Lent: Connecting with Jesus

This first reading from Ash Wednesday Mass is from Joel and reads, "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.." This passage calls out to us the whole purpose of the liturgical season of Lent: to return. The ashes on our foreheads remind us of this as well. Ashes represent what is leftover from the consequences of our sin, but we choose to be marked by them year after year to acknowledge our weeping and acknowledge this world is not how it should be. Each year, we receive this reminder to return to the Lord and to repent of the distance that has become between our life and the Lord. 

This return asks something of us. This return is demanding. It requires 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a way to return to the Lord, both in body and soul. It requires an examination of our daily life. It requires us to journey with Jesus on the cross. 

Fr. John Burns further explores this idea of returning in his video about Ash Wednesday: 

How do we return? By connecting with Jesus. Both in the suffering and in the joy to come. By engaging in prayer, to be reminded of God's love and to examine where we wandered off. By engaging in fasting, to put our own indulgences aside and to reorder our lives with the Creator ahead of the created. By engaging in almsgiving, to direct our hearts towards generosity and to push against our own selfishness.

This theme, Connecting with Jesus, will continue throughout Lent at ASA. Lenten reflections and activities will include:

Prayer - A printed copy of the Loyola Press Lenten Family Calendar will be sent home with students as a tool for families to use during the Lenten season.

• Preschool:  Students will be building a Lenten prayer chain. Each link will contain their prayer reflections:  How can you connect with Jesus? What was a way you were kind like Jesus today?
• Grades K-2:  Students will be building a Lenten prayer chain. Each link will contain their weekly prayer reflections. 
• Grades 3-8:  Students will participate in a confessions service. Students will be building a Lenten prayer chain. Each link will contain their weekly give up, take up prayer reflection, led by the 7th grade class.

Fasting - Avoiding hurting words, actions, and turning kind words into actions.

• Preschool:  Students will be prompted to give up a favorite toy or activity.
• Grades K-2:  Students will give up a free choice time to write cards to seminarians, parents and grandparents. 
• Grades 3-8:  Students will give up snacks as often as appropriate per age group.

Almsgiving - $1 color days with proceeds benefiting be nice., and weekly food drive donations, outlined below, to be delivered to the St. Alphonsus Food & Clothing Pantry.

• Pre-8:  Make cards for their partner class, and bring weekly food drive  donations (see donation schedule below). 
• Food Drive Donations:
• Week 1:  Canned food items (veggies, fruit, soup)
• Week 2:  Boxed food items (granola bars, fruit snacks, cereals)
• Week 3:  Toiletry items (toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion)
• Week 4:  Juice boxes
• Week 5:  Paper/Storage items (ziplock bags, paper towel, tissues)

Stations of the Cross - 8th graders will perform living stations of the cross on Via Dolorosa Day, March 31, 2023.

• Preschool:  On March 31, K-2 students will welcome preschoolers back as they return from their shorter Via Dolorosa walk on the sidewalk near the playground. 
• Grades K-2:  Students will participate in Via Dolorosa Day and walk on March 31. They will also walk through the stations of the cross in Blessed Sacrament Church at another time. 
• Grades 3-8:  Students will participate in Via Dolorosa Day and walk on March 31. 

Journey with us this Lent in your homes by engaging in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but most importantly, by connecting with Jesus on His journey to the cross.

Day 100!

Can you believe we have been in school for 100 days already? 

On February 6th, we celebrated the 100th day of school. In kindergarten, we go all out for day 100 by making capes and parading around the preschool classrooms to show off our counting collection capes.

We spend all year counting how many days we’ve been in school! On the 100th day, each kindergartener counts all the way to 100 by themselves.

On top of counting to 100, kindergarteners tackle the big task of writing all the way to 100! (Our hands get tired, but we do it!)

We continue to celebrate through lunch. This year kindergarteners got pizza, pop, and oreos!

If you see a kindergartener, make sure to ask about their 100th day of Kindergarten and how high they can count!

Wrapping up Catholic Schools Week

 If you've been keeping an eye on our social media, you would have seen last week was busy busy busy here at All Saints Academy. It was Catholic Schools Week (CSW) , a week dedicated to celebrating the beauty and goodness of Catholic Schools.  Below is a quick recap of the many celebrations and activities that occurred throughout the week:

Monday - Saint or Vocation Day

Tuesday - Jersey Day
Tuesday was a busy day! First, the Rolf family took over as principals of the day and announced there is a special color day this Friday (Feb. 10). The third graders attended the Diocesan CSW Mass downtown with the Bishop. Lastly, our 8th graders took on the staff in our annual 8th grade vs staff basketball game. The staff won with a score of 60 to 53.

Wednesday - Dress Up for Jesus
On Wednesday, all students started school at the Lower Campus. The Lion King Jr gave everyone a short preview of their performance upcoming this weekend (Feb. 10 & 11)! Students then worked with different grades on various projects before our K-8 students attending Mass all together at St. Alphonsus.

Thursday - Catholic Schools Shirt Day
Thursday ended with pieing teachers in the face! Any students who sold over 50 raffle tickets got to pie a teacher in the face.

Friday - Comfy Clothes & Crazy Hair Day
Our upper campus students cheered on the 8th grade as they rematched the UC staff. Our students also finished painting tiles for the new tile design that will appear by the back of the water fountain in our preschool hallway.

 

You can view more pictures on our Instagram & Facebook and learn more about what CSW looked like throughout the diocese on the Catholic Schools blog.

Thanks for making it a great week and we can't wait to celebrate with everyone again next year!

Home & School: Creating Community

The Home and School Association at ASA is entrusted with fostering and promoting the ASA community. This parent-led organization focuses on building a strong community by hosting and assisting with ASA events throughout the year. Home and School also acts as a sounding board for the school administration and faculty and is responsible for providing a voice for the parents. They plan our Santa's Secret Shop, Parent Night Outs, Fall Carnival, Staff Appreciation Week, and more!

Just recently they hosted the 2nd annual Cornhole tournament, and it was a great success! Zack Pittman and Tia Olsen were crowned the new King and Queen of Cornhole, both going undefeated for the entire night! Zack and Lauren Smith need a much deserved shout out for providing an incredible BBQ spread with their company Underground BBQ. Everyone was coming back for seconds! All in all it was a great community event! New friendships were formed and old friendships were strengthened, good times were for sure had. 

All parents of ASA students from toddler through 8th grade are welcome to join the Home and School Association and are encouraged to take an active role in the group. Meetings are held on Tuesdays from 6:30 - 7:30 PM at the Upper Campus. Join Home and School at thier next meeting on March 21st and save the date for their upcoming Kindergarten and Parent preschool bowling night on March 25th.