Advent Reflections from Sister King

December 16, 2013

We’re pleased to claim Kimberly King, rscj, Fifth Class literature teacher and Academy librarian, as our resident poet. We share here Advent reflections from her blog: Consider the Lilies.

Advent I, 2013

Wrap me in the now of Love
for it is a touching time
when nearness is felt
absolutely, entirely—

and my yes echoes
from star to star:

I will touch, I will open,
I will receive, I will share.

Your life fills the heavens,
spins the planets,
and sings my dreams home
to sunrise and more!

Augh, live in me, find hearth in me,
though I am hopeless to contain you!

You, the largeness of my love,
and depth of my breathing.

 

 Photo Nov 30, 2013, 8_32 PM

Advent II, 2013

It is within me to seek you,
alive and encompassing.

It is in my soul to ache with beauty,
to sigh while believing
that nothing can come
between the flame and the wick.

It is within me to be radiant
with you.

It is in my soul to yes
to you, to love.

 

 Photo Dec 6, 2013, 7_43 PM

Advent III, 2013

Birth and life…
neither is a muted affair.

The effort to quiet
or contain them
would snatch at starlight
and whisper away the edge
of awe’s flame,
leaving mystery to sputter.

 

 Photo Dec 14, 2013, 9_12 PM 
Advent IV, 2013

Your nearness crackles,
Love, and I sing for want
of a way to contain
certain joy
swishing her cape
at the awe of it all.

 Photo Dec 21, 2013, 9_19 PM 

 

 

 

 

Academy Band Concert

December 14, 2013

Sunday’s Band Concert will take place at 4:30 pm in Rauch Memorial. Band members are asked to arrive between 3:45 and 4:00 pm

Lower School Silver Tea Rescheduled

December 14, 2013

Because of the large amount of snow affecting some areas, today’s Lower School Silver Tea has been postponed until tomorrow (Sunday) at the same time, 2:00 pm.

Silver Teas

December 13, 2013

NEW: LOWER SCHOOL SILVER TEA HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, SAME TIME… 

We were delighted to welcome many of our students’ grandparents to the Silver Tea dress rehearsals—the Middle School’s Thursday afternoon and the Lower School’s this morning. There were lots of toes tapping and heads nodding in time to the music! The children are ready and excited to repeat their performances for their parents.

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ASH Dad Hears Daughter for First Time

December 13, 2013

Academy dad Ken Stehle heard his daughter, Ashley—Academy Class of 2013, ninth grade student at Villa Duchesne, and sister of Josh (Fifth Class)—not only speak but sing for the very first time at a recent Villa Show Choir luncheon, courtesy of a groundbreaking implant device. Check out this heartwarming holiday story as told by KSDK’s Anne Allred:

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/2013/12/12/ken-ashley-stehle-daughter-sing-first-time/4006077/

Activity Permeated with Presence

December 12, 2013

Just as I imagine that your December days are filled with tasks and activities, you can imagine that these days at the Academy have also been full!

20131205_121725Middle school students have donated money to allow students, faculty and parents volunteers to shop for Adopt-A-Family Christmas gifts. Other generous volunteers have stayed after school or come in early to wrap all of those beautiful and thoughtful gifts. All the students in the whole school are singing their hearts out to prepare for their Christmas gift of song for their parents. Students are arriving early to practice lines or study for exams. Teachers are regularly arriving early or staying late to help students study. And, the whole school community is busy preparing for the teas and the props and the sound and the lights and the costumes and the general set up as we continue to prepare for you, our guests, this weekend!  And, while all of this is happening, I know that Christmas baskets are slowly filling up in preparation for next week’s Basket Mass.

The beautiful thing about all of this activity is that it is joyful, generous and God-filled. In the Society of the Sacred Heart, we have a phrase to describe this kind of activity: Activity Permeated with Presence! And, by Presence (with a capital P), I mean activity permeated with God.

What is flowing out of everyone’s hearts are behaviors which REFLECT God’s Goodness! This IS Christ-Among-Us. This IS the Body of Christ in action. This IS a current example of what St. Paul was trying to say about himself: it is not I but Christ within me. And I have to say, I see Christ in the actions and activities of all of our students, faculty and parents in a particularly poignant way these days.

That is how it works! When we open our hearts to God, God’s Very Life and Love flow out of us in our actions and activity! This is a continuation of the incarnation. God becomes flesh as Christ continues to lives in us and through us. Truly, I feel as if we ARE living the name of our school and BEING God’s Heart in our world.

With deep gratitude to each of you for all of your Activity Permeated with Presence! Thank you for being the Face of God to me!

Blessings and Love,

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Preparing Our Hearts

December 5, 2013

Advent1With the launch of the Advent Season this past Sunday, our hearts are waiting with longing and hope-filled expectation for the coming of Christ. This season is the Church’s way of setting aside time for us to prepare our hearts for the eventuality of that arrival.

How do we prepare our hearts?

One way we can do so is to take extra prayer time. You must think I am crazy! How, Sister Glavin, do we take extra time at this busiest time of year? I would suggest a few minutes with your first cup of coffee, taking some quiet time, sitting in front of your Christmas tree while just allowing yourself to be aware of God’s Presence in your life. Or, perhaps you might consider taking the time when you are driving alone in the car, turning off the radio and awakening to God’s Presence in All that surrounds you. However you do so, taking just a few minutes a day for quiet God-moments is a wonderful opening to Christ’s birth within.

Another way we can prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ is by engaging in acts of kindness. I certainly see this happening around here. I see students preparing their Silver Tea gift of song out of love for their parents. I hear about students who are writing thoughtful notes to their teachers. I am highly aware that families, alums and friends are generously preparing Christmas baskets of food for those in need, and we know that the Middle School students are eagerly preparing gifts for families who are less fortunate.
 
As we continue to prepare our hearts in these ways, Christ comes to birth in our hearts and the Body of Christ becomes ever more evident in our world.

Thank you for joining in the preparation for the advent of Christ’s birth, thank you for all you do to REVEAL the Face of Christ in our community and THANK YOU for partnering with this Academy as we continue to help our children become the face, the heart and the hands of Christ in our 21st century world.

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Christmas at the Academy

December 4, 2013

ST3December’s Silver Teas are much-anticipated events. The students have been working for weeks on their performances, lovingly prepared as a Christmas gift for their parents. The dates and times of this year’s Silver Teas are:

  • MIDDLE SCHOOL (Classes 5-8):  Friday, December 13  •  7:30 p.m.
    • Grandparents may attend the Middle School Dress Rehearsal
      on Thursday, December 12 at 1:30 p.m.
  • LOWER SCHOOL (Classes P-4):  Saturday, December 14  •  2:00 p.m.
    • Grandparents may attend the Lower School Dress Rehearsal
      on Friday, December 13 at 9:00 a.m.
  • PRE-PRIMARY:  Monday, December 16  •  10:00 a.m. (for morning class) and 2:00 p.m. (for afternoon class)

The final week of school before break is a busy one. Students in Classes 3-8 will take exams Dec. 16–19. On Thursday, Dec. 19, the Academy band will give a Christmas Concert for the whole school. Classroom Christmas parties will follow.

BasketFood In a tradition dating back many years, each Academy family is invited to provide a basket of food for the needy. As we joyfully anticipate Jesus’ birth during Advent, assembling items for your family’s food basket can become a special family activity and a new holiday tradition. When students (P-8), faculty, staff, parents, alums and friends gather for Christmas Basket Mass on Friday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. in Rauch Memorial, hundreds of bountiful baskets will fill the bleachers, representing the incredible generosity of our families. Not only is this a prayerful way to part before the holidays, it is also an opportunity to realize the abundance of our blessings.

This year, in commemoration of 100 years as an Alumni Association, Academy alumni are invited to assemble food baskets the evening before Basket Mass. They’ll gather from 7–9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19 in the White Center.  [Read more]

Dismissal for Christmas break is Friday, Dec. 20 at 11:30 a.m. [NO LATE DISMISSAL]

IMG_5188Finally, all are invited to attend Christmas Eve Liturgy at 10 p.m. Dec. 24 in the Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne. This is a beautiful, joyful and prayerful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

If you have questions about any of our December events, please call the school office at 636-946-6127.

Thanksgiving Memories

December 2, 2013

First Class students prepared a Thanksgiving play for their parents, who joined them in other holiday activities while visiting their classroom before the break. Here, Mrs. Metcalf’s students pose in the replication of the Mayflower that they helped create.

In the Footsteps of Philippine

November 26, 2013

Our Middle School students go out into the community to work with others. Read about the Academy’s “In the Footsteps of Philippine” program for students in grades 5–8.