A Day of Reconciliation

Greetings,

Today, we celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation in connection with Adoration to continue our Lenten preparation for Easter.  The day began with a whole school examination of conscience with scripture, song, and a Monk Potter at his wheel.  It was a very nice reflection based on Jeremiah and God the Potter of our lives.  Then each theology class came to chapel for Confession and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Whew, I spent a whole day in the chapel with our young men.  After they genuflected their way in, Campus Minister Monk would introduce the location of the Confessor Monks and invite the students to prayer.  This was my cue to go to the prie dieu with a profound bow and my Rosary beads; after a five minutes or so, I continued my Rosary as I strolled along the chapel among my students.

I must admit; I was quite proud (and their parents should be too).  Most of the students participated in Confession, and quite a few of the boys used the Stations of the Cross handouts, litanies, or lectio guides to keep themselves focused during Adoration.  What really warmed my heart was their instinct to follow a lead.  After I left the prie dieu, Students came up to the kneeler, bowed deeply, and knelt down to pray for a few minutes before the Blessed Sacrament.  Light poured down on them from the upper windows of the Chapel; it made even the orneriest Child of God look like an angel.  Every now and then one of the kids would drift off asleep and need a little poke by their pew neighbor.  There were a few gigglers too...only God knows what the boys found funny, but I believe our God has a good sense of humor and chuckled along with them.

Blessings,

Lessons for the Teacher

Greetings,

School as been keeping my nose to the grindstone and Lent has kept my candle lit.  Last week we were gifted with a SPRING BREAK WEEK!  A whole 7 days of time off...I took advantage of the time to visit my family and Sisters.  I enjoyed sleeping in, being a bit pampered by my mom, and simply spending time with my Sisters.  On the other hand, 24 of our junior and senior students with another 10 teacher & parent chaperones traveled to Mexico!

They packed for their Mexican Spring Break with old blue jeans, work gloves, mats & sleeping bags to soften the cement floor, and soccer balls.  These 24 high school students spent their break working between two impoverish villages on a mountainside.  They built two cement block houses, re-roofed several small houses with corrugated tin, and formed simple brick stoves.  They played soccer, duck-duck-goose, and other games with the children.  They traveled with 3 priests...and the people happily joined them for Mass every evening.  And they ate their weight in tortiallas, rice, and beans.

Yesterday, I asked those who had participated to share their experiences with their classmates.  These were some of the amazing lessons they taught us, lessons I couldn't have created...

* We should be grateful for everything we have.  'Cause everything we have is like a miracle for them.
* I thought I knew what 'poor' looked like, but I wasn't ready for how little they had.
* We should be happy, we've been blessed.

* I felt very close to Our Mother Mary while there.  We were surrounded by home shrines to Our Lady
   of Guadalupe and their devotion to her...she was very present to me while I was there.
* I want to find ways to give back here [in home city] too and not just wait for our trip next year.
* The saddest part was sharing our little toys with the kids and trying to make it 'fair and equal'
   between the kids, we just didn't have enough.

Blessings,

Scholastica and Schoolboys

Greetings,

The Church celebrated the feast of Saint Scholastica on Friday.  I too celebrated this Benedictine Feast with the boys at my school.  The feast began at Mass with the monks, they even offered a prayer for the Benedictine Sisters of my house and me. 

Five times that day I lead my boys in the morning prayer or Lauds of my Monastery.  Five times I told the story of the first Benedictine woman and her call of Love...The quickest way to their memory is food and the boys will hopefully remember Scholastica's story better in connection to the 'Dove' chocolate hearts I shared as treats to celebrate the feast. 

All of these treats were in a wicker basket I carried over my arm.  As I walked down the hall between classes, those boys that remembered to wish a "Happy Feast!" could also take a chocolate heart from the basket.  The Church History Theology teacher had covered this portion of monasticism that week with the sophomores and had reminded them that they should wish me a "Happy Feast!".  I had to smile and laugh as they came in twos and threes to send me good wishes as they looked at the basket of treats.  Some even went above and beyond to ask if I had used Gregorian Chant to pray that morning! 

What they didn't know is that it had been a tough day...I was on my own for the Feast and feeling a bit homesick for my Sisters at the Monastery.  However, who can stay in the doldrums when greeted up and down the hall with the goofy grins and well-wishes of teenage boys.  My favorite of the day was a cheesy grinned duo who pseudo-sang their "Happy Feast Day" to me as they were impatiently waiting in the lunch line.  The boys made me smile, laugh, and embrace this new way to celebrate Scholastica.

Blessings,

A busy day of being...

Greetings,

Theology classes paused for the day. Period, by period, each teacher brought their classes to the Chapel for 30~45 minutes of Advent quiet and a communal celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in preparation for Christmas. Admittedly, I was a bit concerned about 20 to 45 teenage boys corralled into church where they would have to be quiet after the initial 10 minutes of the communal aspect of the reconciliation service. My doubts were put to shame.

Each group from Freshmen to Senior was quite respectful. The youngest were a bit fidgety as they stopped by to 'check in' so I could take role and remind them to "sit at least one chair apart." Settling into their places in Chapel there was some rustling of the paper liturgy aides and copies of examination of conscience...one kiddo dropped his Bible, its slam onto the ground echoed off the walls, and he looked up to me with eyes that mimicked Bambi in the headlights. After we started prayer and settled in, they were attentive and participated well in the communal prayer, and many (average of 80%) of the young men quietly qued up confess to one of the priests (monks of the community). They returned to their places and reflected on scripture, sat quietly, and seemed to truely take advantage of this rare opportunity for silence in their lives.

Overall, I'm quite proud of my boys today.

Blessings,

They Can Surprise You!

Greetings,

Last week I assigned a project to help my gentlemen connect the Cardinal Virtues of our textbook and the reality of our lives. "Virtues in the News"...to self define one of the four Cardinal Virtues and then find an item in the news that illustrates someone or some group living that virtue in our world today. With a the weekend and a snow day between the assignment and our return to school, I assumed that they would forget or just do the least work to get the project done. Wow, they sure can surprise you!

The gentlemen found articles of Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance, and Justice...some of my favorites are:

Justice: A woman in Afghanistan who is helping other women speak out against domestic violence despite threats to her own safety. A local woman who will be 100 and is still volunteering for an area hospital by knitting caps for newborns.

Fortitude: Many of their news stories were connected to the violent attack in Tuscon, Arizona. Muslim Egyptians acting as living shields for the Coptic Christian Egyptians during the Christmas services.

Prudence: A dancer who returns to his native country to reach out to youth through teaching dance. A teacher (from our school) retires after 40 years of teaching and guiding high school students.

Temperance: George Clooney and other famous folk working to help others in South Sudan and countries in need; they use not only their fame but also their money to reach out.

The gents did a great job of seeking out and finding news that connected to our Cardinal Virtues and then discussing them with each other...this may have to be a reoccurring assignment format. It was wonderful to see them making their own connections and pointing them out to their classmates. And all this on a bitterly cold day when all the other schools were called off for weather!

Blessings,

Boys

Greetings,

I have traded in my two first semester sophomore classes for three second semester junior classes. A whole new batch of boys to learn about. The first week has gone well...today made me chuckle.

As juniors, the boys have been clear about expressing their maturity over the other classes I have taught. The other classes are ONLY freshmen and sophomores, they are juniors. Okay, they have expressed a different form of focus and concentration. They also seem a bit more secure in their own personality and sense of self.

Today I assigned them to small groups to read small sections of the textbook and prepare the notes they want to give the class. The boys broke into their groups quickly, settled into the text with a little laughter and goofiness, but got down to work. I turned away to work on my computer for a moment, and when I turned back, at least one group in each of the three classes had assembled on the FLOOR! Yup, dress shirts, ties, slacks, and shoes all sprawled on the floor, tummy down, while reading their books to decide what notes to give. I stood nearby one of these groups and observed them for a bit. When a member of the group asked me what I was doing, "Pondering your study position," I answered with no little laughter in my voice. They looked up, smiled, and explained that it was easier to work and think while 'relaxed' on the floor.

Who am I to argue with a boy's inspiration.

Blessings,

Choose Laughter

Greetings...again,

Today I learned a valuable lesson from my sophomore boys; when presented with a situation that offers only laughter or tears, choose laughter. Well, maybe I'm posing it a bit dramatically, but you get the point.

The 7th period sophomores offer me a challenge in learning and teaching most afternoons, and I believe I'm becoming a better teacher because of it. Today they tromped into class as they always do, a mix of goofy gentlemen. However, today I heard whisper as they milled around before the second bell rang; "1:05?" "Yeah, 1-0-5." and then they would giggle (yes, sophomore boys giggle). I filed this information in my head and jumped into class as the second bell rang.

There were a few notes I wanted to give to the class as a whole, and then the class would present the notes they created in different small groups. The first group went fairly well; I did pause the note givers for a moment to inform the rest of the class that respect meant listening and thus silence on their part. About 2 minutes before the second group came up, the clock showed 1:05PM...and most of the boys stuck fake mustaches and beards to their clean-shaven faces.

Camouflage, duct tape beards and mustaches...so...do you laugh or do you cry? I choose to smile and help the boys giving notes wrap up their presentation. The next duo had a beard and mustache covering their grins as they came up to the board. I didn't say anything, but I kept using my friendly teacher voice and continued to redirect note givers and note takers to particular ideas that connected. Finally, one brave soul asked, "Sister, did we make you laugh?" I thought again for a moment, smiled, and said, "Gentlemen you are so odd today; laugh at what?" And they all giggled.

We finished class without any great incident, but just before the bell I gave a few recommendations myself. I suggested they use a little of their mom's cold cream to soothe the duct tape irritation, and reminded them to take the fake facial hair off before going to their next class.

So...was I right or wrong in my approach? I don't know, but I found more life in choosing to laugh with my students today than in choosing to be angry at their laughter.

Blessings of Laughter,