The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program of the U.S. Department of Education honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels. This years only three private high schools achieved Blue Ribbon status; two of them or Catholic high schools: St. Viator of Arlington Heights, Illinois and Aquinas High School of La Crosse, Wisconsin.This Blue Ribbon award recognized Saint Viator High School’s on-going commitment to the academic, spiritual and emotional growth of its students by providing the curriculum, technology, facilities and programs the students need to succeed in an ever-changing world. Also recognized was the Campus Ministry program that invites students to participate in Christian service based out-reach programs allowing them to become leading contributors to the communities in which they serve. The St. Viator High School class of 2007 scored a composite 24.7 ACT which ranked in the top ten percent of the nation. Aquinas High School was honored for its academic excellence and ACT scores in the top 10 percent of the nation. "I have never been more proud of a group of students and staff than I am today," Aquinas Principal Ted Knutson said. "(Aquinas Dean of Students) Steve Murray and his team of department heads and support staff have worked for two solid years to get this award. This is a great honor that the U.S. Department of Education has given us, and I'm very proud of our students and staff."In addition to being honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC, where each school receives a plaque and flag signifying their status, these schools serve as models for other schools in their regions—public and private—and throughout the nation.
Grassroots Films, an independent company, from Brooklyn, New York has released a powerful, thought-provoking film reminding and encouraging Catholics of the power to inform their conscience and to vote their conscience.
Share the video with your students and solicit their comments:
In light of the recent announcement that the United States Catholic Bishops will take up the issue of politics and abortion at the meeting of the full body of bishops in November, take some time to visit the Faithful Citizenship site sponsored by the USCCB. There are several resources to help you facilitate the political discussion and to encourage responsible participation in the voting process.
One interesting starting point for you students is to take an online quiz to help them answer the question "Are you a faithful citizen?"
Your students are at an age when their planning for college, choosing a college major, and considering possible careers is also influenced by callings to specify a Christian vocation. Narrowing this task to the point of eventually making a decision involves their asking themselves several questions, listed below with accompanying statistics (all included in Marriage and Holy Orders: Your Call to Love and Serve.
Will you be married?
• Marriage is the most “popular” vocation in numbers. Nearly 55 percent of adults over the age of fifteen years old are married.
Will you be a lifelong single person?
• The percentage of never married persons aged 25 to 35 has increased by 20 percent in the past 30 years, suggesting more lifelong singlehood.
Will you choose a religious vocation as a sister or brother?
• Religious vocations have risen in some developing countries recently. However, in the 40 years from 1965–2005, the number of religious sisters decreased in the United States from 179,954 to 68,634, the number of religious brothers from 12,271 to 5,451. Opportunities for a life of radical service, discipleship, and excitement remain available for those men and women willing to take the plunge into religious life.
If you are a male, will you pursue a calling to the ordained priesthood?
• The total number of priests in the United States has also decreased since 1965. By 1998, 24 percent of diocesan priests were over 70 years od, the retirement age for priests. There is certainly a need for men to consider prayerfully a vocation to the priesthood.
Devoting a life to any of these Christian vocations requires many choices—both prior to the initial commitment and through the challenges of living out the vocation. Think about some of the questions that are likely to arise for the various vocations:
• Whom will I marry?
• What type of parent will I be?
• Who will take care of my parents when they are older?
• How will I get along with others in a religious community?
• Will I be able to keep a vow of celibacy?
• Will I be accepted into a seminary to study for priesthood?
Though the median age is getting older for commitment to each of these vocations (e.g., 27 for males and 25 for females getting married for the first time), the likelihood is that in the next ten years you will have made a commitment to pursue one of the particular Christian vocations described above. There is also a chance you could already be married, a parent, a professed religious, or a priest before the age of 30.
Charting any of these life courses can bring feelings of anxiousness, anticipation, excitement, and more. But any undue concern about your future should be eliminated when you come to an understanding that God is in control of your life and that God only wants the best for you.
As the Catechism teaches, “Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator” (CCC, 302). Instead, the universe, including each person, is created by God “in a state of journeying” toward an ultimate perfection that hasn’t yet been reached. The ways that God guides his creation towards perfection is known as divine providence.
It is comforting to know that God loves and cares for us so much that he has a special plan for our lives and guides us to it. As the book of Proverbs teaches:
Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the decision of the Lord that endures (Prv 19:21).
Assignment
Read the call of Moses (Ex 3:1-4:17) and the call of Mary (Lk 1:26-38) and identify four characteristics common to any vocation in these biblical examples:
called for a special purpose
the presence of a special gift
the name of the caller
the life of sacrifice, faith, and often darkness that follows
Share with your students a lesson on consumerism from Activities for Catholic Social Teaching by James McGinnis. Focus on the title above—"Live more simply, so others can simply live"—and discuss with the students the relationship between some people living in wealth and most of the people in the world living in poverty. In what ways could one be the cause of the other? How could our living more simply enable the poor to simply live?Ask the students to read over the list of practical suggestions below and name those they are already doing right now. Ask them to write a plan for the future based these ideas.Personal Decisions for Countering ConsumerismSome practical ways to counter consumerismUse public facilities. Use the public library for books and videos and public parks for outdoor fun.Critique advertising. As a way of resisting the appeal of advertising, talk back to TV commercials, magazine ads, highway billboards. Share some of this with your friends or family. Enjoy the outdoors. The beauty of creation can delight far more than computer games and video arcades and lots of other consumer “stuff.” Walk or bike in nearby parks. Try hiking and canoeing, and camp out, even in your own backyard sometimes. Enjoy your local botanical gardens and arboretums and visit state and national parks whenever you get the opportunity.Think before you buy. Are you an impulsive buyer or are you affected by the push to instant gratification? Is there a way you could slow down your shopping habits to allow for some time to reflect about whether you need an item before you purchase it?Personalize your gifts. Personal “presence” can be more satisfying than purchased presents when we celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions. Surprise parties, albums with special photos and personal statements, homemade gifts, going to special places with the person being celebrated, etc., are all wonderful alternatives to consumer-oriented rituals.Shop small. Shop at local stores and thrift stores, buy from local producers (e.g., open air or farmers markets), eat at neighborhood restaurants.Consider the mall. Malls are everywhere, replacing many local stores and family-owned restaurants. How often and for what reasons do you go to shopping malls?What functions has the shopping mall taken on in our nation? In your own life?True or false: shopping malls have become the religious temples of America. Explain.Institute an “Exchange System.” To reduce the amount of “stuff” you accumulate, for each new item you buy, give away a similar item to someone in need. This works especially well with articles of clothes but can also apply to books, games, CDs, etc. What else could you do?Three suggestions as you make your decisions and start putting them into practice:1. You don’t have to do everything right away, but you should do something. As you get used to simplifying in one area, you can consider other changes. (It’s a journey.)2. Look for others who can support you—family members, friends, other peers or adults in school, in your neighborhood, or faith community, or wider community. Change is easier, and more enjoyable, when done with others. 3. Make changes that bring you joy. They won’t always be easy, but they should give you a deep sense of satisfaction.
In the spirit of the Year of St. Paul, here is another lesson to help students read and summarize the three main missionary journey's of Paul.The first missionary journey occurred in 45-49. Paul traveled to Perga, Antioch, and the cities of Lycaonia. The journey established his practice of first proclaiming the Gospel to fellow Jews in the synagogues. When the Jews did not listen, he turned to the Gentiles with the universal message of Christianity.The second missionary journey followed just after the Council of Jerusalem. It took place from 49-52. Paul went to Asia Minor where he dreamt about a man from Macedonia who begged him to come to his land to preach the Gospel. Paul heeded the dream and the Good News was shared in Europe.The third missionary journey in 53-58 included the nearly three years Paul spent in Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia Minor. After Ephesus, Paul again went through Macedonia and Greece before returning to Jerusalem.Of course there is much more information about each of these journeys for students to glean from reading the Acts of the Apostles. Use the following guideline from This Is Our Church to help the students record more details about each of these journeys.
Paul’s JourneysFirst JourneyRead: Acts 13:1–6, 13–15, 42–52; all of chapter 14Second Journey: Part 1Read: Acts 15:36–41; all of chapter 16Second Journey: Part 2Acts 17:1–22, 32–34; 18:1–22Third JourneyActs: 18:23; 19:1, 21–41; 20:1–8, 36–38; 21:1–8Summarize each of the journeys of St. Paul by answering the following questions:• What happened to Paul on this journey?• What places (cities, countries) did he visit?• Did anyone accompany him on the journey? If so, who? What troubles did he face?• How did he deal with problems he encountered?• What did he preach about?• Given your reading, how would you characterize Paul?• Why do you think Paul was willing to take on the troubles and hardships of preaching the Gospel?
Dream Big DreamsThe start of school is the time of big dreams for you and your students. Encourage their dreams. Lou Holtz, former football coach at the University of Notre Dame, writes about how students can make their big dreams come true through a series of smaller daily choices. He names this his WIN formula—“what’s important now.” The message is a practical one for students with all types of interest. Coach Holtz writes:You want to graduate tops in your class, or be an All-American? Then ask yourself twenty-five times a day, “What’s important now?”You wake up in the morning—“What’s important now?” Get out of bed.You’re out of bed—“What’s important now?” Eat breakfast. You need your strength.“What’s important now?” Go to class.“What’s important now?” Sit in the front row. Be prepared.It’s time to practice. “What’s important now? Use the weight room. It’s there to help you get stronger. You don’t use it because someone’s looking, but because you know you’ve got to get stronger.When you’re out Saturday night and there’s opportunities for alcohol, or sex, or drugs? What’s important now? If your dream is to be outstanding in whatever field you’ve chosen, then “what’s important now” is to avoid these situations.—from A Teen’s Game Plan for Life by Lou Holtz Student Writing ContestHave your students write a 300-word essay that answers the following questions:What dreams do your students have?What practical steps are they taking to achieve their dreams?How can they apply the WIN formula to their own goals? We will choose three winning essays and award the following prizes:• 3rd Place: 1 copy of A Teen’s Game Plan for Life by Lou Holtz• 2nd Place: 1 copy of A Teen’s Game Plan for Life and a 2008 Notre Dame “The Shirt”• 1st Place: 30 copies of A Teen’s Game Plan for Life for the entire class and a 2008 Notre Dame “The Shirt”Attach essays and send by e-mail to:Michael AmodeiDeadline is Monday, October 6, 2008Prizes will be announced at the Ave Maria Press Teacher Enrichment Day on Saturday, October 11.
On August 27 and August 28, the feast days of two Catholic saints—mother and son—are celebrated back to back. It figures.St. Monica could be called the "persistent mother." A North African woman living in the fourth century, Monica was married to Patricus, a pagan, through the arrangement of her family. Monica endured plenty of emotional abuse from her husband, but her greater challenge was her oldest son, Augustine.When he was a child, Monica taught her son the Catholic catechism and how to pray. When Augustine grew seriously ill, he requested Baptism, but when he began to recover, Baptism was forgotten.Later, as a student in Carthage, Augustine came to follow a heretical teaching, Manachaeism, that claimed that the body was evil while the soul alone was good. He also liked to party, and he lived with his girlfriend and their son. Monica was so disgusted with Augustine that she would not let him eat or sleep in her home.Mother and son rarely spoke to each other. Still Monica continued to pray for Augustine after a bishop told her that it was better to talk to God about Augustine than to Augustine about God. The bishop also told her: "At present the heart of the young man is too stubborn, but God's time will come. It is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish."Augustine's time came some years later. In Milan, Augustine was inspored by the preaching of the Catholic bishop there, St. Ambrose. Soon after, Augustine became torn between living chastely and his past sinfulness. Augustine went out to an outer garden at the place where he was staying. He threw himself on the ground under a tree and cried out, "How long, O Lord?" Will you always be angry with me? Remember not my past sins."Just then Augustine could hear the singing of a neighbor child on the other side of the wall. The child kept repeating the same verse over and over, "Tolle lege! Tolle lege!" which means "Take up and read!" He got up, went inside, and found the Bible opened to Romans 13 where he read: "Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh' (Rm 13:12-14).Augustine was baptized by Ambrose on Easter Sunday in 387. Soon after, his mother died. She said shortly before her death, "I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here. All I wished to live for was that I might see you a Catholic and a child of heaven."Augustine lived chastely from that time on. He was ordained and named bishop of Hippo. St. Augustine is one of the great scholars of the Church. He is a Doctor of the Church.His mother has not been forgotten either. St. Monica is the patron saint of mothers and fathers and of all lost and wayward children. And the church recently moved St. Monica's feast day to August 27 so that it would be near her son's the following day.ActivitiesGive each person a Bible. Ask them to randomly open to any page, as Augustine once did. Encourage a period of quiet meditation. Then go around the group asking each person to tell which words, verses, or longer passages spoke to them on the pages they opened to.Ask the students to write a story about a person they know who, as St. Augustine once did, needs conversion to a Christian lifestyle. Tell the students to used fictitious names in their writing. When they are finished, collect all of the stories. Get permission to read some of the stories aloud.Journal QuestionIf you asked your parents to tell the one dream they have for you, what do you think they would say?
