By Jake H.

I once heard a wise old man named Terry M. give the best definition of humility I have ever heard. It went as follows: Humility is not thinking low of yourself; it is not thinking of yourself at all. In the Bible there is a parable told by Jesus about humility that was presented in this week’s Thursday morning chapel service. It is a long parable and has many examples of humility, but there was one that stuck out to me. In one Jesus says: When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. This could easily be mistaken as “Assume others are higher than you, so know your place,” but in fact it is a perfect example of not thinking of yourself. In sitting in the place of least honor you leave the seat open for another as a gesture of thinking of the best for others instead of you desires. Humility is not assuming that there is someone “higher” or “lower” than you, it is to take yourself out of the comparison. The hardest part in humility that I find is comparing myself to others. This is because if during the comparison I deem them as under me I will be less apt to seek the greater good for them. On the other hand when I take myself out of the picture I can see that there is no higher and lower and my effort is applicable to all it may help.

by Jake H.

This morning a piece of the Christian scripture was read in which there was a parable about a crippled lady. The lady had been crippled to the point where she had been bent over looking at the ground for 18 years. During one of his preaching’s, Jesus notices the lady and calls her forward. He asks the lady why she faces the ground and he tells her to face up towards God. He places his hand on the lady and she rises up and rejoices.

This parable has the potential to be so powerful if we would just let it reach us.  We spend so much time looking down and letting life pass us by. We need to straighten up and face life. I believe that so many people go through life completely asleep to what is right in front of them and never even know it. We are so caught up in what is going to happen next or what already is happened that we are missing what is happening now. It is time that we wake up and open our eyes to the beauty of life

By Jake H.

Ever since Pam Allen took over the Thursday morning nondenominational chapel service it has been taking on many new aspects. The service went from rather orthodox to very modern and contemporary. For example, instead of singing hymns out of a traditional hymnal the students sing worship songs whose lyrics are projected with neat videos. In doing this Pam noticed since the changes in music got kids to pay attention and participate more in the chapel service. After noticing this she has decided to bring about another new tradition. Now one Thursday is out of each month will devoted to a singing only service; worshiping God with nothing but songs of praise. With help from the Glee Club performing and volunteer students she will hold these services to help bring attention to worshiping God in different ways.

In a society in which anything that is not modern is seen as old fashioned and arbitrary to life, bringing worship up to date will help it stay alive. Some might see it as tainting something sacred, but I believe that if anything important is to survive it needs to evolve with the times. Not to say that we should not keep the key aspects of religion, but rather we should find new ways to express those ideas. The songs played in these new services have the same exact message as the older hymns, but they are written in a more recent time and to appeal to younger people. This, hopefully, will help the newer students in finding a higher power of their understanding.

By Jake H.

Every Sunday night Father Stephen starts off compline with a sermon on a subject that he feels is important. This Sunday one of his many subjects was the idea of giving your kids everything that you never had. He explained how in today’s society we have translated that into we will buy our children everything that we never had. He preaches that it should, in fact, be that we will give our children the love and care that we never had.

This dilemma that Father presented is a perfect example of how the American society is becoming more and more based on materials rather than morals. Since the industrial revolution the capitalist economy has been bombarding the public with advertisements that has equated happiness with materials. As a result today the average child associates happiness with a new toy, new computer, or a new video game; rather than love and care. Therefore, they turn to their parents for happiness and where they think happiness comes from is materials. It is by this societal circumstance that the modern meaning of the saying is derived. I believe that the statement “I want to give my kids everything that I never had” should remain the same in verbatim, but needs to drastically change in meaning.

The saying should be backed with giving children what they have not had for many years; a solid sense of morals presented through love and compassion. We need to shy away from buying love and concentrate more on giving it. Instead of rewarding achievements with materials we should give them praise and love and not praise follow it by a new toy. With the materialistic approach new toy gets all of the credit and the praise is thrown out the window and then the child expects a material reward the next time and will be discontent with just praise, starting an endless cycle of false bought happiness.

I believe that failure to impose this in raising a child, or just in daily interactions, is setting youth up for nothing but misery and malcontentment. A person who is raised in this environment, I am positive, grows up in life seeking only the next pay raise, the next bonus, while completely passing life by. It preaches a lifestyle totally based on things that are tangible and impermanent; and when it is all taken away nothing but confusion and misery lay waiting. The person lives a life gilded with possessions and materials with a hallow soul. I am in no way saying that if you buy kids toys that they will be miserable for the rest of their life, but I am saying that if you bribe or “reward” them with materials you will be setting them up for it. It may not be impossible to live happily afterwards, but it makes it a whole lot harder. It is a whole lot easier to continue good morals than to fashion them; speaking from personal experience.

By Jake H.

After June graduation Chris B. decided to celebrate his graduation in a rather unorthodox fashion. Instead of rushing off into his new life of sobriety right away Chris thought that it would be a better idea to visit a Catholic monastery to reflect on his stay at the Family School and to clear his head before taking on life. Father Stephen Morris and Chris attended the Sisters of Bethlehem Monastery for six days to get a little closer to God.

The retreat was centered on finding God through silence, prayer, and work; a simple, but rewarding lifestyle. During the six days spent at the monastery Chris took a vow of silence, only talking when necessary, in order to have ample time for prayer or meditation. “I don’t think that I have ever prayed that much in my life,” Chris explained.

During his stay Chris found himself battling thoughts of the alternative week after graduation. “I had thoughts about what everybody else might be doing,” said Chris. “But I was grateful for the opportunity to sit and reflect.” At the monastery he had all the time he needed to resolve any internal conflict he had about life after graduation. Often some students get too caught up in the fact that they are finally leaving the school that they do not lay a solid foundation for a practical spiritual life. The main struggle is when the student graduates a spiritual life is put on the back burner and this time allowed Chris to reconnect and ground himself in his spirituality. “ I had plenty of time to meditate on what my God was to me and what I should be praying for,” said Chris.

In the twelve steps of AA the eleventh step essentially says that we, through prayer and meditation, come closer to God as we understand him. The retreat was the perfect time for eleventh step work. “It was brought to a whole new level,” exclaimed Chris referring to his eleventh step. During the time he spent praying and meditation he realized how essential prayer and meditation was to his serenity. “They are the tree of my serenity,” explained Chris. “I found that when I fail to pray I miss out on the peace it has to offer.”

With all of the praying came a lot of humility. While praying and meditating Chris found himself very humbled by the revelations he came too. It was a chance Chris to step back and take a look at himself and take an accurate inventory of his morals. He was presented with the fact that he was still not the one in charge and that it was all too necessary for him to acknowledge Gods presence and will in his life. “I came to the conclusion that I will always have to check my thinking with God and another sober person,” said Chris. “Because no matter how long I am sober my thinking will still be crazy.”

The retreat also gave Chris the chance to apply God to the daily tasks of life. One of the main priciples at the monastery is keeping God close during work. The opportunity was great for him to discover ways to relate prayer in every day tasks.

After a full six days of meditation, prayer, and work Chris found himself in the heart of New York City; he went from complete seclusion to complete inclusion. “It was mind boggling to go from being alone all day to being surrounded by millions of people,” Chris remarked. “I was grateful to have had the time alone that I did, because with all the rush of daily life I tend to forget to keep God close.” Chris is now awaiting the beginning of the fall semester at Emmanuel College in Boston Massachusetts. He also attends AA meetings and Catholic Mass daily to keep him sober and on the right track.

By Jake H.

Wednesday morning chapel service, Catholic Mass, was run a little different this week due to Father Stephen’s absence. Terry McCarthy, a former student at a seminary, was instructed to lead the service. When Terry runs the service he tends to bring a more AA message in his teaching or focuses more on spirituality than the Catholic faith.

This morning Terry decided to start off with a simple counting meditation to calm, clear, and open up the students. He then proceeded to tell three stories in which each had a different message. The one that was the most striking was one he told about two monks. It went as follows: Two monks were walking through the countryside admiring the beauty. Soon the two monks approach a river next to which an old woman was sitting. Upon approach the woman said, “You two are monks, therefore you have to carry me across the river; so carry me.” The older of the two monks picked up the old lady and carried her across the river. Afterwards the two monks had traveled about five miles and the younger monk finally says, “What nerve that woman had! She did not ask, but she demanded that you carry her across the river and after you did she did not so much as thank you.” The older monk smiles and turns to the younger and says, “I carried the woman across the river; you, my friend, have been carrying her for five miles.”

In a school where resentment can easily run many people, stories like this can help students immensely if they will only let them.

By Jake H.

This week’s Wednesday morning chapel service with Father Stephen was all about working with others even if they come from a different back ground or have a different point of view. He elaborates on the fact that in the Old Testament God put together a group of twelve men all from different backgrounds to deliver his message to the world. He also refers to how Abraham Lincoln did a similar act with his presidential cabinet by putting some of his largest political rivals in a group that gave him advice on the most important topics.

The point of this was to emphasize on the fact that we should not base our agreement or disagreement towards ideas and people due to a difference in view or different background of the deliverer. Rather, we should be open-minded to all ideas without bias no matter who presents it. It sticks to the Jesus’ teachings on human equality, “All men are created equal.”

Whether one is Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu, human equality is unable to be ignored.

Pauca Verba ( a few words ) Number 29 – June 13, 2010

Dear brothers and sisters – dear friends,

We started this little weekend bulletin in June of 2007. But this will be the last time, as my bishop has recalled me to my home diocese on Long Island. After spending fifteen years here I will be leaving The Family School. I saw my bishop this week and he told me that he is in desperate need of priests for the parishes on Long Island. It appears that I will be assigned to either Maria Regina in Seaford or Saint Rose of Lima in Massapequa.

I will be a priest for 31 years in October of this year. Almost half of those years have been spent here at The Family. They have been wonderful years. I feel only gratitude.

We blessed Yuri’s new crucifix last week. The crucifix tells us that love is often difficult. We must let God be God. On the day of his ordination to the priesthood, the new priest puts his folded hands between the hands of the bishop who asks: “Do you promise obedience to me and my successors?” Of course, the new priest answers: “I do,” little imagining that at some future time something could be required that would ask a depth of obedience that would be very painful. Long Island is very different from when I left to come up here years ago. I’m used to our little chapel and the intimacy and beauty of the retreat house where hundreds of retreats have taken place and many hundreds of us have come to pray and learn. Now I’ll be offering Mass and preaching on weekends where a thousand people might be gathering. Culture Shock is the word I keep hearing.

Whichever of the two parishes I go to, there will be a school, which pleases me. God led me wondrously to The Family School and my eleven years as pastor of St. Paul’s in Hancock. I believe that God continues to lead me and will not abandon me to loneliness and fears. It seems that right now, I am to start my new work September 1, 2010. That leaves me some weeks to finish up here what I have to do. Mike and Rita have agreed to allow me to continue offering Mass on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday mornings until then. I am grateful, as that will allow me time to say goodbye to people here.

Remember that I say often, the cynic is the one for whom everything presses down. I don’t want that in my life. I want to flourish. I want to be hopeful. I want to be strong, joyful and generous in what God is asking. Sometimes we come around and make full circles in our lives. Who knows, maybe I will complete some years as a priest on Long Island only to return here in some capacity in my senior years. Meanwhile – my thanks to Tony and Betty for welcoming me to The Family School fifteen years ago. My thanks to Mike and Rita for their support over the years and to all the staff – wherever there was love and trust. My thanks to all the young people who have taught me important lessons about how to be human and how to be (I hope) a better priest.

With a blessing and every good wish,

Fr. Stephen P. Morris

By Luke V.

Bishop Gladstone B. “Skip” Adams is the current Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York.  Bishop Adams is the tenth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York and was consecrated in October of 2001. On Thursday May 27, Bishop Adams came to visit The Family Foundation School to talk with the student body for a few minutes as well as enjoy lunch with several Episcopal students.

The message the Bishop had for the student body was inspirational. Back in January of this year the devastating earthquake struck Haiti, with over 200,000 causalities and millions others being affected by the destruction. Bishop Jean Zache Duracin is the Episcopal Bishop of Haiti and after the earthquake he declared an early end to lent and ushered in the Easter season early. A man that often played the trumpet in the cathedral was notable to Bishop Adams because he only had one arm.  When Bishop Adams reached the Bishop of Haiti by phone shortly after the earthquake he inquired if the trumpet player had lived through the earthquake.  The bishop reported that the man had taken the Bishop’s call to celebrate Easter seriously and had begun walking through the streets of Haiti playing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on a trumpet. Through all the destruction the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus was still pronounced in the suffering country of Haiti.

Bishop Adams also spent time with several of the Episcopal students of The Family Foundation School. Father Liz Groskoph, Deacon Barbara as well as the Bishop joined the students for lunch. This is not the first visit to FFS for Bishop. He has visited every so often to continue spreading the Good News to the students of The Family Foundation School. We need to ask ourselves, how are we spreading God’s Good News today? Are we helping out another person? Are we thanking God for the wonders he has given us? Are we telling others the Good News?

The Weekly Bulletin from the Catholic Community at The Family Foundation School

Pauca Verba (a few words)

Number 26 – May 23, 2010

People are quickly forgetting how to live together well. Saint Benedict understood: many people lived like beasts in his time. And today? In his rule for monks, Benedict lays out the basics. Do I follow these precepts or am I just going my own way?

• Our actions everywhere are in God’s sight and are reported by angels at every hour.
• We must be on guard against any base desire, because death is stationed near the gateway of pleasure.
• A humble person does not love his/her own will.
• A humble heart quickly embraces suffering.
• A humble person is content with the lowest and most menial tasks.
• A humble person is convinced in the heart that he/she is inferior to all.
• A humble person controls his tongue.
• A humble person speaks gently.
• All the things that a person once dreaded doing, he/she will now begin to do out of love for Christ, good  habit and a delight in virtue (practiced goodness.)
• We believe that the divine presence is everywhere.
• Let us consider how we ought to believe in the presence of God and his angels.
• Let us sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.

******************

When asked about the people who dislike her husband, Michelle Obama answered:

“You’re not on this earth to make everyone love you. You do what you think is right and you treat other people well, and then you keep living your life.”

*********************

We received an email from a Family School student who reflected on a life of bitterness – because the young man’s dear friend had died sadly and suddenly. It dawned on him that being angry and bitter was not the best response to his friend’s dying. He said: “When my best friend died, I blamed God and everyone else because I thought that anything good in my life would be taken away. I was wrong. Instead of focusing on how she died, I began focusing on how she lived, and I decided that I wanted to develop her kind of love and compassion to pass on to other people as she had passed this on to me.” WHOA!

*******************

Some of us went to pray at the Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha at Fonda, New York earlier this week. We learned that Kateri had contracted smallpox as a girl and that while she survived the disease, it left her eyes damaged and her sight impaired.

Bishop Charles Chaput of Rapid City, South Dakota reflected on this aspect of Blessed Kateri’s life. She is a model for all of us. How wonderful it is to have the witness of the saints!

“Tekawitha means she who stumbles into things. Isn’t that a marvelous image of us? We bump into so many things, we struggle to know who we are and our place in the Church. But as God used Blessed Kateri’s poor gifts and made them something wonderful for God, so God uses us in our own stumbling and bumping into the things of life, and can do wonders. Although we stumble, we’re on the path that leads to God.”

****************

We will be together for Mass only five times more before graduation. It is no secret, but many of us who have been faithful to Mass while living here at The Family School, will never go to Mass again. Others will perhaps participate a few times and then drift away, surrendering to laziness or the world’s teachings which tickle our ears, Saint Paul writes. Pray for these souls and for ourselves, that we would be faithful to Christ who loves us from the cross. But some, even one or two, will endure  – living real Catholic-Christian lives – rooted in the Gospels, living the life of prayer and worship in the community of the Church – living compassionate, just, virtuous lives – like Katelyn (an alumna of this school) and her husband, Rob, who were married at Saint Matthew’s Church in Virginia Beach this weekend. They are eager to raise up a new family for Christ! Pray for them, and for ourselves, that we would know our own vocation – that to which God calls us.

********************

Almighty God,

in whom we live and move and have our being,

you have made us for yourself,

so that our hearts are restless until they rest in you;

grant us purity of heart and strength of purpose,

that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will,

no weakness from doing it;

but that in your light we may see light clearly,

and in your service find our perfect freedom! Amen!

Prayer of Saint Augustine