January

From everyone here at Holy Family to all of our school families and partners, we wish you a Happy New Year! We continue to celebrate the Advent season and the birth of Christ, with the Epiphany on January 6th. Advent is a time of awakening of our memory of God who became a child, the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The new year gives us the opportunity to reflect on the growth of our students thus far and set goals for the remainder of the school year. We are so happy to welcome back our students after the break and hear the school buzzing with little voices again.

January weather is very unpredictable, this year has proven that mother nature keeps surprising us. Please make sure your child(ren) is/are dressed for the weather. When the weather is nicer, classes will have the opportunity to do outside winter activities and we want to make sure they are dressed appropriately. It is a good idea for students to have extra socks or a change of clothes in their backpacks. Please check the January calendar for important dates. Just a friendly reminder that if your child is absent from school, please utilize Edsby to enter their absence and communicate with their teacher to find out what work your child will be missing.

We would like to thank all of our families for all the support during our service event in December of gathering of mitts and toques to share the warmth. Your generosity and support is always greatly appreciated.

December was full of excitement. Thanks to all who attended our wonderful family Christmas night. It was a great evening and great to see so many families! Thanks to our fabulous volunteers that prepared all the food for our Co-op lunch as well as the Co-op for donating the food. The students loved it and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of December as a school.

We have a few staffing changes to announce. Mrs. Tupil joined our EA team in December. Mrs. Lightfoot has begun her maternity leave, Mrs. Stynsky will be stepping into the grade 7 classroom for the remainder of the year. Ms. Kovalsky will be returning to the grade ⅔ classroom. We would like to welcome these wonderful staff members to Holy Family School!

We are excited for what 2025 brings for Holy Family School and students!

Yours in Christ,

Mrs. Combres & Mrs. Welford

Our grade 5-7 students have a ski date booked on Thursday, January 23rd. Forms went home December 19th and are due back at the school on January 9th. Ski fees must be paid to the school office no later than January 17th.

Congratulations to our girls and boys volleyball teams on a successful season. Both teams participated in our division tournament. Our girls team placed 3rd overall and our boys team placed 2nd overall. Great work! Thank you to our coaches for supporting our teams!

Our students and coaches are looking forward to our upcoming basketball season. The schedule for the season is below. Please reach out to Mr. Ross if you have any questions.

Please ensure that your child has outdoor clothing appropriate for the weather.

Our 3rd Annual Disney Musical will begin its production on Monday January 6th with performances at the end of February. This is an exciting extra curricular club that involves our grade 5-7 students. Students can get involved with acting, dancing, singing, and set design. Save the date for our version of Disney’s Frozen the musical on February 25th and 26th.

Thank you to those families who supported the Growing Smiles Plant Fundraiser. The winner of the 50/50 Family Night Draw was Lyndsey McCabe. The winner of the drone was Zlata Kavun, the winner of the gingerbread mansion was Arden in gr. 2, the gift basket was won by Steven in Kdg. Thank you to all families who attended the family Christmas event. We wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who purchased hot chocolate at our student led conferences. All proceeds went to the JPII Girls Basketball team as they are raising funds for their Crusade for Cancer. Holy Family School raised $190 for this cause. Way to go Holy Family!

January Saint of the Month

St. Andre Bessette.

Feast Day – January 6th

Bessette spent his childhood southeast of Montréal and was orphaned at the age of 12. He worked in the textile mills of New England, before taking his vows as a lay brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, in 1870. He adopted the religious name Brother André.

With little education, he never rose through the ranks of his order, working instead as the porter at Notre Dame College in Montréal. He found his calling in giving comfort to people who came to him with illnesses or other afflictions, in search of solace and healing.

Tens of thousands claimed to have been healed by André — though he insisted the apparently miraculous healings were not his work but that of his patron, St Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary.

Despite his reputation as a faith healer, Brother André's primary concern was to promote the worship of the suffering Christ through the patronage of St Joseph. Afflicted himself by poor health throughout his life, André encouraged his closest followers to accept their suffering rather than to seek healing, since suffering brings one closer to Jesus on the cross.

On 17 October 2010, André was canonized, making Saint André the first male Catholic saint

Children's Mass 5:00 pm

Christmas Eve later Mass 8:00 pm

Christmas Morning Mass 10:00am.

New Years Eve Mass 7:00 pm.

New Years Day Mass 10:00am.

As the days get shorter, there seems to be more darkness than light, and we realize that Christmas is coming soon! For many, Christmas is one of the most joyful seasons of the year. By the end of November, some have already started their “annual” shopping and preparations for Christmas. Sometimes, as we are so caught up with the busyness of the season, we lose track of the core reason for the great celebration of Christmas: God, Emmanuel, coming to be with us!

Christmas does not come to us unless we have gone through Advent. The word “advent” shares its root from the Latin word “adventus,” which means “an approach or an arrival.” As a people of hospitality, we always spend extra effort to prepare our home whenever guests visit us. The point is to show guests our utmost and solemn welcome, such that having their presence is a joyful event for us. That is, the external expression of preparations has brought out the internal joy that we want to show our guests.

In Advent, the Church invites us to prepare our “home,” both external and internal, for the coming of not just a friend but the Saviour. How much more are we called to prepare for the coming of Christ? Preparing for Christ’s coming here is not limited only to the beautiful decorations that we put up for our homes. Rather, it is more about preparing the mansion of the soul for God’s coming. How much darkness is there that we need the Lord to shed His light on so that we will become free from anxiety and worries about the current ways of life?

Daylight might seem shorter, and the sun is almost “nowhere to find!” Nevertheless, the true Light of Christ is coming to us to illumine the human hearts and thus to shine upon the souls of all His Faithful the Light of God’s infinite love for all who yearn to see His face (Psalm 42:2-4).

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we all have experienced darkness such that we all need God to come to shed His Light on us to set us free. The question is narrowed down to, “Am I ready?” If the answer is “yes,” then what’s the better time and season than this Advent season? As you have started your preparations for Christmas, please join me in not ignoring the significance of the season so that by December 25th, we can all shout aloud to God that yes, Lord, we’re ready! Come!

I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Your Priest and Brother in Christ,

Fr. Tai Le