My Mom
As I write this on Wednesday, we are waiting to transfer my Mom to a Rehabilitation Facility. The hospital has finally been able to get her heart stabilized. Now we have to see if she can regain some of her strength after this ordeal, and then we will have to decide the best place for her to live. My family and I are so very grateful, and frankly, overwhelmed with all of the prayers and best wishes. I have read each and every email and text message and have shared them with my Mom and Brother. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I continue to be grateful to Fr. Raymond and Fr. Peter for holding down the fort. I am also grateful to Fr. Zercie and Fr. Dominic who are helping out by also substituting for me.
Helping Hands
Our Helping Hand Ministry is near and dear to my heart, as you might imagine. At the last ministry meeting our volunteers paired up with any of our Seniors who expressed a need. The Helping Hands Buddies are in the process calling their senior citizens and checking in with them. We have so much to be grateful for. There are so many volunteers to help our Senior Citizens who are alone. It is also a blessing that our Senior Citizens trust us enough to express their need. Please keep this important ministry in your prayers.
Shovel and Serve
Dear Confirmation students: As I type this, a big storm is forecast for our area on Friday. If the storm comes, we will give you double the service hours toward your confirmation requirements if you shovel/snowblow someones driveway and sidewalk for free. (This does not include your parents’ driveways. You should do that for free because they feed you.) All you have to do is get a note from the person you helped saying they did not pay you and list the actual time you worked. We will double the time when we record your hours. “Shovel and Serve” is a deal, especially if you still need service hours.
Congratulations on Catholic Schools Week One parent wrote me:
“Dear Fr. Robert I know you are away and I wanted to just tell you how great the week (Catholic Schools Week) was at school from our Fifth Grade perspective! Monday was exciting for us parents/special people and grandparents. (On Monday the grandparents/special people sit in the classrooms and visit our school)
I was also in the Knowledge Bowl on the parent’s team. My table lost, but we had a blast. (one of the reasons we lost by the way was because the other team had Father Peter, who apparently is smarter than a Fifth grader!) The kids were adorable. I jokingly begged R.J. Smith to tell me an answer to a 2nd grade question, but he refused. From then on, I would glance over and this other 2nd grade boy was secretly trying to flag me over to give me answers without anyone seeing. It was priceless. I got some great action shots of the volleyball game which really was fun to watch.
I wanted to give you the weekly wrap up from our home since I know how important the week and school are to you. We keep you and your Mom in our nightly prayers. We also thank God for our blessings including our jobs and wonderful school.”
Security
In another vein, I want everyone to know that our school practiced a lockdown drill with the Berlin Police Department this week. Sadly, we have been practicing these types of drills for two years now. The children and parents were prepared for the drill, and as to be expected, everything went well thanks to our very dedicated faculty and staff.
The Berlin Police Department was very complimentary and assured us that the drill went very well. In the future it is our hope to hold similar drills with our Religious Education Classes. When I was in school centuries ago, we had fire drills which we all loved, and air raid drills, where we would all have to go in the hallway, lean against the lockers and cover our heads.