--St. Joseph Cathedral School--

March Cathedral Kids Messages

March 31, 2008

Contents:

Welcome

Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body V

Brag-box

Important Notes

Upcoming Events

Welcome / Cathedral Kids

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

Note – due to a couple of different technical problems, Mr. Allen has been without access to e-mail or the Cathedral Kids newsletter over the last week. I apologize to those who tried to contact me or who desired to have time-sensitive notes sent through this newsletter.

I am sitting in the Indianapolis Convention Center as I write this, in between sessions at the 2008 NCEA (National Catholic Educators Association) Conference. As some of you are aware, sometime around Tuesday afternoon, my computer lost the ability to communicate with wireless access. It is Thursday morning, and I cannot help but frequently wonder how many dozens of e-mails are waiting for my return, and how many of those, not knowing of my communication breakdown, are wondering why I am taking so long to respond, considering I usually make it a priority to respond quickly to any contact.

The conference has been great so far. While a couple of the sessions offered little more than a consumption of my time, I have attended a number of really good workshops that have either fed me some great new ideas or have helped me develop ideas that have already been chalked onto the drawing board. Next week I will continue with explaining some of our exciting plans for next year (hopefully incorporating much of what I have learned here), as I have done over the last few weeks. I want to thank you as, through your Home and School contributions, you have made it possible for me to attend and experience some of the exciting opportunities that available for schools such as ours.

Indianapolis is a great city, and one of the coolest things about the downtown area is that nearly every building is connected through the Airwalk, a series of covered, elevated walkways that extend from one building to the next. I could walk from my hotel room to the mall a couple of blocks away without stepping outside.

The dynamic opening session and Mass, energized my appreciations for the power of Catholic school, and especially our own community at St. Joseph Cathedral. A random thought (perhaps inspiration) popped into my head about the power of the letter C.

Calling upon our patron, St. Joseph, I realized that the wife of a carpenter had a child, the Christ, who established one, true church, the Catholic church, and the good news of our savior and his church are passed to our children through the rigorous curricula, the welcoming community, the Catholic culture, and the dignity in competition that our families find at our Cathedral school.

Those things symbolized by the letter C make all the difference.

C … the difference.

See the difference a Catholic education at the Cathedral school can make in the life of your child.

I hope, as we work together to realize the potential within our school community, you spread that message to anyone you know who is looking for excellence in spirituality and academics.

Tell them simply to come and see the difference.

Pax Vobiscum,

Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

Theology of the Body V

This essay is a continuation of a series explaining Theology of the Body, but Pope John Paul II. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the role of the husband, who is the head of his wife in the model of Christ, who is the head of the Church. The implications of this, far from empowering the husband to act with unfair, selfish dominion over his family, were that the husband is to serve as Christ served … to provide as Christ provided … to protect as Christ protected … and to sacrifice himself, as Christ sacrificed himself for the Church. In addition, through his support of his wife, and through his prayers and appreciation for her, the husband is to support his wife in becoming pure and without blemish.

It seems appropriate, then, to deepen our understanding of the role of the wife. Continuing with the relationship described in Ephesians 5, if the husband is to act as a Christ-figure for his family, the wife must model, in this nuptial analogy, the role of the Church. If we were to capture the power of the Church, it would be done most appropriately through an understanding of sacramental graces. In evaluating their roles as wives, women can find concrete guidance by considering the very specific nature of the sacraments that God uses to lead us through Christian maturity.

Our initiation into the Church is through the sacrament of baptism, in which the pouring water symbolizes the cleansing action that is taking place on our otherwise stained souls. Likewise, a wife and mother is called to be a model of purity, or inner cleanliness, for her husband and children. Her words and actions guided by a deliberate attempt to wash the household of harmful influence.

We are nourished through the sacrament of the Eucharist. Likewise, in the model of this, a mother and wife is a source of nourishment for her family. She satisfies the hunger that her husband has for companionship and in a very real way she nourishes her children from the moment they find their first meal from her body through what she gives to the quality of life within the home as they mature.

Just as we find reconciliation and forgiveness through the sacrament of confession, a mother offers her husband and children a special gift of compassion and love that is ready to pardon any mistake and to bring a lost sheep back into the family. Her soft words and tender touch have an intrinsic power to speak to our very soul and communicate a deep understanding of our weaknesses, as well as our desire to improve.

And to help us improve, a wife and mother models the gifts of confirmation in the way that she builds up her husband and children, affirming them in their successes and reassuring them in their failures. She sees and magnifies the best in every individual in the family, even as they may be conscious of only the worse.

A wife and mother can heal. Whether the wound be internal or external, she knows how to kiss the scrap on the knee of a toddler and hold the hand of a hospitalized spouse. She embodies the sacrament of anointing, and even when her band-aids and words cannot heal the wound, she can take our minds to a place of peace and love.

Brag Box

Cole Baumgartner achieved 3rd in the State Wrestling in age 14 and under 85 pounds.

Jacob Brune achieved 1st in the State Wrestling in age 10 and under 75 pounds.

Congratulations to all who participated.

Important Notes

As part of the 7th grade religion class, students will participate in a five-week human sexuality program. A parent meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the school cafeteria. The purpose of this meeting is to provide you with the opportunity to preview the videos and material that will be presented during this program, and to answer any questions you may have about the human sexuality program. We hope that you will make plans to attend this meeting, and we look forward to discussing this important topic with you.

The afternoon kindergarten class discussed the symbolism of the Easter egg using a plastic egg with a duckling inside of it. The new life that came out of the egg (the fuzzy duckling) reminded them of Jesus coming back to life in a new way. The empty shell that remained, after the new life had broken free, helped them better understand the meaning of the empty tomb. The students painted yellow eggs, which they later turned into new born ducklings. You can view their art work here. The students also really enjoyed making and cooking resurrection rolls. The rolls helped the students explore the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Upcoming Events

(Please send me any Upcoming Events you would like to have mentioned in future mailings.)

Jr. high youth rally, April 27th at Helias High School 10:00am -4:30pm. All 6, 7, 8 grade students are welcome!

March 17, 2008

Contents:

Welcome / Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body VI

Champions of Faith Father-Son Retreat

In the Classroom

Important Notes

Upcoming Events

Welcome / Cathedral Kids

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

New stuff on the blog (click here), including an eighth grade student writing about the recent 24-hour fast these students participated in.

As mentioned before, I am using this space over the next few weeks to write about some of the exciting projects our school has in store. This week, I am combining the Welcome and the Cathedral Parents section for this purpose.

Ever since my initial interview for this position, I have been talking about the need to help young men and adult men connect to the Church in a meaningful way. In many churches, Catholic or otherwise, a focus on male spirituality seems to be neglected. This is not to say that male spirituality should be emphasized to the exclusion of female spirituality, but that men often do not find a connecting point to strengthen their relationship with the body of Christ.

The results are tragic.

In surveys done a few decades back, the ratio of men and women attending church was very nearly equal. In recent years, however, that gap has widened, with attendance among men dropping considerably. As discussed in the Cathedral Parents section last week, Paul uses Ephesians 5 to call upon men, particularly husbands, to model Christ, which means that fathers, through their examples, provide one of the first lessons to their children of who our Lord is. Whether or not fathers demonstrate a strong participation in the Church has a direct impact on the likelihood of their children doing the same as adults. A 1994 Swiss study actually put numbers to this. Here is a summary of the findings:

If both father and mother attend regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly. Only a quarter of their children will end up not practicing at all. If the father is irregular and mother regular, only 3 percent of the children will subsequently become regulars themselves, while a further 59 percent will become irregulars. Thirty-eight percent will be lost.

If the father is non-practicing and mother regular, only 2 percent of children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly. Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church.

What does this have to do with our school? Our goal of forming disciples of Christ and fishers of men will simply fall flat if we do not pay special attention to supporting the parents, who are called to be the first heralds of Christ. What I have written this morning is not intended to lessen the role of the mother (you will get your turn next week), but to emphasize to any fathers reading this how crucial your example is to the spiritual well-being of your children. Our school is nothing more than your servant in the formation of these young men and women.

So … as your servant in that regard, how can we help? Glad you asked! Scroll down to the next section of the e-newsletter.

Pax Vobiscum,

Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

Champions of Faith

Father / Son Retreat

If any of you have seen the popular Champions of Faith video series, you know what a powerful testimonial they can be. For those who have not, the general idea of the videos is to portray the spiritual lives of certain professional athletes. While the media would have us believe there are not many role models left in professional sports, this series showcases several athletes who make prayer and worship a regular part of their lives, especially while on the road.

After discussion with the school board and staff, I am excited to announce our tentative plans to offer a one-day Champions of Faith father and son retreat this June. The specifics and date have yet to be ironed out for this retreat, which will be aimed at our older students. I can tell you that we have a lot of exciting ideas, and I believe this will be a truly wonderful opportunity for several things to happen:

This retreat will provide an opportunity for exploring the male spirituality that so many fathers and young men are seeking in a relationship with Christ;

It will give a chance for father and son bonding on a meaningful level that incorporates Christ into the relationship;

It will directly support our work within the school as young men find a relevant expression of the spiritual discussions from their religion classes;

It will help add an element to our school that simply cannot be taught through a classroom curriculum, which is the importance of fellowship in a Christian atmosphere.

As you may have noticed, I referred to our tentative plans. The reason is that there is one missing component in pulling this retreat off. That component is YOU. I am looking for some dads, particularly of our junior high students, who are interested in helping to make this retreat a success.

Some of the things I would like to see are a dynamic guest speaker, worthwhile activities and discussion, and a father/son recreation event at the end of the day. Please respond to this e-mail if you are interested in helping. I already have some great resources from the Champions of Faith people, including a retreat guide, which will make this work much easier than if we were starting from scratch.

Finally, just for the record, I would love to find the female equivalent to this retreat, but I want to make sure that, as with the male version, I find a quality foundation, rather than just offering something for the sake of balance.

In the Classroom

The 7th grade religion classes appreciate everyone who attended the Friday prayer experience, Journey of the Cross. This week, students will return to their textbook studies by spending some time learning more about the celebration of Holy Week. The students will also be walking to the Catholic Center today, March 17, to have a tour of the facility and learn more about the important work that takes place at the center.

Sixth grade math students are exploring concepts of number theory, specifically finding prime factorization using factor trees. After the Easter break, students will use ladder diagrams to find prime factorization. The students seem to especially enjoy these particular concepts.
Students in seventh grade math class (Ms. Minor) are preparing for a test later this week on decimals. Following the Easter break, students will begin studying fractions.

Pre-algebra (Ms. Minor) eighth grade students have started a new section of study on ratios and proportions. Students have enjoyed the change of pace and material presented from our last unit. Students will begin to explore percents following the Easter break.

During Holy Week, the morning kindergarten class (Mrs. Buersmeyer) is listening to bible stories about the events in Jesus' life that build up to Easter Sunday. The students are excited to participate in mini plays about Palm Sunday, Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the Last Supper, prayer in the garden, the betrayal, the death, and rising of Jesus on Easter Sunday. We are coloring a take-home book about these events.

Last week, the afternoon kindergartners were actively engaged in using their imaginations and problem solving skills to create leprechaun traps. A sample trap can be viewed at: http://www.cathedralschooljc.com/class/braddock/wall.html

On March 28 at 2:15 Hy-Vee, our business partner, is sending their nutritionist to talk to the junior high about healthy eating.

First Grade students had fun reading the story, If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Each student was given the list of ingredients for making pancakes and he/she had to write directions on how to make them. Pancakes were made and enjoyed by all.

Lenten studies will end with discussing how Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and continues with The Sacred Triduum on Holy Thursday (The Lord's Supper), Good Friday (The Lord's Passion), Holy Saturday, (The Great Easter Vigil), and ends with Easter. All families are encouraged to attend all services so each child will have a greater understanding of our Catholic faith and what we have learned all during Lent. Triduum was our bonus spelling word for the week. Happy Easter!

See pictures of the 3rd grade famous African Americans project on the school website (click here).

Important Notes

HELP THE HEROES collection will be held from March 17 to April 1. Two eighth grade students, Kyle Dorge and Cole Baumgartner, master minded this program. They will be collecting cards, games and money for recreational items to send to Iraq. Items too large or not appropriate to mail will be given to the Veteran's home in Mexico, Missouri. These students identified these veterans as in need of recreation also. Let us all get behind our students and our military for this worthwhile purpose.

Upcoming Events

(Please send me any Upcoming Events you would like to have mentioned in future mailings.)

Student Council dance - Friday, March 28 in the undercroft from 7:30-10:00, open to grades 6, 7, and 8.

Boy Scout Meeting, Monday, 7:00 pm, Undercroft (these meetings are every Monday through the school year) All boys in grades 6-8 are welcome to attend if they are interested in joining Boy Scouts

Cub Scout Pack 104 Pack meeting, Tuesday, March 25, 6:30 pm, Undercroft - Practice runs for the Pinewood Derby

Cub Scout Pack 104 Pinewood Derby Competition, Friday, March 28, 7:00 pm, Cathedral School Gymnasium, Registration begins at 6:30

St. Joseph Track Schedule:

Track practice will begin Monday, March 17. Practices will be held at the St. Joseph Cathedral School after school until 4:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. We will meet in the gym. As we get closer to the actual meets, we will practice at least one day at the Helias High School track.

All 5th through 8th grade students are invited to join us for a fun year of track and field! Events include 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 meter runs, 4 X 100 and 4 X 200 meter relays, long jump, high jump, discus, ball throw (5th and 6th grade), shot put (7th and 8th grade), and 100 meter hurdles (7th and 8th grade).

Kathy Frese, Bill Graham, Coach Windisch and Ben Kuster will be coaching the 5th through 8th grade track team. For any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Meet Schedule

7th and 8th Grade

April 15 - Thomas Jefferson Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

April 24 & 25 – Mid-MO Relays – Thomas Jefferson Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

April 30 – Lewis and Clark Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

May 5 – Helias High School – 5:30 p.m.

5th and 6th Grade

April 19 – (5th Grade only) Little Olympics - Lincoln University – 8:00 a.m.

April 22 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m.

April 28 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m. – Hosted by St. Joseph Cathedral**

May 6 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m

March 14, 2008

Dear friends,

Our computer lab coordinator has recently announced that she is following an exciting opportunity that has come her way. Her hard work has really helped us to strengthen the technology instruction for our students from preschool through 8th grade. We are currently seeking applications to coordinate our technology instruction through the remainder of the school year. In addition, this position will need to be filled on a long-term basis for the 2008-2009 school year. If you are interested and have knowledge of basic computer programs and software, please respond to this e-mail for more information.

In addition, please note the schedule for the St. Joseph Cathedral Track Team this season:

St. Joseph Cathedral Track Team

Kathy Frese, Bill Graham, Coach Windisch and Ben Kuster will be coaching the 5th through 8th grade track team. For any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Meet Schedule

7th and 8th Grade

April 15 - Thomas Jefferson Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

April 24 & 25 – Mid-MO Relays – Thomas Jefferson Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

April 30 – Lewis and Clark Middle School – 5:30 p.m.

May 5 – Helias High School – 5:30 p.m.

5th and 6th Grade

April 19 – (5th Grade only) Little Olympics - Lincoln University – 8:00 a.m.

April 22 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m.

April 28 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m. – Hosted by St. Joseph Cathedral**

May 6 – Helias High School – 4:30 p.m.

March 12, 2008

Sorry for this correction, but the junior high dance was on the 15th, but has been moved to the 28th. Both dates appeared in the recent e-newsletter.

In addition, the 7th grade teachers wanted to invite all to join the Journey of the Cross presentation by the 7th grade students on Friday at 2:15 (not our regular Stations time of 2:20). Please join us.

Finally, some more dates have been sent my way:

- Boy Scout Meeting, Monday, 7:00 pm, Undercroft (these meetings are every Monday through the school year) All boys in grades 6-8 are welcome to attend if they are interested in joining Boy Scouts

- Cub Scout Pack 104 Pack meeting, Tuesday, March 25, 6:30 pm, Undercroft - Practice runs for the Pinewood Derby

- Cub Scout Pack 104 Pinewood Derby Competition, Friday, March 28, 7:00 pm, Cathedral School Gymnasium, Registration begins at 6:30

Youth Mass 3/30 at 11am, with junior high students taking leadership roles (readers, greeters, ushers, choir, etc.). We encourage all school families to attend.

March 12, 2008

Contents:

Welcome

Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body V

In the Classroom

Brag-box

Important Notes

Upcoming Events

Welcome

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

First off, thank you to all who visited the blog (click here). After I mentioned it, we had over 150 visits from the school community that day, and a comment was left on each of the posting. A new entry is up today from a first grade student, her mother, and her kindergarten teacher. I hope to hear from more of you soon. I will update the blog with more posts later this week.

As I mentioned, over the next few weeks, I am taking the opportunity to announce some of the exciting things that are planned for our school and parish in upcoming month. This week I want to mention our plans for examining the k-8 reading.

This year, we took a long, deep look at the religion curriculum, and the end result of that is a very specific and sequential application guide to make sure that, when your students finish St. Joseph Cathedral, they are equipped with an impressive working knowledge of Scripture and the teachings and understanding of the Church, as well as a strong grasp of the skills required to be a disciple of Christ and a fisher of men. We started with religion because our understanding of any other discipline must be viewed through the lens of God in order for us to make sense of the world.

Reading, of course, is another foundational subject. The ability to read well and to grasp any other discipline, from social studies to math, is a sure measure of one’s ability to take the depth of what our what our teachers and textbooks offer and to turn it into powerful knowledge and skills. This April our elementary teachers are attending a week-long reading workshop. This will be the starting point in a long-range plan to vertically align our reading instruction from one grade to the next, as well as to thoroughly examine our strategies and resources to make sure we are giving your children every opportunity to develop their literacy skills.

On that note, I have become aware that many of our parents and parish community members have backgrounds in reading instruction. If you are one of these individuals, I would like to hear from you and possibly have you serve on a committee, along with our teachers, to do this very valuable work. Please respond to my e-mail if you have any insight or training to offer.

Pax Vobiscum,

Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body (Part V)

The Role of the Husband

Wives, submit to your husbands.

Talk about a controversial line from Scripture, huh? Whenever it comes up in a homily, one can be sure a husband somewhere in the church is nudging his wife … and that the wife is elbowing her husband.

In the last e-newsletter, we explored the vocation of celibacy, and in particular the understanding of celibacy as an embrace of the marriage between the Church and our bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Only through properly understand this connection can we truly understand the roles of husbands and wife in marriage.

The idea of an unhealthy dominance in a marriage is, itself, a result of the fall, a consequence of original sin (Genesis 3:16). Marriage, according to God’s plan, looks much differently, and this can be seen in Ephesians 5:21-33, the passage from which the opening line was taken.

Paul, in Ephesians, begins this passage by asking husbands and wives to submit to one another, emphasizing that his view is one of equality within marriage. He then does go on to tell wives to submit to their husbands and to call the husband the head of his wife.

At first read, this suggestion might make some recoil, but a close inspection of the passage reveals the deeper meaning of this passage. Husbands are called the heads of their wives in the same sense that Christ is the head of the Church, which means that husbands are to make themselves into Christ-figures for the family.

Christ did not ask his followers to serve him. Rather, he got on his hands and knees and served his disciples by washing their feet. Thus, husbands are to serve their wives, perhaps by gestures such as fixing supper or cleaning the house, and wives are to submit to this.

Christ provided spiritually for his Church, and husbands are to follow in this model by setting the example in prayer, emphasizing the importance of worship, the sacraments, and obedience to the Church, and wives are to submit to this.

Christ protected his Church, and husbands are to protect their families, defending the integrity of their wives and preserving the innocence of their children. And wives are to submit to this.

Christ sacrificed himself for his Church, as husbands are called to do for their families. Sometimes it might mean that a husband and father gives up his favorite activity or wears himself down caring for the house and family, and the wives submit to this.

The husband models himself after Christ, offering his wife a backrub after a rough day and helps her to be holy and without blemish through his compliments and support (Eph. 5:27). A father gives his time to his children and recognizes that he and his words and actions are the first things they will ever learn about Jesus Christ.

He takes on the mission of Christ, and as Paul tells us, the wife puts herself under (sub) that mission.

In the Classroom

6th grade Religion classes have been working this week on creating their own Stations of the Cross prayer guides. Students are illustrating each station and also writing a prayer or meditation to go along with each station. The prayerfulness in these prayer booklets is very inspiring!

Both 7th grades are preparing the presentation of "The Journey of the Cross." We started practicing last week and the kids are definitely putting forth their best efforts! We hope you can join us for this powerful and prayerful journey Friday, March 14 at 2:15.

The afternoon kindergarten class has been studying bible stories dealing with miracles in nature. Besides reading about Jesus walking on water and Jesus calming the storm, the class also sang songs, acted out the stories, and made a craft. You can view their art work at:

http://www.cathedralschooljc.com/class/braddock/wall.html

Brag-box

St. Joseph Cathedral School is proud to announce the students that qualify for attendance at the Aquinas Academy. The students in grade 6 qualifying are: Sam Donovan, Amanda Patino, Andrew Pierle, Andrew Schaumburg, Lydia Schreiber and Austin Schnieders. Those students qualifying from grade 7 are: Jonas Branson, Megan Green, Erica Prasad, Anne Verry, Carmen Howser, Margaret Morris and Meagan Rundle.

Cole Haugen, our school bee winner, has been selected to compete in the National Geographic Bee State Bee held at Missouri University. To qualify, Cole had to score within the top 100 Missouri students who took the written test. The state bee will be Friday, April 4. His teacher and parents are permitted to accompany him to Missouri University that day. Some schools that have competed over the years have never had a student qualify. St. Joseph Cathedral has had four students qualify for this competition over four consecutive years. We are very proud of Cole Haugen's accomplishment.

If you have not seen the City magazine for March, it is a great issue for our school. One of our teachers, Mr. Cassmeyer, was spotlighted in the Teacher Feature section and one of our students, Grace Verslues, is highlighted for her role as the ambassador for the March of Dimes this year. Congratulations to both!

Snow Days and Easter Break

After consultation with our advisory school board, Msgr. Kurwicki, and our superintendent, Don Novotney, we have been granted forgiveness on our fourth snow day. This means that we will have Good Friday and Easter Monday off for Easter. Also, Holy Thursday will be an early dismissal day (1:00), with no afterschool care available.

Also, please note that we have added a day of school to the end of the year, extending our year to Friday, May 23rd. As a result, our Field Day will be moved to Thursday, May 22nd, the second-to-last day of school.

Important Notes

Students will be allowed to dress down, wearing green and following dress-down requirements for St. Patrick’s Day.

Upcoming Events

(Please send me any Upcoming Events you would like to have mentioned in future mailings.)

7th grade will present "Journey of the Cross" on Friday, March 14.

Knights of Columbus fish fry – Undercroft (4:30 – 7:00).

3/15 Student Council dance – Undercroft (6:00 – 11:00).

Student Council dance - Friday, March 28 in the undercroft from 7:30-10:00, open to grades 6,7,and 8.

March 7, 2008

Contents:

Welcome

School Board nominees

Adult Faith Talk

Teacher of the Year Award

Grant Committee

Samaritan Center

Fee Information

Upcoming Events

Welcome

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

There was so much material to send out this week, I did not want it all to be lost in the mix with yesterday's mailing, so this second e-newsletter is to cover some other, very important information.

One point of correction from the 3/6/08 e-newsletter: though the parish calendar indicates that the Student Council dance is on the 15th of March, it has just recently been rescheduled for the 28th.

Just for the record, I am really, really hungry as I type this. Why? Because I am participating in the annual 24-hour fast that the 8th graders do. Supper time came and went at my house – spicy pepperoni pizza. There is left-over Chinese in the refrigerator. And hot dogs.

And every commercial is about food.

At first all one can think about is wanting to eat. Then, thoughts start to turn to the blessings we receive so regularly from God, who provides all that we have. And from there we perhaps contemplate the sufferings of Christ and of so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Sometimes that suffering is physical and sometimes emotional or spiritual. And at that point, hopefully, God provides the grace to offer our sufferings up on their behalf.

Keep the 8th graders in your prayers this morning, as well as their families, many of whom are joining them in the fast. Pray that they are able to take the discomfort of an empty belly and find meaning it as disciples of Christ.

By the way, just to answer the frog question yesterday, frog legs are not considered meat, and therefore, they are okay to eat on a Friday during Lent. The restriction on meat applies to warm-blooded creatures, including mammals and birds. The winning vote on the blog is that most of you did not care if they were meat or not – you just thought they were disgusting!

Perhaps, after a 24-hour fast, they might look a little more appetizing.

Then again, maybe not.

Pax Vobiscum,

Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

School Board Nominees

It is that time of year again for the St. Joseph Cathedral Advisory School Board elections. Three of nine positions are up for election this year. This is such an exciting time for our school, with our new expansion, our school accreditation, and several new projects in the work. I desire greatly to have the input of those of you who have forward-thinking, Christ-centered ideas.

The Board’s primary activities are to provide input and advice to the administration, to develop or modify policies, to develop the annual school budget and to provide leadership on the various working committees established by the board. Meetings are generally once-a-month and are limited to 90 minutes. Eligible candidates must have an Active Parish Member Certificate from the parish office to be eligible. Thank you for considering your participation for the parish and school with your time and talent on the St. Joseph Cathedral Advisory School Board.

If you think you might be interested in running for the school advisory board, or you know of someone who would be great in this role, please respond to this e-mail with suggested names. I will pass them on to the board president, Cindy Donovan, for nomination to the official ballot.

Adult Faith Talk

This Sunday, at 6:30 in the Catholic Center, Fr. Shetler and Mr. Allen will present the next in our series of adult talks. The topic this Sunday is The Eucharist. Learn how to defend and explain the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, along with the sacrifice of the Mass.

Also, the first talk in our series, Scripture and Tradition, is now available as an audio file on the home page of our school website. If you were not able to make this talk, visit www.cathedralschooljc.com and scroll down to the link to play this talk, which explains the foundation of our Catholic faith.

Teacher of the Year Award

Nominations for the Missouri 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year award are being accepted through April 30, 2008. This award includes $1,000 to the winning teacher and a $500 grant to that teacher’s school. The winner will be eligible for the National TOTY award, that includes a special recognition and a $2,500 travel certificate. Teachers, students, and parents can nominate, and forms are available online at www.teachers.com/toty. To nominate, explain in 250 words or less why this teacher should be the Teacher of the Year. Nominees will be judged on their ability to motivate students, their special talents, and their contribution to the their school, students, or educational community.

Grant Committee

Some of you responded to an earlier e-newsletter, in which I solicited information about those who have experience with grant writing. This committee will first officially meet on Thursday of next week (3/13) at noon in the school office. If you feel you might be called to help in this way, please contact me by e-mail. This committee will need individuals who can research grant opportunities, write these grants, edit them, and evaluate results. There are many grant opportunities available, and I want to make sure that our school has a mechanism in place to most aggressively pursue them.

Samaritan Center

Interfaith Agency
1310 East McCarty
PO Box 1687
Jefferson City, MO 65102-1687

573-634-7776

www.midmosamaritan.org

Boy Scout Food Drive for Samaritan Center

The annual Boy Scout Food Drive is scheduled for Saturday March 8th. This drive provides badly needed items distributed by Samaritan Center. The public support is essential to success of Samaritan Center’s mission. Last year, over 20,000 pounds of food was collected for Samaritan Center.

All non-perishable food items are accepted. Of special need are canned fruit, macaroni and cheese, canned meats, meals in a can (such as ravioli or spaghetti-o’s), peanut butter, and canned fish. Please avoid donating items in glass jars.

Scouts will be collecting food Saturday morning through early afternoon. Items can also be brought directly to Samaritan Center.

You can contact Samaritan Center at 634-7776 MWF 8-4 and T TH 8-6.

About Samaritan Center

In operation since 1987, the Samaritan Center is a non-denominational interfaith support agency which serves the Mid-Missouri area. Over 1200 families are served per month. While the Samaritan Center is the fourth largest food pantry in the state in terms of persons served, it provides many services beyond food. Additional services provided include, but are not limited to: energy assistance, rent, clothing, prescription assistance, medical, dental, mental health, legal care, and tax assistance.

Fee Information

A reminder that all fees, including the lunch bill and classroom fees, must be paid in full by May 9th in order to receive report cards.

Upcoming Events

(Please send me any Upcoming Events you would like to have mentioned in future mailings.)

We will recognize Girl Scouting at the 5:30pm Saturday evening mass on March 8th. All St. Joseph Cathedral Girl Scouts are encouraged to attend the Girl Scout Mass and should wear their scout vest/sash.

Adult faith series on Sunday night (3/9) at 6:30 in the Catholic Center. Topic – the Eucharist.

7th grade will present "Journey of the Cross" on Friday, March 14.

Knights of Columbus fish fry – Undercroft (4:30 – 7:00).

3/15 Student Council dance – Undercroft (6:00 – 11:00).

March 6, 2006

Contents:

Welcome – Frogs and blogs

Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body IV

In the Classroom

Brag-box

Snow Days, Easter Break, and Field Day

In Your Prayers

Upcoming Events

Welcome

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

A discussion broke out among some of the staff at school as to whether or not frog legs are okay to eat on a Friday during Lent. A certain young priest and a principal he knows are planning an evening with some mutual friends, and one of them has a bag of frozen frog legs in his freezer. Deep-fried, with a bit of hot sauce, they would make for a good appetizer … if, that is, frog meat is considered okay under the Lenten rules of abstinence.

While you are thinking about that, I will remind you that, last week, I mentioned that I have some cool surprises in store over the next few newsletters. One of the things I always think about is how to build community among our parish family. So often, our relationships as parents and teachers and students does not allow for us to really get to know one another as well as we would like.

Therefore, as a companion to our school website and e-newsletter, I am happy to introduce the Cathedral Kids blog. Unlike these newsletters, which I usually compose in the evenings, after my kids have gone to bed, the blog will have almost nothing from me. Rather, it will have entries from students, parents, staff, and occasional surprise guests. In fact, if you visit now, you can read about two great kids we have at the Cathedral, an amazing message from God to one of our staff, and a list of the top five ways to know if you are a teacher. What I do not have just yet are blogs from your kids. Encourage them to learn about internet publishing. What can the blog entries be about? Favorite Catholic school memories, spiritual testimonials, personal stories, funny reflections … anything that lets us know about the awesome personalities we have within this school and parish. All you need to do is respond to one of these e-newsletters with your entry. Not all entries will be used immediately, but I will store them away to be used as I occasionally update the blog.

Two great features of the blog, by the way, is that you are allowed to leave comments from other entries. As the administrator, I have to approve all content, so nobody will be able to leave mean-spirited or inappropriate content. Feel free to let someone know how much his or her blog meant to you. Also, this blog allows me to reintroduce the polling feature that I had in earlier e-newsletters. There were some problems that came up with the previous polling site I used, but these seem to be eliminated with the blog polls.

In fact, there is a poll waiting for you right now. The subject? Frog legs. Meat or not? In the future, I will use the poll to ask you about actual school issues, but for the debut, I thought I would do something fun. So, when you finish with this e-newsletter, stop on by (click here)!

Pax Vobiscum,

Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

Cathedral Parents – Theology of the Body (Part IV)

Celibacy for the Kingdom

In the last e-newsletter, we explored the original state of man and woman before the fall from grace in the garden. In the second half of his Theology of the Body, Pope John Paul II begins by exploring the idea of celibacy.

This seems like an odd addition to his work, especially as he spent so much time previously in this work talking about how wonderful marriage is. In fact, he builds up the sacrament of marriage to the point that one wonders how he could possibly support the discipline of celibacy, which our priests and religious traditionally follow.

The simple explanation, as John Paul explains, is that celibates understand more about marriage than those of us who are married. We all feel a hunger and loneliness that drives us to seek the company of others. Sometimes we feed that hunger with junk food, which takes the form of impurity in relationships with others. However, many of us hopefully realize that the real food to which we can turn is the sacrament of marriage. As a sacrament, it gives us graces that allow us to grow close to God.

Still … even for the happiest marriages, that hunger still persists. It never completely goes away. Some people misread that lasting hunger as dissatisfaction in relationships. In truth, the hunger remains because, ultimately, it is a hunger for a relationship with Christ, whom Scripture describes as our bridegroom. Ultimately, we will live our entire lives hungry, until we finally get to fully partake in the wedding feast of the lamb in Heaven. After all, as Paul writes, we will not be married to one another in Heaven (Matt. 22:30).

Not all of us are able to wait for this moment, which is why Paul tells us that some of us are called to marriage. For those of us who are, the hunger would grow so great in this life that we might very well turn to immorality (1 Cor. 7:32).

Others, however, have been given enough strength through the grace of God to commit their lives to the marriage to our bridegroom, Christ. Rather than skip marriage, they have their eyes set on the ultimate marriage in Heaven and are already preparing themselves for it in this life. We chose our priest from among such men, those who have chosen celibacy for the kingdom. Paul tells us in verses 8-9 of 1 Cor. 7 that married people are concerned about worldly things, while the celibate are concerned with the things of the Lord.

In fact, Paul was celibate. As was Christ. In fact, the Church has a long tradition of upholding the discipline of celibacy among its priests and religious. And before we can truly understand marriage, which will be the topic of the next newsletter, we must truly understand how the sacrament of marriage is understood most beautifully through those who have committed their lives to the marriage of Christ and his Church.

And before we can hope our young men and women open themselves fully to a calling to the priesthood or religious life from God, we have to help them understand it in this way, too.

For more on the teaching of celibacy, click here.

In the Classroom

The afternoon kindergarten class has been studying Bible stories dealing with healing miracles. To help the students make personal connections with the story, they have been singing, dancing, and praising God for the gift of healing. They have also learned some basic first aid skills such as how to make a stretcher using a blanket and two sticks.

In the 6th grade English classes we are learning about descriptive writing and how it is so very important in everyday life. They are working in groups to create restaurant menus. Everyone seems really excited about the project!

Brag-box

All of our participating students earned blue ribbons at the Bellarmine speech meet on Saturday. The meet was held in Mary’s Home. The following students participated:

Serious:

Brian Oxenhandler

Humorous:

Rebecca Stokes

Duet:

Cydney Lucio

Allie Mitan

Duet:

Mallory Sone

Maria Donovan

Snow Days and Easter Break

After consultation with our advisory school board, Msgr. Kurwicki, and our superintendent, Don Novotney, we have been granted forgiveness on our fourth snow day. This means that we will have Good Friday and Easter Monday off for Easter. Also, Holy Thursday will be an early dismissal day (1:00), with no afterschool care available.

Also, please note that we have added a day of school to the end of the year, extending our year to Friday, May 23rd. As a result, our Field Day will be moved to Thursday, May 22nd, the second-to-last day of school.

In Your Prayers

· Luke and Zane Henderson's grandpa had a serious surgery Tuesday, March 4. He had an aortic aneurysm that was repaired. (Note from Mr. Allen: I apologize for the late notice on this request, but I was not able to get out my e-newsletter before the surgery given my involvement in the St. Francis Xavier accreditation process).

· Please offer additional prayers for the Jarrett family, as Mr. Jarrett lost his mother a couples weeks ago.

If you have prayer requests, please respond to this e-mail to have them placed in our weekly e-newsletter.

Upcoming Events

(Please send me any Upcoming Events you would like to have mentioned in future mailings.)

We will recognize Girl Scouting at the 5:30pm Saturday evening mass on March 8th. All St. Joseph Cathedral Girl Scouts are encouraged to attend the Girl Scout Mass and should wear their scout vest/sash.

Adult faith series on Sunday night (3/9) at 6:30 in the Catholic Center. Topic – the Eucharist.

7th grade will present "Journey of the Cross" on Friday, March 14.

Knights of Columbus fish fry – Undercroft (4:30 – 7:00).

3/15 Student Council dance – Undercroft (6:00 – 11:00).