Silent Night, Holy Night!

It was a winter wonderland as we entered into the last week of Advent. An early Christmas present from the heavens above pre-empted our Reconciliation Service. A three day weekend wrapped in snow! On the last day before Christmas break, we gathered together as one sacred community and began our morning with the celebration of the Holy Mass. Father Meno Chica braved the ice and shared an inspiring homily to our students, faculty, staff, and friends. He, like John the Baptist, prepared our hearts and minds to receive the gift of Jesus. How blesssed were we to have him be part of our one sacred community, our Benedictine family! May God Bless You one and all with a most blessed Healthy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Our Campus Ministers are busy helping Santa's elves gather gifts for the needy families, as the National Honor Society and the Gospel Choir visit the sick and the elderly at nearby nursing homes and hospitals. Spreading good cheer and the Christmas Spirit is what Christmas is all about! We are wishing all of our families, friends and readers a very Merry Christmas and blessed New Year.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Last Friday, we gathered as one sacred community to pray to Mary, Our Lady of the Americas:

"God of power and mercy,

You blessed the Americas at Tepeyac with the presence of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe. May her prayers help all women and men to accept each other as sisters and brothers. May your peace reign in the world and in our hearts.

We ask this, as always, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen."

St. Mary's

In celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Campus Ministers known as "Hearts of Trust" headed to St. Mary's parish to wrap Christmas gifts for needy families. As we wrapped the gifts with loving care, we prayed that each person would be blessed with the peace & joy of Christmas.

Roots Of Action

Filled with energy and fresh ideas, Michel Chikwanine and Katie Meyler of Free the Children shared their heart-moving stories in a dynamic multi-media presentation. Everyone left the auditorium with the hope and strong conviction that we can be the positive change in our world today.

Our O'Ambassador Student Leadership Team also had the privilege of participating in an all day Leadership Training workshop with Katie and Michel. Focusing on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of poverty, education, health, and sustainable development, our students reflected on their dream for a new global community:

"I have a dream that one day I can be a voice for the voiceless... that my talents, whatever they may be, can change the world for the better. I have a dream to be the spark, the explosion that forces the world's eyes open. I dream of a world so full of love that there will be no place for hate, or injustice, or greed. I have a dream to leave this earth a better place than what it was when I entered..." Sonia, Class of 2009

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Saturday is the Feast of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was born in the third century and eventually became the Bishop of Myra. He gave his whole inheritance to the poor and the sick. Throughout the centuries, people began to wonder whether St. Nicholas, also known as Santa was a real person. In 1897, a little girl named Virginia O Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper, the New York Sun, asking if Santa truly exists:

"Dear Editor,

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says if you see it in the Sun, it is so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon"

The editor of the Sun, Francis P. Church, wrote back and told Virginia that her little friends were wrong. They had been affected by the skepticism of the age... We must simply have the courage and the faith to believe in things that we cannot see..."

Yes, Virginia. St.Nicholas really exists just as love and generosity exist. His faith, his laughter, his kindheartedness lives and will live forever.

Pass It On!

This year our Advent theme is Hope. Our hope is for everyone to experience God's love through random acts of kindness and to Pass It On! Each day our Senior Campus Ministers and Staff will be on the lookout, watching for an extreme act of kindness to someone in need. Our students are already receiving recognition for their good deeds to one another. Kindness and hospitality are the essence of our school charism. The winner of the most acts of kindness will receive a huggable Horton. While BA's message is "Treat everyone as you would treat Christ, Himself", Horton's message is "A person is a person no matter small!"