March 28, 2013

“…This is My Body…this is My Blood…given for you…” Luke 22:14 +

This day, Holy Thursday, is one of the most solemn of the entire Church Year. It celebrates the gift of the Eucharist and the gift of the Priesthood. On this night, Jesus gave us these wonderful gifts as His way to remain with us always. It is good to think back to the day of one’s First Holy Communion and the anticipation one had for this special sacrament. Perhaps on this night, at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, that desire for Jesus can be rekindled in each one of us. It is a good night, too, to pray for our priests as they celebrate their call from God to carry on the work of Jesus through this sacrament and the many others they share with us.  This celebration, and those of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday all serve to remind us that Easter is not about new clothes, candy, baskets, or vacations, but about Jesus and what He has done for us.

This envelope comes home with your children’s Report Cards for the 3^rd Quarter. Hopefully, these will not get lost in the shuffle of activities over the Easter Break Time. Our Awards Assembly for this quarter will take place on April 12^th after the 8:15 AM Mass.

Other enclosures include the following:

1. Lunch Menu and Helper Sheet—Check out some of the new items on the menu
2. Box top Collection Sheet—Keep those coming, especially if you use some box top items in preparing your holiday meals.
3. Permission Form for Grade 1 for Masses at the Nursing Homes
4. Market Day Worker Notices—Remember that Market Day will arrive the day we return from Easter Break, so workers and buyers, mark your calendars!

A FEW NEW SPINS:

Please remember to send in your Market Day Forms or order online. The deadline for this order is April 4^th, 2013.

Please remember that Scrip will not be sold after school is dismissed on Thursday, March 28^th. Selling of Scrip will resume on April 8^th, the day we return from Easter Break.

Parents are reminded that students should only be dropped off in the circle area if it is raining or snowing heavily. Please park on the main lot and let your children out there and have them walk to the Pavilion. There have been some close calls between cars and children –and the latter are not always aware of oncoming cars. For the safety of our children, please do not pull into the circle area. This area is reserved for buses, delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles only.

Services at our parish these holy days will take place as follows:

Holy Thursday—Mass of the Lord’s Supper—6:30 PM

Good Friday—Passion of the Lord—12:15 PM

Holy Saturday—Easter Vigil 7:00 PM

Easter Sunday—8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, and 5:00 PM

If you are traveling and cannot attend these services here, do take the time to go to the website www.Masstimes.org and find a Church in your vacation spot.

Our Second Graders will be walking in procession at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper Thursday Evening. This is a very special event for them as they prepare for their First Holy Communion in April.

Lastly, we congratulate and pray for our Jr. High Students who will be confirmed on Sunday, April 7^th, at Mass at 1:00 PM. May the Holy Spirit guide them always.

May the peace and joy of the Risen Christ fill your heart and your home these beautiful Holy Days!

Sincerely,

Sister Marcianne, S.S.N.D.

March 20, 2013

Dear Parents,

In just a few days, the holiest days of our Church Year will be celebrated all around the world. These days serve to remind us of the great love and mercy of our God. The palm carried home and placed on the crucifix or some other prominent place can serve as a good reminder of that love. But above all else, the gift of the Eucharist that is celebrated and received on Holy Thursday and each time Mass is celebrated stands as the best testimony of God’s continuing love for us.  The events of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the joy of Easter Sunday call to mind our own daily dying and rising, and the joy that can be found fully in God alone. Whether here in Dixon, or away on a vacation somewhere, it is a great blessing to celebrate these days with your family. There are websites, such as www.Masstimes.org that will find you a Church and Mass times wherever you may be spending the Easter holidays.  Hopefully, as you enjoy the Easter Break, you will find time to celebrate the wonders of God’s Love.

Please remember that our Easter Break will begin on Holy Thursday, March 28^th, with 1:00 PM Dismissal. Lunch will be served at school that day.

This Friday, March 22^nd, ends the third quarter of the school year. Report cards will go home next Thursday, so there will be no letter or envelope on Wednesday. Envelopes should be returned the day we return from Easter Break, Monday, April 8^th.

The SCRIP Program officially ends for this year on March 31^st. An order will be placed on March 26^th and hopefully get here by March 28^th so it can go home with your child. However, that will be the last order until April 9^th.  NO SCRIP WILL BE SOLD AT ANY OF THE SERVICES OF THE HOLY DAYS OR ANY OF THE MASSES OVER THE EASTER BREAK.  Families will receive their total in the Brown Envelope on April 10^th and any SCRIP sold in April will begin to apply to the next school year. Families who did not meet their goal are asked to pay the difference.

Kindergarten Roundup will take place at St. Anne School on April 16-17, 2013. If you know of families with children ready for Kindergarten, please encourage them to register as invitations are sent to those who are on our listing. At this time, it appears there will be a Pre 3 as well as a Pre 4 Class next year, so please encourage families to sign for these classes also.

A FEW NEW SPINS:

Keep collecting those Box Tops. We have slipped in the ratings a bit, but hopefully, once a donation is sent in, we will again rise in the ranking.

At this time, I believe that our Market Day Chairperson Positions are filled. There are still openings for two people for the Auction. If you are interested, please give me a call.

Finally, I want to share with all parents how well the children have done with their sacrificing for the Haitian Home. This year, so far, $ 532.00 has been raised towards this event. I don’t know how the children are earning the money that has been going into the little piggy banks, but those banks have been really full. This Friday will add a little more to this total and next week Wednesday will be our final day of collection. Thank you for any encouragement you have given them.  In years past, when we have collected for the Holy Childhood, we usually earned a little over a hundred dollars, so the children have really taken this project to heart.

Please remember to turn in Market Day orders or order on line, since the deadline for orders occurs during our Easter Break. Pickup is the day we return to school.

Please be aware that our teachers will be teaching the Chastity Program this week. If you need more information on this program, please go to the Rockford Diocese website-www.rockforddiocese.org-. Click on the Education tab at the top and scroll down the right side until you see the Child Safety Program. You can click on this for any further information.

May you find the coming celebration of Holy Week filled with many blessings for you and your family.

Sincerely,

Sister Marcianne, S.S.N.D.

March 6, 2013

Dear Parents,

The halfway point of Lent is almost near. This Sunday is sometimes called Laetare Sunday as this word means Rejoice in Latin and the first word of the Mass Entrance Antiphon is Rejoice. The antiphon continues to remind us to put aside mourning and to exult in God’s saving power. In some parishes the priest may wear pink or lighter colored violet vestments, and some parishes may include flowers on the altar. The purpose of the rejoicing is not just that Lent is half over, but more importantly, that our salvation has been won for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and we are a bit closer to celebrating that important fact. It is a good time to check up on the progress each of us has made in preparing our hearts to celebrate this wonderful gift from God. Perhaps this Sunday, you and your family can find a pink dessert to share and some family time to have fun together before returning to the rigors of the Lenten Season.

This week brings another Student Council Bake Sale on Thursday and perhaps pink would be the color of the day to prepare students to celebrate the mid point of Lent. There will probably be a few items up for raffle also and it may be that the money raised this month will go towards our Haiti House. Thus far, the children have collected $129.00 as of last Friday, which is pretty good since most years, during Lent, we usually raise only about $100.00. Please continue to encourage your children to sacrifice for this special cause. And, if you don’t know what I am talking about, please ask your child.

Eighth Grade Families will find a letter regarding Graduation in this Brown Envelope. Please read it carefully and keep track of the dates. Since families may look for graduation clothing over the break, it is hoped this information is helpful to you.

Grade Six will find a Permission Form for the Nursing Home Masses this month.

All families will find the Home Connection for the month of March. These come to us through Title I Funds, and there are always good suggestions on a number of topics in these notes.

Families will also find a flyer on the Newman Play—Guys and Dolls. Several of our students who attend Newman are in the play and it is good family fun. 

A FEW NEW SPINS:

The Auction Committee has wrapped up this year’s Auction and this fundraiser is currently looking for new Chairpersons. There are four places allotted for this event due to its importance. It is possible that two of those are filled, so if anyone is interested in chairing this event, please call the office.

The Market Day Program also has the chairperson positions open. If interested in chairing either of these fundraising events. please call the office. Remember that if you chair a major fundraiser, that is the only fundraiser you do, plus the SCRIP Program.

These fundraising programs are very important to our school.  They enable us to keep our tuition costs down as much as possible. If any one of these fundraisers have to be dropped due to lack of a chairperson, the tuition rate would experience a major increase. Therefore, I ask every family to consider your abilities and willingness to give of your service.

Mrs. Crowson has posted some of our students’ art work at the Woodlawn Arts Academy Art Show. You may want to take a ride over to Sterling and see/vote for our children’s work.

We also want to congratulate David Swegle, winner of our school Geography Bee. We just learned that David has qualified to participate at the state level of the National Geography Bee. This will take place at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn on April 5^th. Great job, David! We will keep you in our prayers for success at the next level!

May the rejoicing you do as this Fourth Sunday of Lent rolls around be only a hint of the joy you will experience at Easter! Have a blessed week!

Sincerely,

Sister Marcianne, S.S.N.D.