By Roderick O.

This past week chapel services have prepared the students for the celebration of lent. Lent is a time to remember all the pain and suffering that Jesus endured to save us. To me this special season means a time of giving back and living for God. During this morning’s chapel service there was a reading that mentioned “Jesus died for us, so why can’t we live for him?” Waking up every morning and taking a 3^rd step is what I committed to for lent and it has been working out for me.  I’m not running my own show any more, God is in charge.

By Roderick O.

This weeks’ Catholic service at The Family Foundation School shed a new light of hope to the students. The gospel reading, from Luke 2:22-40, touched on how we must be constantly searching for God in our everyday lives.  Simeon and Anna, from the reading, are a couple that spend every night in church.  Once Simeon and Anna saw Jesus for the first time they knew he was a special baby.  Their continual search for God allowed them to realize the miracle of the baby Jesus. This miracle happens every day when a baby is born. With every new-born child we start to see the light of the world.

By practicing prayer we are strengthening our relationship with God. If you think God is going to answer your prayer by casting down vibrant rays of sunlight and roaring his powerful voice into your ear, you are mistaken. Even though that would probably change our lives forever, realistically we must look for God through other people. Sometimes God will answer our prayers subtly or blatantly, but if we are not listening to people when they talk we might miss the message. The more we practice prayer, the more we realize that God is in our everyday lives.

As a person that has many struggles getting through their day, I can firmly say prayer is my number one back-up that can always help me get through any tough situation.

By Ileana A.

During this Wednesday’s morning chapel service, Father Chris had something very interesting to share. He introduced a complementary way to take daily inventory of ourselves and our spiritual life, which was suggested by St. Ignatius Loyola. In one category, we list our desolations; what things drew us away from God today? In the second category, we list our consolations; what things drew us closer to God today? Because of this, our awareness level is heightened and we begin to have more consolations than desolations.

We also read a poem called Fall in Love.

Nothing is more practical than

Finding God, than

Falling in love

In a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide

What will get you out of bed in the morning,

What you do with your evenings,

How you spend your weekends,

What you read, whom you know,

What breaks your heart,

And what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

And it will decide everything.

I find this to be true because when one feels as if they are in love, everything seems better and lighter. However, who better to fall in love with than God? God never lets you down and is abounding in hope. God is also life, and if you are in love with life, what could possibly go wrong?

By Ileana A.

The gospel from this week’s Catholic service was taken from Matthew 25:31-46. In this reading, Jesus said one of my favorite lines, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” This was a reminder for me that I must love my neighbor. Another saying that comes to mind is, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” However, I think that Jesus meant more than that. It is not about what you get in return, rather it is about giving love.

I believe that in this reading, Jesus gives us the best advice. If we truly love Jesus, or our higher power, then we should do everything out of love for him. This same principle can be found in other religions and cultures. For example, in India people bow to each other saying “Namaste” which is a symbol of respect. In yoga, it is often taken to mean, “The divinity in me bows to the divinity in you.” It is an underlying theme in many religions that there is something holy and spiritual within everyone. As a young girl, I was taught that Jesus lives in people’s hearts and that because of that I must treat everyone the way I would treat Jesus. This concept also ties in with an idea I learned here at The Family Foundation School. I discovered that I could learn something from anyone, a newcomer or a senior, because my higher power can speak to me through any person. This makes me conclude that all life is sacred; therefore, it must be respected, loved, and honored.

This Tuesday at The Family Foundation School, instead of having our usual Jewish service, Father Chris came in to celebrate All Saints Day in the Catholic tradition. In the Christian tradition, Halloween is just the vigil before All Saints Day, and following customs, on vigils before feast days, Christians mock evil because it has no power over them.

During the service, The Family Foundation School community prayed to all the saints, known and unknown, to intercede for their prayers. Wednesday will be All Souls Day, where people pray for their loved ones who passed away. In several different cultures, this day is known as the Day of the Dead, and relatives who have passed on are prayed for in commemoration and celebration of their lives. All Souls Day is essentially a day where the living pray for the purification of their loved ones’ souls so that they may go enter heaven.

Father, All-Powerful and ever-living God,

today we rejoice in the holy men and women

of every time and place.

May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
From the Liturgy of the Hours

By Ileana A.

Today is the Virgin Mary’s birthday, which is a very important date to many students at The Family Foundation School. Today’s chapel service was dedicated to her, singing songs and learning about Mary. In the Catholic tradition, Mary is the most important saint. She is the one to pray to because she is the Queen of the Kingdom of God and can intercede for any one of us as our Holy Mother. Many students here stop at the Mary statue several times a day to ask for her assistance and blessings. She has played a huge part in my own recovery, as well as many others’, as I prayed to her as my own mother and guiding light.

In addition, during every chapel service this week, we at The Family Foundation School have been praying for everybody who lost loved ones on September 11^th ten years ago. We also give thanks to those who sacrificed their own health at Ground Zero, asking for them and their families to be blessed, and we pray for the souls that left us.

By Ileana A.

This week, Father Chris read to us about Jesus and his encounter with a Canaanite woman. Jesus had retired to the region of Tyre and Sidon, or as Father put it, for vacation because we all need vacations. But a Canaanite woman, called a Gentile because she was not Jewish, asked for his help. Her daughter was ill and she needed healing. Jesus, however, replied that he was sent only to help the lost sheep of Israel. She did not happen to be one of those, but again after repeating her plea and Jesus telling her that it wasn’t right to give the children’s food to the dogs, she persisted, saying even the dogs eat the scraps off the table. The woman’s faith astounded him and he healed her daughter.

This reading really spoke to me, oddly enough. Father focused on how the woman was persistent and how we should take this as a lesson in prayer, but a personal connection also exists for me. Recently, I noticed that I have been being a bit selfish when it comes to reaching out to others. I thought that I needed to have a vacation from helping others, that I needed time for myself. However, in thinking this, I turned away people whom I could have helped and in turn could have helped me. I am not Jesus, nor will I ever be, but the scraps of love that I do have to offer should not be kept for myself, or I should never expect love in return.

By Yana K.

April Showers are known to bring May flowers, but in our case, April showers are bringing even heavier May showers. The month of May is also Mother Mary’s month. Father Chris is giving students the opportunity to honor her by inviting them to pray the Rosary. Every Thursday afternoon at 1 o’clock, he will be at the Mary statue in the front of the school praying 5 decades. This week, about 20 students showed up to practice their devotion to the Mother of Christ.

The Virgin Mary is a great example for women, men, and children to follow if they strive to be a servant of God. Anyone that has even a hint of faith has a bit of Mary in them—she lived her life completely devoted to serve God through her faith.