Patty Bajek / Thursday, February 15, 2024

Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 2/15/2024 - The Church is a Community of God's People

Please take a few minutes to reflect on these words from Pope Francis:

“The Church is, or should go back to being, a community of God’s people, and priests, pastors and bishops who have the care of souls, are at the service of the people of God.”

As a Catholic school principal, I often say that I wear many hats. No two days are ever the same, and I might go from comforting a child with a scraped knee on the playground to preparing a budget document to having a challenging conversation with a parent or teacher, all within an afternoon. I share this because sometimes it’s hard to define what my job entails, and I imagine the same is true of many of you, whether you’re referring to your professional roles or your even more important job as parent. What struck me most from today’s quote from Pope Francis was the phrase the care of souls. While Pope Francis is calling out our church leaders’ responsibility to care for souls, I don’t believe that duty lies solely with them. Regardless of our jobs, daily tasks, or parenting responsibilities, we are all members of the Church community, and as such we all are responsible for the care of souls. Regardless of job title, as Christians we are trying to get to heaven and hopefully helping others on their way there as well. As we begin this Lenten season, may we use this time to reflect on our actions, our prayers, and the “work” we do each day and how it demonstrates care for all souls in this community of God’s people.

DDA: Last Chance for Early Bird Ticket Pricing!

I know you’ve been seeing the weekly Masquerade Gala updates, but I wanted to send one more reminder to get your DDA tickets NOW, before ticket prices increase on Saturday. Each year, ASCA parents, grandparents, friends, faculty, and benefactors come together to celebrate our school. The night features dinner, dancing, live and silent auctions, raffles, and more. All funds raised directly benefit the students of All Saints Catholic Academy.

As our biggest fundraiser of the year, the DDA helps bridge the gap between your tuition and the cost to educate. Additionally, this year’s Fund-A-Need will be a continuation of last year’s as we raise funds for salary supplements for our teachers. We were humbled and honored by the generosity shown for our teachers last year at the DDA and know how important it is that we continue to expand this fund so we can recruit and retain top educators. In next week’s Saints Speak I’ll share an update on the teacher salary enhancement fund and our plans for its continued success.

If you are relatively new to All Saints and haven’t yet met a lot of parents, that’s okay! We will seat you with parents at your grade level, and this could be the opportunity to build new friendships that can last throughout your time at ASCA and beyond. Get your tickets now - the DDA is truly one of the most fun nights of the year, and I promise you won’t regret attending!

Lenten Opportunities at our Parishes

As I shared last week, we have our Family Stations of the Cross next Wednesday, February 21, at 6:30pm. We also will be collecting items all of next week for the migrant families arriving in Chicago.

Please also consider participating in one of the many Lenten opportunities in our supporting parishes. Click here for more information on parish offerings.

MATHCOUNTS Contest

Last weekend, a handful of our students competed in the regional MATHCOUNTS competition against public and private middle schools throughout the surrounding communities. The All Saints team (James Budd, Gavin Foley, Abbie Ling, Lucas Ling) finished in 3^rd place! This is the best finish ever for ASCA; they were only one point behind the 1^st place team. Congratulations and best of luck as you go on to the next level of competition.

Three of these students also earned recognition for their individual scores. Congratulations to:

Abbie Ling – 7^th place
James Budd – 8^th place
Lucas Ling – Honorable Mention (top 25% of students participating)

Way to go, Saints!

Give Kids a Smile

The DuPage County Health Department is participating in “Give Kids a Smile Day” on March 1^st. Click here for more information on the free dental screenings they offer as part of this day.

Saintly Acts

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized today for their recent Saintly Acts: Evelyn K. (Kdg), Danny S. (6^th grade), Piper E. (3^rd grade), Robin K. (3^rd grade), Sergio M. (3^rd grade), Madison M. (3^rd grade), Finn M. (4^th grade), Noah N. (1^st grade), Shivani S. (4^th grade), JP S. (2^nd grade), Ella C. (4^th grade), Norah G. (6^th grade), Gigi G. (4^th grade), Parker J. (4^th grade), Jencarlo C. (8^th grade), Cristian A. (8^th grade), and James G. (8^th grade). Keep being saintly!