Epiphany

January 8, 2015

ShrineInteriorChristmasWelcome back, and Happy New Year!

As we enter a new calendar year, we also CONTINUE to celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus the Christ! As a point of information, in the official Catholic calendar, the Christmas SEASON begins with the celebration of the birth of Jesus and lasts until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. The FEAST of Christmas lasts 12 days – from Christmas day itself until the Feast of the Epiphany. Traditionally, the Epiphany had been fixed to January 6, and the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the octave (eighth day) of the Epiphany.

If you visit the Shrine, we, true to the liturgical season of Christmas, still have our Christmas decorations up and still have our Nativity scene displayed as we continue to celebrate the JOY of the Incarnation AND as we (this week especially) celebrate the AWAKENING of the Epiphany!

EphiphanyHow does one understand the Epiphany? As with every one of our beautiful feasts, there are layers upon layers of understandings. Among them, the one I offer for reflection is the Epiphany as celebration of the manifestation of Christ. Another way of putting this is to say that it is a celebration of the discovery/awakening of the fact that this baby is a manifestation of God.

That this human child is REVELATORY of the Creator of the universe,
that this little baby is a manifestation of the one we call God,
is a powerful statement!

I love the phraseology here because the mission of any Religious of the Sacred Heart is to:

Discover and Reveal the Love of the Heart of Christ.

So my task is the task of the Magi: To humbly come before the Christ child and to humbly be open enough to lay down my gifts at the service of the Christ child and to humbly discover my God through and in that Christ child is the first half of what I commit myself to do in life.

The other half is to try to, through my own life and loves and actions, reveal the Heart of Christ to others!

This is also the task of any and every educator of the Sacred Heart. It is also meant to be the life goal of any and every child of the Sacred Heart.

During this week of the Feast of the Epiphany, I pray for each of us, that we:

  • continue to grow in our ability to do the necessary work to seek/discover the Christ Child (as did the Magi), and
  • allow ourselves to be humble enough to worship/be open to the Christ Child before us (as were the Magi).

If we do these things, the second half of the formula flows naturally and we WILL reveal the Heart of Christ to those around us.

May it be so!

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Electronics Recycling Event at ASH

January 6, 2015

The ASH Sustainability Club, SOTEC (Stewards of the Earth) is partnering with Spectrum ECycle to keep unwanted electronics out of our landfills (and basements!). So gather up those old computers and anything attached to them, telephone equipment, media storage, etc., and bring them to the school parking lot on Saturday morning, January 24.

[Electronics Recycling Event Flyer]

For a compete list of recyclable electronics, see http://spectrumecycle.com/what-we-take-3/.  There is no charge for recycling anything listed except “tube” TVs.  (The first TV per car is free, but $15 will be charged for each additional TV.) Please do not bring batteries, light bulbs, or smoke detectors. If you have questions, please contact Pam Walsh.

Mothers’ Club Presentation at Basket Mass

January 5, 2015

At the conclusion of the Christmas Basket Mass, Mothers’ Club officers (from left) Megan Lee (vice president), Aimee Centorbi (secretary), Erin Grieshaber (treasurer) and Melanie McClure (president) presented Sister Glavin with a check to the school for $15,000. This remarkable contribution represents their indefatigable efforts over the past few months, in large part organizing and overseeing two Gently Used Uniform Sales and the Taste of Christmas Boutique event. The Mothers’ Club donation has been earmarked for The Sister Anna Mae Marheineke Student Enrichment Fund, which helps families who find themselves in need of assistance during the course of the school year. Thanks, Mothers’ Club officers and volunteers, for this amazing contribution!

Gratitude to Pundmann Ford

January 5, 2015

Our thanks to Pundmann Ford for their very generous gift to the Academy of the Sacred Heart. We partnered with them in a marketing initiative at Country Fair that netted $6,000 for our school. Support for the Academy from the corporate and business community is an integral part of our operating budget, and very much appreciated!

Christmas Eve Liturgy

December 20, 2014

Join the Academy community in celebrating the birth of the Christ Child!  All are invited to attend our Christmas Eve Liturgy in the Shrine, beginning at 10 p.m.

Christmas Baskets

December 19, 2014

Hundreds of food baskets await delivery to charitable agencies after this  morning’s Christmas Basket Mass. We’re grateful to the many Academy families, as well as alumni, who donated baskets of food that will provide a holiday meal for area families in need. Merry Christmas!

The Habit of Generosity

December 18, 2014

20141212_073358It is often easier for me to tell success stories of our alums who do well in the development of their mind: Successes in high school, college and career are bountiful and perhaps a bit more measurable. But, a Sacred Heart education is an education of both mind AND heart.

So, today I would like to tell a simple story of heart success. As you may know, Academy alumni have begun joining you, our generous and good parents, in collecting and donating baskets for distribution after our Christmas Basket mass. They began doing so last year. The work, energy and excitement about this among our alum leaders is a heart-success story, in and of itself! But, I want to tell a more singular story.

IMG_1169This week, a young alum who is doing a practicum in a medical career united her work colleagues to join in creating a basket of food for our mass. Not only did they collect food, but they collected some money which is allowing the alum basket coordinators to fill out a few other baskets. The FACT that she did this (while still in college) is indeed indicative of a beautiful heart. But the fact that she did this and dropped the basket off at the Academy with such JOY and LOVE moved me to gratitude, awe and tears!

Children of the Sacred Heart really DO become, each in their own way:

Courageous and confident leaders who know and love God, and who reveal that love by serving others!

Developing the habit of generosity is something our students become practiced in. Not only do they learn it from you, their parents, by watching YOU be generous, they have opportunities to engage in generous activities themselves. Advent opportunities included:

  • The toy drive
  • The Middle School Adopt-a-Family
  • The Christmas baskets
  • The visits to nursing homes

By engaging in acts of selfless service, each of us becomes ever more heart-ready for God to be born anew in the world through us.

Thank you for manifesting God’s Goodness and Love through your acts of generosity. And, thank you for partnering with us and allowing your children to manifest God’s Love by engaging in acts of generosity. May God’s Love continue to be made more manifest in this world which so desperately needs it!

With deep and loving gratitude and wishes for a beautiful, joy-filled, love-filled Christmas,

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Silver Tea Memories

December 17, 2014

Academy students gave a beautiful gift to their parents and grandparents with their Silver Tea performances last weekend and Monday.  We’re left with heartwarming memories, and gratitude to all of the adults who helped the children prepare and present. Merry Christmas!

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2014 Ornament

December 17, 2014

Ornament2014Looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer? The 2014 Academy ornament could be just the thing. It features the riverboat Franklin, with the following inscription: “This year we celebrate the 250th birthday of our neighbor city. St. Louis was more than 50 years old when five Religious of the Sacred Heart arrived there in 1818 on the Franklin. They brought Catholic education to an area where it would flourish for the next 196 years.” To purchase the 2014 ornament ($12 each), stop by the Advancement Office or call 636-946-5632.

Advent Poems

December 16, 2014

Advent poems written by Sister Kimberly King—former Fifth Class teacher, librarian and resident poet at ASH—invite reflection as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

Sister King now resides in a Sacred Heart community in Nova Scotia. We’re grateful for the sharing of her singular voice on Consider the Lilies.

Advent I, 2014

With bare spread arms and fullness of being

I ache for your coming and praise you already

in the becoming colors where night awakens the sun

with stories and visions and hope.

Where day bows to starlight and promises tales

when next they meet to dance

on the edge of Mystery’s vastness.

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

Advent II, 2014

Where the voice cries, plaintive or piercing,

at the bend of becoming and no return, I am

watchful for the low words

that draw me down center,

that humble me, impassion me,

steady me, move me,

move my light, move my being,

into the here and the now of

the still and the fray of the world,

to proclaim the time

of Love’s incarnation.

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

(words in italics are from Janet Erskine Stuart,

Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, 1911-1914)

Advent III, 2014

My counter-weight,

my center down,

my metronome, my joy,

my song, my strength,

my fascination,

my hope, my help,

my rumination,

my wonder, awe, best inclination,

grace, cry, laugh, word,

moving me out to the neighborhood;

Born a baby, born of yes,

born to journey, born to bless.

Joy to the world, parumpapumpum,

Hark, herald, welcome,

COME!

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

image: c. Natesh Ramasamy