Veterans Day is a time for us to pay our respects to those who have served in the armed forces. We thank the veterans of our Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force and their families. We honor them for their patriotism and for their courage to act and sacrifice for the common good – for our good. Veterans, living and passed on, will be celebrated at all the Masses this weekend.
Adding to the 10:30 Mass celebration will be our Cantionis Choir, under the direction of Ms. Ellen Pepin-Cato.
Thank you to all of you who turned out for the State of the Parish presentations. For those of you who could not make it we are presenting two more times: Wednesday, November 14, at 8:45am in Egan Hall and again on Thursday evening, November 15, at 7pm in the church. Remember, if you are registered at school as a parish family, you must attend.
Grandparents and Special Friends Day for Grs. 2-5, is next week, on November 15. This is a lovely event and one that is dear to my heart. I look forward to sharing ‘grandparenting’ stories and watching the students perform with pride for their guests.
Thank you, parents, for your patience and flexibility as together we deal with the construction. We expect to receive the Certificate of Occupancy for the Quigley Building this month. The Preschool will move in first and as soon as we receive the licensing for the new space, XDC will move in. Over the next four days in the main building, it will be noisy! I call it the Sound of Progress! As the new shear walls are now in place, Chinn Construction will be removing the existing stage walls and columns while we are away on fall break.
A few weeks ago, the eighth graders led us as we celebrated Unity Day in school. This week, in our opening prayer over the school intercom, they reminded us that, “We follow you, Jesus, because you show us how to be brave and courageous as we act with justice, stand up for what we believe and live in harmony with one another.” And yesterday, I received beautiful thank-yous, for the letters of support and friendship that they sent to the Jewish Community. Ron Waldman, Head of School, Seattle Jewish Community School wrote,
“Today we received your students’ heartfelt messages of peace. I can’t begin to express how touched our community feels with such an outpouring of support… Repairing the world when hatred surfaces is all about creating and sharing acts of loving kindness. St. John School is an exemplar of what it means to do just that.
Shalom”
Mrs. Halley and our students are living our mission: “St. John School is an inclusive Catholic Community committed to inspiring moral development, academic excellence, and the courage to act for the common good.” My prayer is that we all do so.
Blessings,
Bernadette O’Leary
