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.

Roderick O.

Every prayer time in Talbot House we sit silently and meditate for before we start. We do this to center ourselves and better our connection with our higher power. When meditation is over, I choose a psalm to read from the bible, one usually reflecting my feelings for that day. My friend Sebastian S., who leads prayer time with me, reads a story from the AA book. One story in particular had more of an effect on my spiritual life than any religious service that I had attended gone to the entire week.

The story reminded me how blessed I am to be at this school. (Talbot House has recently gotten some new students that have been struggling with adjustment and acceptance so I thought this was perfect for them.) I expressed my feelings of gratitude for the school to the whole family. I told everyone that instead of looking at this school as a punishment that they should look at it as a gift from God. Not everyone gets a chance like we do to redefine our lives. Some people take the opportunity for granted and I don’t want my family members to miss the chance. I hope they take it to heart.

By Ileana A.

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” When I heard this quote, by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, this morning during chapel, I was quite struck with the idea that I am not a human being. Oddly, there was also a sense of immediate relief. I felt freer after hearing those words.

I am not a human being.

It never occurred to me that I, who usually talks about having a soul, or an inner spirit, could actually be that inner spirit having a human body and living in a human world. I suppose the sense of relief comes from realizing that it is okay to feel awkward and foreign in new situations. And even better, that it is completely normal and natural to be seeking help from and giving thanks to something spiritual and soul-like and mystical. Indeed, I was made in the image of my Higher Power.

I am a spiritual being.

By Ileana A.

This Friday, during our morning chapel service, Father Liz invited two students to reenact the scene where Gabriel tells Mary what is about to happen to her. The reenactment was a contemporary version. It ended with Gabriel saying, “God doesn’t want you to give Him your body, He wants you to give Him your yes.” Father Liz wanted us to ask ourselves if we would be able to give God our yes.

Imagine that. Having an angel appear before you and tell you that God has chosen you to have his son. In that situation, I would probably ask myself what people would think if I tried to tell them why I was pregnant. No one would believe me. In fact, I probably would not even believe that the person in front of me was an angel. I could see myself interrogating him and then making a phone call to the police. “Hello? Yeah, hi, there is a psycho in my house telling me he’s an angel and that I’m supposed to be pregnant.  Come quick.”

Then I hear Jesus’ words in my head; “O you of little faith.” Obviously, Mary had such a strong faith that even though she might have been afraid of what could happen, she said yes without having one doubt that God would take care of her. If I never doubted, I would always be comforted and at peace with whatever situation happened in my life. I do not know if anybody in our day and age would take a man seriously if he told them he was an angel sent from God, but maybe that is why it happened when it did. So instead, I strive to be like Mary, and make my faith grow stronger every day.

By Ileana A.

With the start of the season of Advent, Christmas is in the air here at The Family Foundation School. The families have been decorated and there is talk about the upcoming shopping trip. This week’s nondenominational chapel service focused on just that. According to statistics, America spends an average of $450 billion on Christmas gifts each year. If you were to ask a child what Christmas was about, they would most likely respond with “presents!”

However, Advent is about waiting for Jesus and preparing for the celebration of his birth. Having Christmas spirit is really about giving, not about receiving useless presents that are quickly forgotten after being used two or three times. And it’s not about giving those useless presents either. It is about giving of yourself, your time, and your love. Jesus would have us do as he did, and spend time helping people in need.

During the chapel service, we watched a short clip from www.adventconspiracy.org that really hit the nail on the head. This year, I plan to spend as much time possible helping people here at the school. Presents are nice, but rarely do I remember who gave me what. However, I’ll always remember the people who have been there for me.

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.

By Ileana A.

During this week’s Jewish service, Rabbi Michele told a story about a motorcyclist. This motorcyclist was conversing with a rabbi and declared that he didn’t need to pray because his life was already full of miracles. The rabbi asked him to give an example. So the biker tells about how he was riding past a cliff and a truck comes zooming toward him and his two options were to ride off the cliff or crash into the truck. Of course, he rode off the cliff. The miracle was that the bike was caught between two rocks, which acted as shock absorbers. The rabbi then asked him, “Who pushed you off the cliff?”

This story was a good reminder for me that God is always there for me. Lately, I have felt as if there have been obstacles in my life that I could never overcome. I was reminded, however, that God would not put things in my life that I would not be able to handle. God knows what is best for me and I need to have faith that everything happens with His good reasoning.