last Supper, but also at other locations, such as when Christ opens Scripture (Liturgy of the Word) and breaks bread (Liturgy of the Eucharist) with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

In addition, Scripture shows us that the Catholic Mass is a participation in the same worship that the angels and saints are taking part of in Heaven. Many of the parts of the Mass are taken straight from the pages of Scripture, particularly from the pages of the Apocalypse of John, also known as Revelation. Much can be written about the Mass, such as the sacrificial nature of it, but that will all be the focus of later e-newsletters. For now, I would like to point out the idea of the wedding supper of the Lamb, through which Christ is joined with the Church.

The Church, of course, is made up of you, me, and all those who will one day join us in Heaven.

Each time we attend Mass, we are participating in that wedding feast, and not symbolically, but in a very real way. We are attending our wedding, as members of the body of Christ, to our bridegroom.

Keeping this in mind adds an entirely new dimension to our worship. Too often in the past, I have gone to Church expecting to get something out of it. However, when I started to understand that Mass was a participation in our marriage to Christ, it added a perspective I had never considered before.

When I say Amen or other prayers during the Mass, am I saying them with the same enthusiasm a groom would hope to hear from his bride?

When I show up for this wedding feast, am I dressed in a way that would honor my spouse on our own wedding day?

Those of you who are married know that a successful marriage demands that we ask not what we get out of it, but what we put into it. That mentality changed everything from the reverence I put into my genuflection to the volume I put into the entrance song. As the Cathedral school staff, we have been trying to emphasize to the students, sometimes in very subtle ways, our appreciation for what truly happens at Mass. Ask your children sometime if they have noticed that the teachers go to special effort to dress above-and-beyond on Mass days. For instance, most of the male teachers are wearing ties when they might otherwise not do so. I will usually wear just a shirt and tie three days of the week, but always have a suit or blazer on for Wednesday and Friday.

Many of you desire ways to talk to your children about Mass, hoping to instill in them an appreciation for Catholic worship that lasts until long after they have left your home. I would like to make two resources available for you to do this. The first is the script for our narrated Masses, which I have posted at our school website (click here). Reading through this yourself and then discussing with your children (who have already experienced it last week) would be a great way to begin a family conversation about the significance of the Mass. You may notice a couple of things that are new. For instance, the instructions for the Mass call for us to strike our breast once during the Confiteor, at the line, through my own fault.

If you would like to explore more deeply the idea of the Mass as a participation in the wedding supper of the Lamb, along with other significant themes present within it, here is a link to a great Bible study authored by Scott Hahn, one of the top Catholic authors and also a former Presbyterian minister who converted to the faith after developing a love and Scriptural appreciation for Catholic worship.

Remember that, while parents are invited to each lunch with their children throughout the year, two special days have been marked during Catholic Schools Week on which we would like to especially encourage your visits. On January the 30th, A-M will eat and on January 31st, N-Z will eat. The cost is $2 per person. Parents and grandparents are welcome. However, so that we can properly plan our lunches, R.S.V.P. by this Friday to Mrs. Boyd at bonnie.boyd@cathedralschooljc.com.

In addition, please join us this Sunday for the 9:00 Mass to kick off Catholic Schools Week. Among other things, our Distinguished Graduate for this school year will be announced, and all are invited to the reception immediately after in the Undercroft.

· Monday – Spirit Day (students may dress down with jeans and green/white shirts)

· Wednesday – Community Appreciation Day (students wear CSW buttons and perform service projects

· Thursday – Student Appreciation Day (“sports” dress-down and pep assembly)

7th grade literature classes have been working on author's purpose and analyzing persuasive ads. We've discussed who is targeted by the ads, how the text and visual are related, and how the ad appeals to the reader. We've also created our own ads using the positive features we found in ads.

2. Abstinence – Everyone 14 years or age and over is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent.

3. Fast – Everyone 18 years of age and under 59 is required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

If you have any questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki at the Chancery Office or at the Cathedral, 573-635-7991.

The dress code committee has finished work on the revisions for the 2008-2009 school year. These changes have been approved by the advisory school board. Keep in mind that these changes do not go into effect until next school year. For the convenience of those who will soon be shopping for next year, the revised code will be posted (later today) as a link on the homepage of our school website (here). In addition, we have posted a separate file which explains the specific changes that have been made.

2008-2009 Pre-School, Kindergarten and new students 1-8 registration 10:00-11:00 in the school office and teacher conference room.

Remember to save your Mosers receipts, for which we receive 1% back to help the school. These may be given to Renee Schaumburg or turned in at the office.

Please remember to have your child picked up by 3:30 after school (or 5:30 from after school care) to avoid a late pick-up fee.

The next adult formation class is on January 27th at 6:30. We will discuss baptism. The class on February the 3rd, however, will be rescheduled.

January 14, 2008

I hope many of you had a chance to drop down to the Undercroft this weekend and see the plans for the new school addition. They will most likely be on display at the back of church over the next couple weeks.

We need 2.3 million to break ground, and as the display under church noted, we already have 2 million!

Imagine how great it would be if we could raise that remaining amount in the next few months. We could break ground this spring, and with estimates of a 12-month timeframe on construction, that means that our students could be in the new addition as early as the fall of 2009. If we can reach that important halfway mark, the noisiest and messiest part of the construction would take place during this upcoming summer, when the distraction to the learning environment would be at a minimum.

If you have not seen recent changes to the plans, some of the highlights include changes to improve the learning environment, the safety, and the health of your students.

Times are tough. Gas is expensive, and that bumps up everything else. If you are able, however, to get some of the remaining amount of your pledge in over the next couple months, I cannot emphasize how meaningful that will be for the students as they reap the rewards of your generosity by walking into new hallways and classrooms a very short time from now.

On that note, I want to thank you for coming through in the general December collection. You dropped enough in the collection plates to easily exceed our goal for that month. As you know, we have had a tough time making our monthly goal, and I have not had to meet a stewardship challenge since the August collection. With a good total in December, though, I will fulfill the 4th grade challenge by becoming their teacher for a day. The January challenge is that I will become a 5th grade student for a day. Judging by our totals for the first weekend, we are well on their way.

We try to stay at 90% of the public school salaries. With the recent restructuring of the public school salary schedule, however, this budget will become tougher for us next year. I am confident, though, that with your continued generosity, we should be able to sustain a budget that allows us to continue attracting quality staff and the best resources for these young men and women.

This idea can not be overemphasized enough, but most people do not think of it this way. For most people, the idea is that to sin is to be human, but this is not the way that God created the human creature.

Thinking back to the Garden of Eden, as it has been explained in the book of Genesis, God created man and woman to live in perfect harmony with Him, with nature, and with one another.

In creating humans, God bestowed upon them a very special gift to allow them to rise above those instincts that, because of their physical bodies, they would share with animals. We have intellect, which comes with a sense of morality and the ability to act in accordance with that sense of morality.

Because of our flesh, we become lustful, greedy, angry, and proud. We have desires, some of which are unhealthy and destructive. Our conscience allows us to rise above this. To cease being mere animals and to become human. Humans are made in the image of God, which cannot be associated with sin.

Another consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve is that we lost our perfect harmony with God. Humanity fell and needed redemption. This comes from Christ. God could have, of course, simply snapped his finger, so to speak, and humanity would have been saved. However, he chose another route. He chose to take the consequences of sin upon himself and to make amends for them upon the cross.

Christ chose to enter into the world in the way that God intended. He chose to enter as a child born as he would have been born had humanity never left the Garden of Eden. This means, of course, that he would have been born to parents who, themselves, were not stained by sin.

When Catholics speak of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, many mistakenly assume that we are placing her on a pedestal, that we are making her something more than human. They assume that humanity, in general, is normal and that Catholics perceive Mary as being above humanity, almost a God herself. Considering the premise of this essay, the opposite is true. The rest of humanity is less than human – animalistic – and God simply made Mary normal. He simply restored her humanity fully and made her the type of parent Christ would have had if he had been born into the Garden.

Perhaps the clearest way of understanding the reason for this is to slip back into the Old Testament for a bit and talk about the Ark of the Covenant. One who is familiar with the Ark of the Covenant can attest to how venerated this box was among the Israelites. The box was adorned with beautiful statues, it was carried into battle, and it was kept in the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest was allowed to enter, and only the rare occasion, once a year, when he made sin offerings on behalf of the people. Most strikingly, nobody was allowed to even touch the box. We see the tragic results of this when Uzzah reached to steady it and dropped dead.

Why? It was just a box. Would not many modern Christians be scandalized by the type of veneration given to a material object?

The resolution, of course, is that it was not about the box at all, but its contents. This box contained pieces of manna from the desert, Aaron’s priestly rod, and – perhaps most importantly – the Ten Commandments, the word of God engraved on stone. This box had to be kept pure and away from defilement because it carried these holy items, which needed to be carried in only the most pure containers.

Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, which means that, just as the Ark in the Old Testament needed to be kept pure because it contained the essence of God, Mary likewise was kept without blemish because God would not have entered the world through an impure passage. He would not have resided, for nine months, in defiled flesh.

Most people mistakenly assume that Catholic beliefs about Mary are our attempt to exalt her. On the contrary, our beliefs – properly understood – are simply a reflection of our honor of Christ. Mary was without sin because Christ was so magnificent that only the most pure vessel could contain him. Mary chose not to sin, not because of her own merits, but because the grace of God is so powerful that he allowed her to overcome any destructive temptations.

To truly understand how Catholics view Mary, one should think about the relationship of the moon to the sun. To go out on a clear night, one can appreciate how truly beautiful the moon is – glowing so splendidly in the night. However, the moon can only glow in so much as it reflects the light from the sun. The sun burns from its own intrinsic energy, and without it, the moon is dark. Catholics believe what we do about Mary, not because we feel that she is great based on her own merits, but in that everything we understand about Mary merely reflects the overwhelming glory of Christ. True Marian doctrine should bring us closer to Christ, and the fact that the Ark of the New Covenant – a mere container - was created without blemish is a way of indicating the true magnificence of the contents.

At January’s Advisory School Board meeting, the members voted to approve a revised dress code, which will go into effect for the 2008-2009 school year. For those of you who would like to keep this code in mind as your purchase clothing this spring, the code will be published on our website sometime this week). Keep in mind that this does not go into effect until the beginning of our next school year.

In addition, the Advisory School Board voted to keep our class sizes for intermediate and junior high at 30 students. The implications of this depend on various factors, such as enrollment for next year. Considerations, such as number of classes and hiring of staff, will be made on an administrative level once our numbers for next fall become more apparent.

If you have experience writing (and securing) grants, you might be able to help us as the school staff begins to explore opportunities to benefit our school through the various grants available for private schools, in areas such as technology, safety, and curriculum. Please drop me a note if you have experience or expertise in writing effective grants and would consider helping with a committee with this goal.

This week in Ms. Stokes’s classroom, we are taking time to work and develop our writing skills. The 6th and 7th graders are working on personal written expression. The 8th graders are learning the 5 step writing process and practicing paragraph development. In our homerooms, the seventh graders will soon begin working on our presentation of the Stations of the Cross. This is a very prayerful and heartfelt experience for the student body. Look for information in the near future regarding a time and date for this event you don't want to miss!

Mrs. Harding's English classes are continuing to work on their personal narrative papers. This week, the students will complete revisions of the title, beginning, dialogue, and personal emotions of their rough drafts. The students will also participate in peer conferences and begin editing for capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes.

The second graders are studying Penguins in Science. They have learned about several different species and where they live. In Math we are finishing Patterns and will begin 2 digit Subtraction! The children are very excited that we will begin our First Eucharist books this week.

Student Council will be sponsoring a Valentine Round Up for the Samaritan Center from Jan. 15-Jan. 30. Students can bring in Valentine boxed cards and candy to be donated to the Samaritan Center. These items can be brought to the classrooms daily.

In the 5F classroom, we will be creating Prayer Journals to do daily reflections with God. We also will be discussing and writing our dreams for the future, just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did.

The afternoon kindergarten completed our unit on the letter Q. On Monday, the girls enjoyed being queens for a day. On Wednesday, we surprised Coach Windisch by walking so quietly into the gym! We ended the week by coloring patches that were combined into a class quilt. By coloring the various pieces of the patch, using color words, pictures appeared to represent the four seasons. I hope to have it posted later this week at: http://www.cathedralschooljc.com/class/braddock/wall.html

Congratulations to our top three Geography Bee finalists: 1st - Cole Haugen 8S, 2nd - Erika Prasad 7M, and 3rd - Austin Perkins 6C. Cole is scheduled to take a written test on Jan.15, 2008. This test will be administered by Mr. Kusick and will be submitted to the National Geographic Committee in Washington. If his test score is in the top 100 students in the state of Missouri he will be selected to compete in the State Geo Bee held at Missouri University this spring. In 2006 as a 6th grader Cole represented our school at the state bee. Please post and announce.

The next adult formation class is on January 27th at 6:30. We will discuss baptism. The class on February the 3rd, however, will be rescheduled.

January 11, 2008

1) You have probably noticed my new (temporary) location before school, at the entrance to the parking lot, directing our school families into the two drop-off lanes. It has come to my attention (though I am still officially looking into this) that there is a city ordinance addressing traffic congestion along residential streets. According to my source, another school in town received a fine for violation of this. While I look into the nature of the ordinance, it is obvious that the line of traffic backs up far down West Main in the morning. Many, understandibly, avoid the outer lane because of difficulties pulling back into traffic after dropping off students.

The reason I am writing is to thank all of you who have so willingly cooperated by entering the outer lane under my direction. I am certainly no expert at this and hope that my work with this is temporary as I do not want to offer direction that results in a fender-bender. Please help me with this by choosing the outer lane if the traffic appears to be backing up to near the street on the inner lane. And please be conscious of those who are needing to merge back into West Main traffic from the outer lane after dropping off students. You have all been so great with this the past couple days, that I imagine my silly attempt at directing traffic will not be needed much longer.

2) Our adult catechesis series picks up again this weekend. This Sunday, at 6:30 in the Undercroft, Fr. Shetler will talk about the priesthood. He will explain the nature of this vocation, including an explanation of why only men can be priests and why priests choose celibacy. The turn-out has been great, with anywhere from 70 to over a hundred at different talks. Bring a friend!

Have a great weekend, and keep our friend Leann Jarrett in your prayers, as well as her family.

January 7, 2008

Leann Jarrett, mother to our students Blaine and Bryce Jarrett, passed away this weekend after a long struggle with cancer. Please keep Leann and her family in your prayers.

Often, Catholics get asked why we pray to Mary. This questioning often comes from those who understand prayer as, primarily, a form of worship. Thus, in their minds, to pray to Mary or the saints is to worship them. As Catholics, we have quite a different understanding.

Put simply, we ask for Mary to pray for us and to pray with us. We ask her (and the other saints) to join our prayer circle. Consider how simple this concept is. After all, Christians generally have no problem with asking pastors, family members, friends, hairdressers, co-workers, neighbors, and random strangers to pray for them.

So why not Mary? Why not all the saints, for that matter? Is there some reason we can ask our second-cousin, twice removed, a plumber from Arkansas to pray for us, but we cannot ask the mother of God? Would Christ be less likely to listen to the prayers of his mom than, say, our Uncle Dave?

After all, Paul tells us that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. And who is more righteous than those who have already been sanctified so perfectly as to enter Heaven?

And if we need more reasons to ask for the prayers of Mary and the saints, here they are:

-The Bible tells us that the saints intercede on our behalf (Rev. 5:8);
-Christians have done it for 2,000 years (including most of the reformers);
-The Catholic Church, built by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, tells us to;
-The miracles that have come from the intercession of Mary testify to the power of such prayers;
-The body of Christ is built up when we join our prayers to one another (including with those members of the body who are in Heaven).

Some object that those who have passed on cannot hear our prayers, but Scripture gives us a different conclusion. 1 Cor. 13:9-12 tells us that the saints share in the divine knowledge of God, and we see their concern for us in the passage from Revelation 5:8, where the saints are offering up the prayers of the holy ones (you and me).

Even John, when he has his vision of Heaven tells us in Rev. 5:13-14 that he heard (through the privilege given to him by God) every creature on Heaven and earth, as well as under the earth and in the sea.

The inclusion of the saints in our prayer circle is one of the most wonderful features of the Catholic faith. For a more detailed explanation of this topic, please visit here.

If you have knowledge or experience in video editing, I would appreciate your help in a project I have taken on. Please respond to this e-mail if you are able to assist, and I can give more information.

The Enrichment Commitee has a program on Tuesday the 15th, from 1:00pm -3:00pm. There will be a Story Teller -Bobby Norfolk doing a presentation on Martin Luther King Jr. We also have two nature presentations, one by the Runge Center on snakes and the other one is by Carosel Pets, also Snakes and Lizards. The last Enrichment Committee afternoon was a huge success, especially toward the end of getting grades home more quickly. The committee is looking for volunteers to help with this. If you are able, please drop me a note.

Our next staff meeting is on Tuesday the 8th of January. The afterschool care staff typically takes the students in this program on a field trip following our 2:00 dismissal. We are looking for two volunteers (parents, grandparents, etc.) who can attend from 2:00 to 5:30 and help with supervision. Please respond to this e-mail if you are able to assist.

· The Distinguished Graduate Reception will be held on Sunday, January 27th, following 9:00 Mass as a kick-off to the week.

Spirit Day will be held on Monday, January 28th with the students dressing down in green and white.

Teacher Appreciation Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 29th. Home & School Officers will have a special lunch for our teachers. Students and parents are asked to recognize our teachers with notes and cards of thanks.

Parents are invited to join their children for lunch on Wednesday for A-M and Thursday for N-Z. An open house will be held on Wednesday from 10-11.

Student Appreciate Day will be held on Thursday, January 31st, with students being allowed to dress down in support of their favorite sports teams. Home and School will serve donuts and fruit to the students in the cafeteria in the morning.

Finally, our annual Home and School Chili Supper will be held on Friday, February 1st in the cafeteria.

In preparation for Catholic Schools Week, the Bishop McAuliffe Essay contest will also be held for 8th grade students who will be attending Helias in the fall of 2008. Details for the contest will be distributed to all 8th grade students.

The Afternoon Kindergarten class completed a unit on the letter K. The boys enjoyed being kings for a day. This week the girls are looking forward to being queens for a day as we study, you guessed it, the letter Q. We also incorporated the story of the Three Kings. Our art work is currently hanging up in the hallway by the gym, but you can view it at our website under the Wall of Wonder Link.

First graders have begun the "Rocket Math" program and are zooming high in learning addition facts. We are all enjoying our new leveled readers and are making good progress in our reading skills. Reading poetry has led us to selecting personal favorites; and we are looking forward to our poetry recital during Catholic Schools Week.

If you attended the Masses leading up to Christmas, you also got to see the 1st grade and their alpha-biblical presentation, in which they told a different story or fact about Bible stories for each letter of the alphabet.

Please pray for John Riegel, who is having a major back surgery today. His grandchildren (Christina, James, and Joseph Vignola) are students here, and he has two grandchildren (John and Catherine) at Helias.

REGISTRATION –preschool and kindergarten (and new incoming 1-8) at 10:00 on January 27th in the teacher conference room of the school. Please bring a copy of a certified birth certificate (not the copy from the hospital), baptismal certificate, immunization records, and social security number. In addition, all new families from kindergarten through 8 need to set up an appointment with Mr. Allen for an entrance interview. Please call the school 635-5024.

Our plans for the new school addition are complete and will be on display from 8:00 until 11:00 on Sunday the 13th of January during the Knights of Columbus Youth breakfast in the Undercroft. Members of the Capital Campaign Steering Committee, including the architect and the principal, Mr. Allen, will be on hand to explain these plans and answer any questions you may have.

On January the 14th (elementary and intermediate) and January the 16th (junior high) at 1:30, Fr. Shetler will preside at two “instructional Masses”, each narrated by Mr. Allen, in which the students will learn explanations for the different parts of the Mass. Mark your calendar to attend these insightful presentations.

Our school calendar for the 08-09 school year is now tentatively finished. While this usually is not done until late spring, this early publication will hopefully help you with planning your various organizational and family activities. You may visit our website (click here) and find a link to the calendar by scrolling down on the home page.

The January speech meet has been canceled due to low attendance. Any student who was going to participate in the meet will automatically participate in the March meet.

8th of January the edge program will be at Marvic Skate center. We will leave by bus from the undercroft 2:10, and the students will need to be picked up no later than 4:30 at the Skate Center!

January 9th (3:30) – geography bee in Mr. Kusick’s room.

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 7:00 pm there is an 8th grade parent meeting for incoming Freshman at HHS in the Rackers Fieldhouse.

Honors choir – the next rehearsals will be Wed 1/9 at recess and Tuesday 1/15 from 3:15-4:00. Also, a big thank you to everyone who helped get our Advent/Christmas Program! Stacy

Saturday, January 12, 2008 from 8:30 – 11:15 AM a placement test will be given at HHS

Adult Catechesis – The Priesthood - January 13th at 6:30 in the Catholic Center

Instructional Mass – January 14th (elementary) and January 16th (junior high) at 1:30

The Enrichment Commitee has a program on Tuesday the 15th, from 1:00pm -3:00pm. There will be a Story Teller -Bobby Norfolk doing a presentation on Martin Luther King Jr. We also have two nature presentations, one by the Runge Center on snakes and the other one is by Carosel Pets, also Snakes and Lizards.

Make up date is Thursday, January 17 from 4:30 – 7:00 PM

Saturday, January 19 Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition at 3pm in the gym. All children from ages 10 to 14 are welcome to participate and pre-registration is available, but not required. Coach Windisch has agreed to provide Dress Down Passes to all participants. Contact Mike Shimmens at 635-7047 with questions or to request registration forms.

Adult Catechesis –Baptism - January 27th at 6:30 in the Catholic Center

January 30th – 8th grade parent meeting in cafeteria (7:00 pm), covering such topics as the food fast, the Net retreat, and graduation.

January 3, 2008

Dear Parents,

St. Joseph Cathedral School is excited to announce that we are finalizing arrangements with local EER teacher Karen Hirst and Camp Invention, a non-profit organization based out of Akron, Ohio., to offer Camp Invention at our school this summer for area youth. The camp is for one week (July 28-August 1) Monday-Friday from 9-3:30 (with possible extended care options before and after). This camp is for kids who will be entering grades 1-6 and provides an enrichment experience that develops creative thinking and teamwork through hands-on exploration and fun. Students will participate in five innovative modules presented by local teachers, while experimenting in physics, engineering, and creative problem solving. Camp Invention has been featured in numerous educational publications, including a
recent study by Harvard University. You may read about the specific programs offered this summer by visiting the Camp Invention website (click here). There are very few enrichment resources in Jefferson City during the summer, so we are pleased to partner with Camp Invention for this unique opportunity. While the base price for Camp Invention is $210, for those families enrolling during January, the price drops to $175. You may register at www.invent.org/camp/ and may contact the director, Karen Hirst, at karen.hirst@jcps.k12.mo.us.

January 2, 2008

With this short week, you are also getting a relatively short e-newsletter as I get caught up and into classrooms after a long break. I hope all of you had a great Christmas, a blessed solemnity, and an inspired celebration of the new year. I had a great time at home with my family, but being a creature of structure and routine, it is nice to be back at school, as well.

Pax vobiscum,

Through the first part of the year, these brief catechesis pieces have given a superficial overview of everything from authority to salvation. During the last half of the year, the essays will focus on specific teachings. These will resume next week. In the meantime, I would like to invite you to join us for the adult catechesis series that Fr. Shetler and I have been presenting on Sunday evenings. The next in this series is on this Sunday, the 13th, at 6:30 in the Catholic Center. The topic this Sunday, which will be presented entirely by Fr. Shetler, will focus on the priesthood, covering the reason God instituted this vocation, why he only calls men to holy orders, and the beauty of the discipline of celibacy. Two weeks later, on the 27th, Fr. Shetler and I will discuss baptism, including its necessity, the practice of infant baptism, and the legitimacy of pouring and sprinkling, as well as the fate of those who die without receiving water baptism.

A few weeks before Christmas break, I asked for help from you, the parents, to help us design a new school brochure. I could not have been more pleased with the great responses, as well as the wide range of backgrounds and expertise among our many school families. A committee has been put together to design this new brochure in anticipation of the expansion that we can hopefully start very soon.

The next project that I would like to put in motion has to do with an opportunity through the Department of Homeland Security to register our school through an online resource that is accessible only to emergency personnel, giving them important information about our building and routine in order to allow a quick and effective response to whatever surprise may come our way.

Our crisis committee at school has been hard at work this year designing quick-reference aids for crisis situations and working with law enforcement to prepare for situations which schools typically underestimate. In addition, our Home and School has taken on the task of emergency kids, filled with supplies to prepare us for such situations. Registering for this website is the next step in making sure students are as safe as possible when in our care. We have a chairperson for this parent committee, and I am now asking for volunteers from those of you who might have some experience, training, or a strong desire to add to this project. Please reply to this e-mail if you would like to help in this way.

A subscriber asks us to pray for her friend and neighbor, Debbie Laux. She is a member of IC parish. She had emergency brain surgery just before Christmas for cancer and is in great need of prayers.

January Cathedral Kids Messages

January 31, 2008

January 30, 2008

January 28, 2008

January 28, 2008

January 25, 2008

January 22, 2008

January 14, 2008

January 11, 2008

January 7, 2008

January 3, 2008

January 2, 2008