Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble…
2 Corinthians 1:3
At the Ascension Mass today, Father Crispin, in response to another horrific shooting, called on us to find strength in our faith and take positive action. Fr. Crispin reminded us we are a people of faith and because of this, we are a people of hope. God is always with us. He loves us. Fr. Crispin urged us to do good, to act in love and justice, to create little heavens here on earth. He emphasized that “Good will always triumph over evil.” He also asked us to pray for the souls of the little angels and the two teachers who died in Uvalde. We all needed this reassurance today.
Thank you to all the students who created a little bit of heaven during the Ascension Mass, especially our student musicians: Olivia K. (cello), Sofia O. (violin), Rowan A. (Responsorial Psalm) and Schola Choir. And thank you to Fr. Crispin, Julia Rudden, and Pat Tsagalakis for the beautiful mass. I will say again, as I did during mass, we are empowered to do good, so we must. Jesus is always here with us to help us do just that.
A few of you have asked us about security and preparedness here at St. John. We do have active threat protocols in our safety manual. These are reviewed with frequency. Disaster, fire, and secure perimeter drills are practiced with students. The campus is patrolled by staff well before school starts, throughout the day, and a final check is performed late each evening. All entry doors are kept locked except at the lunch recess when adult volunteers and recess monitors are on duty. The school continues to grow our security systems around campus; further updates to our monitored video system are coming this summer. I remind all volunteers to please check-in at the main office with Mrs. Q. and get a Visitor badge before entering any of our campus buildings.
Do reach out if you have any questions.
As we prepare to break for the Memorial Day weekend, I hope you will join me in an additional prayer for all those who served our country.
Bernadette O’Leary
