Dear St. Bernard Parents,
Happy Wednesday! Our celebrant at Mass today was Father Bryan Reif. His homily focused on the importance of relationships, and in particular the importance of having a relationship with God. As some of the students noted (and Father confirmed), we develop a relationship through communication (talking and listening). And this talking and listening that we participate in with God we call prayer. Father ended his homily by saying that, “may not a single day go by that we do not pray to God.”
While at school our students learn to pray by speaking our hearts to God, by learning traditional prayers for recitation and meditation (the Lord’s Prayer, the Memorare, the Rosary, etc.), by participating in the celebration of the Mass, and by reading the Bible. Additionally, we have our daily and weekly prayer routine both as a school and as individual classes. Oftentimes students will comment that it is time in prayer or at Mass that is their favorite thing about school - how wonderful is that! Do you also have prayer traditions and routines at home? If not, or if you’ve been meaning to start something more meaningful or intentional, why don’t you start now? There is something beautiful and truthful in that old adage: “the family that prays together, stays together.”
One of the ways that we grow in our relationship with God (as mentioned above) is through reading the Bible (God’s living Word) that has been given to us. This year St. Bernard students and teachers are embarking on a new journey through Scripture. While our K-8 Religion Curriculum and Standards incorporate scripture throughout, all students do not get that comprehensive view of the Bible and Salvation History. This year we are starting a 3-year program of journeying through Scripture as a whole-school community. This will supplement our regular Religion curriculum and serve as a common thread and theme for our students across grade levels. At our beginning of the week Assembly last week we introduced the student body to this plan and the God’s Plan in Scripture (GPS) Storybook that we will be utilizing. Following the introduction of each new chapter, students will go deeper with their homeroom teachers: reading the Storybook, reading Scripture, discussing the stories, and doing a variety of activities. As this plan is supplementing the other great material and resources that we use, we are taking this slow and reflecting on a new part of the story each month. This month I encourage you to engage your kids with some of the following questions (that they’ve heard and will be able to answer in the weeks to come): What IS the Bible? Why do we study the Bible? Who helps us understand the Bible? What is Salvation History?
Finally, I have attached the foreword letter to the GPS Storybook. This letter is written by Jeff Cavins and offers some additional food for thought. Please take a moment to read it and reflect upon it. Maybe now is the time for you too to commit to a more regular reading of Scripture (or maybe try The Bible in a Year Podcast - that’s a great resource too!).
Have a great rest of the week! God bless!
Sincerely,
Mr. Ertel
P.S. Please Please Please take a moment to read through the Turtle Fest email from earlier today and sign up as a volunteer and for food orders! The core team for this event have been working so hard and this has the potential to be an amazing community event, but we haven’t yet had the hoped-for response from the School Community. Thank you!
