Dear Friends,
“Rebuild my church”. These are the words that have been shared with our
students during these first few weeks of October. These are the words that St. Francis
heard as he began his ministry in the church. As he knelt in prayer in the small chapel
of San Damiano in Assisi, he heard these words from God being spoken to him.
While he began to literally rebuild a church with stones and mortar, he later
realized that he was being asked to help to preach the Gospel News to all people.
We, within the Catholic Church are being asked to do the same thing….to
preach the Good News to all people…to help to rebuild the Church!!!
At St. Anthony School, our faculty and staff, friars, alums, parishioners,
families and friends accept this challenge each day. This new school year has offered
our faculty and staff so many opportunities to engage our students and our school
families in helping to rebuild the Church of Christ. This year, we are blessed to have
renovated a small room and transformed it into a chapel where one class at a time will
be able to gather to share in the celebration of the Liturgy or to celebrate in a Prayer
Service. Our students are able to gather in our Science Lab and take part in many
hands-on experiments and projects. Our Fine Arts room offers students a chance to let
their creative energies shine forward. WE ARE BLESSED at St. Anthony School.
In every facet of their school day, our students are challenged to aid in
rebuilding the church. From the playground, where they are asked to treat others the
way they wish to be treated, to the lunchroom where they realize that courtesy and
manners are yet another way to show the respect for others and property that God asks
of each of us.
As we begin this school year, we ask you to help us to continue in our mission
to be “instruments of God’s peace.” Our school community exists not only to educate
our students with strong academic knowledge that will prepare them for this changing
world, but also to provide them with a strong foundation in their faith so that they can
become graduates who will move on in our world and continue to “rebuild the
church.”
We ask you to remember us with a gift of your prayer as well as with a gift of
your treasure. Know that you, the members of our school and parish family, are in our
prayers each week as we join to share in the Liturgy. I wish each of you the peace and
goodness that God shares with us daily.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pat Devanney
Principal
