Dec 19, 2012 – Hershey's Bliss
chocolates now made with Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa. ... Hershey's
Bliss chocolates and know that they are helping to protect the ... labor and
farming practices on farms supplying certified beans used ... school attendance,
and address global climate change and adapt to its impacts.
It was thenthe idea emerged forMemories in the Wind, 26 beautifully crafted memorial bells in a garden at Sandy Hook School, one for each child and adult who had lost their life in the recent tragic shooting. They went to work and found these artisan polished brass finished Memorial bells, which will be professionally engraved with each of their names and the dates of their lives. CANCELLED.
The gentle calling of Church bells remind us that we are not alone, that God is with us through both the good and the sorrowful times. In the movie, It's a Wonderful Life,we remember the words of the little child, Zuzu, when she heard the jingle of the little bell on the Christmas tree swaying:
"Look Daddy. My teacher says, "every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.""
This past week, 26 children and adults received their wings.
This year, my Hallmark Christmas Cards to family and friends carried this beautiful message:
"Maybe snowflakes are letters God uses to write upon the winter sky -
a graceful script of peace, hope and love."
Karen Hatcher, our Jefferson Awards Regional Director, shared a Snowflake project underway for the students at Sandy Hook School. The school is building a winter wonderland full of homemade snowflakes for the students to experience when they come back to school. They are asking all of our help to send our snowflakes to the Parent Teacher Association in Connecticut by January 12, 2013. "Let's make sure their winter wonderland is as special and beautiful as can be for the students at Sandy Hook School- please share this image and send in your snowflake to the Connecticut PTSA." Join us in helping us send these Snowflakes - "God's letters from the sky above full of peace, hope and love!"
We began our Christmas Celebration with gathering as one sacred community for Eucharist.
Our dear friend, Father Ken Lasch, returned to be our celebrant at the St. Walburba Monastery Chapel. However, the heavens were crying out all night as the winds and the rain came down preventing the students and staff from leaving the school premises.
Even the torrential downpour couldn't keep us away from Liturgical Celebration as we quickly converted our gymnasium into a place of worship.
"Blessed are you who believed what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
In this Year of Faith, we look to Mary as our model and inspiration for having a generous heart for the Lord.
After the celebration of the Word and Eucharist, we celebrated with classmates and alumnus the gift of our lives and the gift of Benedictine Academy.
"How blessed are we to receive an education of excellence in a school that embraces Jesus as their First teacher."
This Monday morning, we gather together as
a community with our heartfelt prayers for the victims, their families and
classmates of the horrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary school. There are simply no words as we feel the
intense grief of the people in the town of Newtown, Connecticut.
The Senior Class held the light of Christ and sounded the bell for the twenty-six
adults and children who lost their lives a few short days ago... followed by this song of prayer by Casting Crown:
Sister Donna Jo, our Director of Guidance shared the following words with our students:
"Before you return to class, I would
like to speak to you for a moment as a Franciscan Sister and counselor.I sat pondering many questions this past
weekend that surfaced after hearing of the horrific tragedy that struck the
halls of Sandy Hook elementary school. My feelings vacillated from numbness to outrage,
from anger to immense grief. I asked
myself how can I respond to all of this violence and bring healing and love
into the world.
And then I remembered what the Dalai
Lama once said:“Tragedy should be
utilized as a source of strength, no matter what sort of difficulties, how
painful the experience is… if we lose
our hope, that’s our real disaster.”
Today I am making a conscious
decision to personally respond with the action of loving kindness in all I say
and do. I am reminded that is why
Jesus came into the world and what Christmas is really all about.The gift we are to give is more than the
packages we wrap.
We are God’s gift to each other; and who we become is our gift to God.
Let us take the time to open our hearts today, and each day, to be the gift of
God’s love to one another … and let us commit ourselves to re-creating BA to
become a community full of kindness and healing, destroying the evil of old grudges,
gossiping and anger. We have the power, if we choose, to release God’s love everywhere
we walk and to everyone we meet. What
will you choose? Will you be God’s
instrument of light in the darkness of our world?
May The Lord bless you and
keep you.
May His face shine upon you ,
May He be gracious to you and
bring you His peace. Amen.
"Just before Christmas in 1980, Pope John Paul II was with over two thousand children in a Roman parish. And he began his catechesis with this dialogue:
How are you preparing for Christmas?
By praying, shout back the children.
Very good, by praying, the Pope says, but also by going to Confession...
Will you do that?
In an even louder voice, those thousands of children replied: We will!
And John Paul II tells them, Yes, you ought to go.
Lowering his voice, he whispers:
The Pope will also go to Confession so as to receive the child Jesus worthily."
In Conversation with God (Frederick Fernandez)
Last night, I went to my parish to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.... and today our entire school community is invited to receive this beautiful sacrament of forgiveness, mercy and healing.
Our Benedictine Brother from St. Benedict Prep, Father Edwin Leahy, invited everyone to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas and to open their hearts every day to the true gift, the gift of Jesus love.
A special thank you also to Father Tom, Father Fernando, and Father Jack, who joined us later in the week to continue the Sacrament of Reconciliation to our school community.
The Brazilian-Portuguese American Club decided to deliver some happiness by raising money from Crazy Hat Day for cancer research.
"What is Hats On Day?Hats On Day was founded in 1995 by four sixth-graders inSt. Louis, Missouri. They began the fundraiser when their friend and classmateKevin Beffa was diagnosed with a type of childhood cancer called Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. When Kevin got sick, he began to miss school and lost all of his hair from treatment. Hats On Day was planned to show support for Kevin and to raise money for his surgery. In his memory, Hats On Day continues to raise money for cancer research.
And while the students were donating money for this most worthwhile cause, the National Honor Society collected donations of new teen clothes as Christmas gifts for the children at the Elizabeth Coalition of the Homeless.
Off they went, gifts in hand from the BA community, along with hundreds of scarves wrapped with love by the Fuzzies for the Homeless Club and the Students In Action Leaders.
The National Honor Society Students also shared their time and talents wrapping and organizing Christmas gifts for the Coalition.
Karen Hatcher, our Regional Jefferson Awards Students In Action Director, came into town this Thursday to meet with our SIA Leadership Team. It was a great meeting as we planned together the upcoming Students In Action Leadership Conference at Kean University in February.
Ever wonder what is discussed at these weekly Students In Action Leadership Meetings? Here is a peak at our latest agenda:
1. It is the 350th anniversary of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. There is a contest open to NJ students to design a creative logo for the anniversary celebration. Grand Prize is a $500 PC Richard gift card. Other prizes include a 8GB Ipod Touch! Several of our students are eager to enter the contest with their hopefully winning design.
2. NJ Helping Hands has created a BLOG space on NJ. com for our SIA service activities. Our Techies are exploring the site to get ready to post volunteer projects, as our Delivering Happiness friends would say, "to inspire and inspired".
3. The planning of the Mid-Winter Conference included: Identifying a student(s) with a passion for a project to make a 5 minute presentation to the group; to compile a list of different service projects responding to the needs of the community; and help design the break-out sessions.
4. Discuss how to engage other schools to become Jefferson Students In Action High Schools through the use of phone conversations, meetings, and distribution of SIA packets of materials.
5. Share ideas for the promotion of the Jefferson Award Globe Changers Program, Youth Service Challenge, and Jefferson Awards N.J. Governor's Award. Internally, we shared Fuzzies for the Homeless and showed the fruits of the girls good efforts - bags and bags and bags and bags and bags and bags of Little Comfort Bags of Love containing warm scarves, note of encouragement, candy canes, and some with tissues, cough drops, and hand sanitizer as well.
6. Plan for a possible meeting next week with Seton Hall Prep to share our ideas to help them get organized to accomplish the 7 Goals to be a successful Jefferson Award Students In Action Leadership School.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego on Tepayac Hill near Mexico City in December 1531. After the miraculous cure of his uncle, the roses he miraculously received for the bishop fell to the ground and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously impressed on the inside of his tilma.
During her first apparition Our Lady said, "Since I am truly your merciful Mother, and that of all people, I will grant everyone who visits the sanctuary ...my compassionate attention, my help and my salvation. I will hear your cries of distress so as to cure all your sufferings and ills."
During this Year of Faith, a time of renewed evangelizing within our own hearts and the Church, Sr. Donna Jo and Mrs. Michalski joined the faith community of our good neighbors, St. Catherine of Siena, for celebration of the Eucharist on this special feast day. They unexpectedly, to the delightful surprise of the congregation, distributed beautiful roses to each member present and placed one sprig at the feet of the Blessed Mother.
Upon their return to Benedictine Academy, the Campus Ministry Student Leadership Team also presented Mrs. Campos a bouquet of roses and a heart pillow signed by the entire school community for our dear Mr. Campos. The message was simple: "Mr. Campos, we love you and we miss you. We are praying for you." Mr. Campos is the person responsible for keeping our school campus so beautifully maintained. He has been home ill, battling cancer.
This gesture of kindness carried a message of hope and love to both our communities. It concluded with an invitation by Father Aurelio for two of our Senior Campus Ministry Students to join their community as catechists. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Mark 16:1
"Mary, Queen of the Apostles, accept our readiness to spread the Good News of the Gospel and help restore the Kingdom of God."Amen.
On Dec. 6, the
Feast of St. Nicholas we celebrated the faithfulness and generosity of the real
Bishop Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas was a saint known as the Wonderworker for the
many miracles of love God granted through his intercession for the poor and
young children.
He became a model for the legend of Santa Claus and the joy of
gift-giving during Christmas. In honor of this Feast Day, the Make A Wish Club worked with the BCD's (Benedictone's Cor Defenders) to invite all the students to write letters to Santa. In exchange for their kindness, they received a candy cane and a gift of one homework pass from their teachers!
The letters will be dropped off at Macy's who will donate $1. to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each letter they receive. Make-A-Wish Foundation provides dreams come true for children with terminal illnesses.
Stop by Macy's in your shopping travels and write a letter to Santa to help the little children. Together, as Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness says, "we candeliver happiness, one nudge of kindness at a time".
The Freshmen Students went to work again to package an additional 200 handmade scarves with words of comfort and candy canes for the Elizabeth Coalition for the Homeless.
Tara's Fuzzies for the Homeless donated the scarves and the Students In Action Leadership Group provided the bags, message cards, ribbon, candy canes, tissues, cough drops, and hand sanitizers.
It was an amazing time as they laughed together, worked together and prayed together to bring the Lord's healing touch to people without homes.
While they were making Little Bags of Comfort, other students were getting ready to go to the shore with their families and friends for Project Wave to help clean and rebuild after the damage from Hurricane Sandy.
Being a Service Leadership School means listening with the ear of your heart to the local and global needs and responding with love. And when we deliver happiness... the Lord blesses us one hundred fold with happiness in return. Very awesome!
In this Year of Faith, we gather as one sacred community every First Friday to celebrate Eucharist at the Benedictine Sisters' St. Walburga Monastery Chapel. This was a special celebration because it was the day before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and our celebrant was Father Ken Lasch, a dear friend of the community.
According to the Gosepl of Matthew 9:27-31,
"When he entered the house, the blind man approached him and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe I can do this?""Yes, Lord", they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened."
Father Ken gave a beautiful reflection on the Word of God concluding with, "Seeing is believing, however believing is better than seeing."
Our Gospel Choir and Trio shared the gift of their music during our worship service.
Guess who came to Benedictine Academy... the Delivering Happiness Film Crew! WOW!!!!!!
What an amazing experience to share our Benedictine Academy story with these awesome people.
A little over a year ago, we read the Zappos book, Delivering Happiness, by CEO Tony Hsieh and Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness. And as they say, the rest is history.
We were inspired and began to inspire our students and staff to begin to live our Mission Statement and culture in a new way - the Delivering Happiness Way. Our belief statements, core values were rewritten so that they were simple, easy to remember and inviting to follow.
We were living for a higher purpose by serving others. The results were not surprising. Helping others, going beyond the expected, made others happy and it made us happy in return, one hundred fold. We were, as Jenn Lim said, "nudging our world to a better place" one kindness at a time and it turned into a movement. A movement that led us to winning the National Jefferson Award Gold Medal for best high school in the country for public volunteer service.
The Film Crew, Rachel. Meredith and Sherief, spent the day interviewing students and staff, filming their day in classes, at lunch and while preparing for the awards ceremony. At the school-wide Students In Action Award Ceremony, we recognized and gave a WOW experience to our Unsung Heroes, students and staff who went beyond the ordinary to show extreme kindness.
Mr. Jennings also issued a challenge,Tony Hsieh's Zappos Challenge, to the entire school community. Tony Hsieh isa Harvard graduate and the CEO of the billion dollar
Internet shoe company, Zappos. His challenge to
everyone is this:Make at least one small
improvement every week to make the place you live and work better.One small improvement does not seem like a
lot, but at the end of the year, exponentially, it can have a huge effect. If we all did this at Benedictine Academy, by
the end of the year we would have made over 10,000 acts of improvement! Now that is a WOW!
In June
2012, Benedictine Academy was awarded the National Jefferson Gold Medal for the
best high school in the entire nation for their public volunteer service
to others.
We are proud to be part of a
community, a family,
who are leaders of compassionate action.
Each
month, we have the privilege of celebrating students who have been inspired to perform outstanding public
service and have inspired others to follow their example. They are our “Unsung
Heroes “ – ordinary people doing extraordinary things.This month, we have several honorees who have
gone above and beyond in their contribution. As Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering
Happiness Co., would say, “they have
nudged our world into a better place”.
The Brazilian and
Portuguese-American Club held their annual school-wide Cancer Walk.Everyone’s hearts at BA were so generous in
giving and participating in this most worthy cause raising almost $2,000 in donations. Karen Thompson, Laura Gomez, and Marielis Vazquez were recognized, along with their Moderator Ms. Rodriguez.
We are proud to award Aaliyah Hill Grevious the Jefferson Award
Students In Action Certificate for delivering compassionate action during a Championship Meet on October 24. She dropped out of the race to give help to an
injured racer from Union High School. The student was bleeding from the mouth and muddy. Aliyah was called an outstanding Humanitarian.
These past few weeks have
been a difficult time for so many of our families, friends, neighbors and
residents in the State of New Jersey.People have lost their homes, power, and heat because of the devastating
winds of Hurricane Sandy.It has been
said that the best leaders are servant leaders.BA’s Teen Hunger Council and the Sophmore Student Council worked together to
make a Hunger Awareness Video and help raise money among the Sophomore Class
for Hurricane Victims. Kayla Roque, Marina Santiago and Karina Costa, along with their Moderators Ms. Banks-Suggs and Ms. Powell, were recognized for their great efforts.
These are not are only angels.There were over 55 student’s families and
staff members of our BA community that so magnanimously opened the doors of
their homes to neighbors, family and friends without heat, shared their food,
cooked for others, lent generators, shared their gas, and made donations of
their time and money during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.At Benedictine Academy, we are proud and
grateful to each of our students, their families, and people in the communities for delivering happiness to others during
this time of crisis. They each received a Gratitude
Bag prepared by the Students In Action Leadership Team.
In this Year of Faith, BA shows their faith in action!
