Monthly Virtues in SJS Guidance Classes

Year of Hope

2020-2021
 

     This year our counseling team will be continuing our Virtues Program in weekly Classroom Guidance lessons in all grades. The program, which we introduced last year, blends the richness of our Catholic faith with important social-emotional skills lessons. Each month our students will learn a new virtue and explore the ways in which these faith-filled actions can be practiced in their own lives. We will also look at the lives of various saints who have given us clear examples of what these virtues look like in practice. We hope these classes will help our St. Joseph Catholic School students to see that through these good actions they can live their faith and promote a school climate that is caring and welcoming.This progam combines the different training that Mrs. Farrell and I bring to St. Joseph School, that of traditional school counseling and pastoral counseling respectively.

   HOPE

      (September)

     We begin this school year with the theological virtue of Hope. This virtue is especially relevant during the pandemic which has dramatically changed our lives in the past six months. Without the Hope that our faith teaches, it can be easy to lose sight God's great love for us. In class this month we will talk about how our Hope in God's promise to love us and remain in us provides an anchor in our lives. Our students will reflect on the ways in which their words and actions can bring Hope to those around them.
 

     Our September Saints are:  St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Saints Louis & Zelie Martin who inspire us with their dedication to caring for others and to sharing their deep faith with others. St. Joseph lived a life of Hope in providing steadfast love for Jesus and for the Blessed Mother. He shows us what it means to trust that God has a plan for our lives even when the world around us can seem uncertain and even scary.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the the founder of the first parish school in the United States, understood saw the importance of Catholic education. She devoted her life to helping others despite suffering many personal losses.
Saints Louis & Zelie Martin, the first husband and wife to be canonized together were the parents of five nuns including St. Therese of Lisieux. Their family life centered around their faith and provided the encouragement and support for their daughters to pursue their religious vocations.

     Each month this Virtues in Guidance Class page will introduce you to the monthly virtue and three saints who model that virtue for us. Our Home and School Connection page will provide some ideas for you in practicing these virtues with your children at home.

God Bless,
Mrs. Beth Henry

 

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Cheerfulness
(February)

 

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows

~Francis of Assisi

 

This month we will be talking about the Virtue of Cheerfulness, or looking on the bright side. When talking about this Virtue we might conclude that February is an easy month for practicing cheerfulness because our celebration of St. Valentine's Day is filled with treats and happy reminders of our loved ones. Some of our 2nd grade students are likely to feel cheerful toward the end of this month as they are walking out of church after their first confession.

We are all learning during this pandemic that the cheerful words we share with each other can make such a positive impact on those around us. Our St. Joseph students show they care by their kind words, smiles and cheerful greetings even when these gifts are delivered from behind masks. They are quick to understand how their own cheerfulness brings joy to family members, classmates and the entire school community.

 

We learn about the cheerfulness this month of our three saints;  St. John Bosco, St. Philip Neri and Bl. Miguel Pro, whose lives remind us that God’s love for us is something we can smile about again and again. 

 

"Peace begins with a smile". ~~Mother Teresa

 

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Fidelity
(January)

 

“Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.”
~St. Therese of Lisieux
 

    As we begin the new year with resolutions and hopes for a better year, St. Joseph students will learn about the virtue of Fidelity. This virtue, modeled by God, is about keeping our promises and commitments to God and each other. We will study the examples of saints who were faithful to God in seemingly ordinary lives.  Our saints this month: St. Cecilia, Bls. Luigi & Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, and St. Gianna Molla showed their fidelity to God even when struggles of daily life were overwhelming.

 

    This month our saints also remind us of the opportunities we have for holiness in our own families and our daily lives. Bls. Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi were the first husband and wife to be beatified together as husband and wife. The Italian couple shared their intense love for God and each other with their children through praying the rosary every day with their children and through opening their home to World War II refugees. St. Cecilia was forced to marry a pagan, but prayed intently even throughout their marriage ceremony for his conversion. Her prayers were answered and they were later both martyred for their faith. St. Gianna, an Italian medical doctor, also shows us how to be faithful to God in our ordinary lives by being faithful even when facing tremendous pain and suffering. As we learn about his virtue of Fidelity, this month we will try to think about the promises we make and how we can be true to them by completing the tasks and work we have each day.

 

“God’s Providence is in all things, it’s always present."

~St. Gianna Molla

 

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Patience

(December)

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset."

— St. Francis de Sales

This month our students will learn about and have many opportunities to practice our virtue of the month--patience. It is a fitting virtue for Advent, a time of waiting and watchfulness, as we are reminded to make room for Jesus in our lives. It is also a time of year when the busyness of Christmas preparations can test our patience. Our saints this month: St. Monica, St. Isaac Jogues and St. Rita of Cascia provide beautiful examples of waiting patiently for God’s love to touch the lives of those around them even when others would have long given up. In their stories, we are reminded that Jesus is waiting for us to slow down, put our focus and our trust in Him.
 

Patience is a fitting virtue for Advent a time of waiting and watchfulness. It's often a time of year when the busyness of Christmas preparations give us ample opportunity to practice this virtue while waiting in line, racing through errands and in all the excitement we are urged to slow down and to watch and wait for what is really important.

 

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Humility

(November)




 

“Always humble yourself lovingly before God and man, because God speaks to those who are truly humble of heart, and enriches them with His gifts.”
~St. Pio of Pietrelcina

 

One definition of the virtue of Humility is accepting our limitations and also embracing our God-given talents. We are called this month to try to do better in the way we treat each other and welcome each other into our lives. Living with Humility means we also offer ourselves and each other grace for the times we fall short. When we look at our lives and recognize our many blessings, we realize that our faith calls us to grow into these gifts, sharing them with our school community and our world.

 

In November, we will be inspired by the humble examples of St. John the Baptist, who called people to penance and baptism; St. Pio of Pietrelcina,whose piety and care for the suffering led him to holiness; and St. Therese of Lisieux, whose “little way” inspires us to look for everyday ways to serve God.

 

Studiousness

(October)

“A Catholic school is a place where students live a shared experience of faith in God and where they learn the riches of Catholic culture...Catholic schools must help students to deepen their relationship with God and to discover that all things human have their deepest meaning in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ.” ~ Pope St. John Paul II
 

This October we will focus on the virtue of Studiousness as we look at the examples of St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Edith Stein. We are reminded that in our roles as students and teachers we seek to know, love and serve God. At St. Joseph School, we learn more about God each day as we study all of His Creation and put forth our best effort at developing the many gifts that God has given us. Our search for knowledge and understanding leads us closer to God.

  In St. Albert's example we learn that we can be curious about the world around us and study many subjects, while we also recognize God's love for us in creation. St. Albert was not just a great scientist, writer and scholar; he was a great teacher. His greatest student was St. Thomas Aquinas, who is the patron saint of students. This month our middle school students will look to the example of St. Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was a Jewish philosopher and exceptional student who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was best known for her work on empathy and studying the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas convinced her that intellectual work and faith go hand in hand. When the Nazis invaded The Netherlands, where she was living, St. Edith Stein refused to renounce her Jewish heritage. She died a martyr at Auchwitz and was cannonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

 

“We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.”
~~ St. Thomas Aqiunas

     

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Year of Faith

     This year our counseling team will be introducing a new guidance curriculum for grades K-8 that blends the richness of our Catholic faith with well-established social-emotional skills lessons. Each month our students will learn about a new virtue and explore the ways in which these faith-filled actions can be practiced every day. In addition, we will also look at the lives of different saints who have modeled these virtues. We hope that this will help our St. Joseph Catholic School students to see that through these good actions they can express their faith and promote a school climate that is caring and welcoming.This progam combines the different training that Mrs. Farrell and I bring to St. Joseph School, that of traditional school counseling and pastoral counseling respectively.

     We began the school year by introducing the theological virtue of faith. In learning about this virtue, we reflected on our belief in God and all that He has revealed to us. We talked about the opportunities we have to live our faith each day through the way we treat each other. We challenged our students to look for opportunities to put their faith into action as students who show respect to fellow students, teachers, staff and family members. We asked them to be aware of the times when they can live their faith through kindness, patience and responsibility, and to support their classmates in living our faith.

     Our September Saints are:  St. Martha, St. Jerome and St. Augustine who inspire us to look for ways to grow in our faith and to share it with others through our unique gifts and talents. St. Martha showed us that sometimes our desire to be heard and recognized for our work gets in the way of really listening to Jesus and living in the present moment. St. Jerome used his talents to translate the Bible from ancient Hebrew to Latin, so that many people could read about God's love and learn more about their faith. This task took many years of dedicated work. The life of St. Augustine reminds us of the power of prayer to lead us back to our faith when we turn from God. He gave us a wonderful example of how deep dedication to our Faith can touch thos earound us and even those in years to come.

     Each month this Virtues in Guidance Class page will introduce you to the monthly virtue and three saints who model that virtue for us. Our Home and School Connection page will provide some ideas for you in practicing these virtues with your children at home.

God Bless,
Mrs. Beth Henry
 

 “Be a Catholic: When you kneel before an altar, do it in such a way that others may be able to recognize that you know before whom you kneel.” ~~Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Reverence

     This month we learn about the virtue of reverence, showing our deepest respect for God and all that God has created. We are called to think about the ways in which we can show this deep love for God at Mass, in prayer and in the ways that we respect all that God has made.This virtue reverence calls us to see the face of God in all those around us and we practice it by remembering that God made us all to be special and to be loved.

     St. Hyacinth, St. Tarcisius and St. Margaret Clitherow all lived in very different times in history, and yet they all share a deep devotion to our faith. St. Hyacinth, a Domican priest who was born in a castle, fled 12th century marauders with the Eucharist and a heavy statue of the Blessed Mother to keep them from being desecrated. St. Tarcisius was a young boy who was martyred in the early days of the Roman Empire when he was caught on his way to take the Eucharist to Christian prisoners who were awaiting martyrdom. St. Margaret Clitherow was a noble woman in Elizabethan England who converted to Catholicism and raised her three children as Catholics. She refused to renounce her faith and was arrested and martyred for having Mass celebrated in her home. 

     At home this month ask your children how they can practice this deep respect and love for God in the way that they treat their siblings, parents, and classmates. Spend some time in quiet prayer as a family.

God Bless,
Mrs. Henry
 

Stewardship

"As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace."     1 Peter 4:8-10

     November is a month that brings thoughts of gratitude for all that God has given us--the joy of our families, the bounty of our Thanksgiving feasts and the time away from our busy schedules to relax. For our St. Joseph’s students it’s also a time to learn about the virtue of stewardship and to reflect on the lives of three saints who clearly lived that virtue. 

     This virtue of stewardship is lived when we give the best of our lives---our time, talents and treasure---to God. We do this in simple small acts of kindness each day; in using caring words to support others rather than tear them down; and in being mindful  of how our actions impact those around us. We practice this virtue when we recognize the gifts that God has given us and try to develop these talents as best we can.

     Our saintly examples this month include the actions of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a girl born into riches and royalty who left the palace and all it held to dedicate her life to helping the poor and hungry. Blessed Fra Angelico, the famous Renaissance artist and Dominican Friar, used his artistic talent to spotlight the greatness of God. He was humble in spite of his great talent and reminds us that our gifts can inspire others.  Finally, we are learning about the example of St. Guiseppe Moscati, an Italian medical doctor known for pioneering work in biochemistry. St. Giuseppe used his skills and his compassion to treat patients who were considered “incurables.” He reminded the young doctors he taught to care for the whole person--body and soul.

     At home this month help your child to think about their gifts and talents. Ask to talk to you about something they are proud of and how they can share this gift with others. As a family, come up with something you can do to share your talents and interests with others in your neighborhood, parish or community. It can be as simple as raking leaves for an elderly neighbor, picking up trash or speaking kindly to our siblings.

May your Thanksgiving be blessed!
Mrs. Henry

Generosity

“For it is in giving that we receive." ~~St. Francis of Assisi

     During this season of Advent we are focusing on the Virtue of Generosity and three saints who lived clear examples of this virtue. For our K-2 students, this has meant learning about St. Nicholas whose feast day we just celebrated. We read about his desire to follow Jesus in giving to those in need and how he shared his riches with the poor. St. Nicholas became a priest as a way of helping others to experience God’s love and to grow closer to God. When St. Nicholas’ secret generosity was discovered, he humbly told those he had helped to thank God for the goodness in their lives.

     In grades 3-5, we are learning about the ways in which we can be generous through showing kindness to those who may be alone or lonely; and in being quick to look for ways to help others each day. Our second saintly example of generosity comes from Saint Mary Magdalene, who supported Jesus ministry and was present at His Crucifixion and Resurrection.  

     In the 6th-8th grades, we are exploring the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan Friar, who published anti-Nazi writings and hid 2,000 Jews from the Nazis at the Niepokalanow Monastery in Teresin, Poland where he lived. After he was arrested by the Gestapo, St. Maximilian Kolbe offered to take the place of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz who was chosen for death. He is a martyr and the Patron Saint of Prisoners

     In our guidance classes, we also reflected on the ways in which we are called to be generous, to  “give without counting the cost.” Our St. Joseph students were challenged to look for ways in which they can share the  gift of God’s love each day to family and classmates by being kind and inclusive.

     Those classes who were able to take part in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on first Friday reflected on how the experience of sitting quietly and listening for God can help them to grow in faith. Finally, we asked ourselves if there is a “yes” that we can say to God this Advent season? A  “yes” to being more generous with ourselves and our many gifts and talents to those who need that kindness and help in our daily lives. 

We hope you have a very Blessed Advent & Christmas. Thank you for sharing the gift of your children with us!~~Mrs. Henry

 

Gratitude

"Gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy."

~~Saint Teresa of Calcutta

The Virtue of Gratitude calls us to look for the good, the many gifts of God in our lives. We began 2020 learning about this virtue and about the lives of three saints who embodied this virtue. In guidance classes our students wrote about the gifts of friendship and love that they shared with family during Christmas break. We created Gratitude Books and journals, and played gratitude bingo. Our middle school students reflected on challenges or struggles that they have overcome and they wrote about those people in their lives who helped them during these rough times. They also reflected on the ways we can grow through the tough times in our lives and how we can see God in all of our days--the victorious ones as well as the challenging ones.

In Kindergarten through 2nd grade, we learned about St. Francis of Assisi's love and appreciation for all of God's creation, even to the smallest insect. St. Julie Billiart's story of faith and her desire to teach about God's love despite being paralyzed by a mysterious illness gave an example of gratitude for grades 3-5. St. Julie founded the Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur whose sisters have been dedicated to teaching since the 1800s. St. Josemaria Escriva, a Spanish priest who founded the Opus Dei organization provided the saintly example for the 6-8 classes. His work with the poor and sick led St. Josemaria to seek ways to help others live their faith. Opus Dei became his way of helping both laypeople and priests to see that everyone is called to holiness.
God Bless,
Mrs. Henry

 

“The more difficult the times are the more we must expect and hope everything from the goodness of the good God.” – St. Julie

 

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Honesty

 

"It’s your obligation to speak the truth, and everyone can either take it or leave it. But truth must be in us."~~~Mother Angelica

Our virtue for February---Honesty---seems easy to understand. Yet as we look into what it means to be honest and trustworthy, our students see that honesty is not just simply a matter of not lying. It is a virtue that calls us to have integrity and to use our truth-telling in ways that are kind and life-giving. We live this virtue when our words match our actions, and our lives reflect God's love for us. In the younger grades we talked about how we are honest when we keep our promises and try our best each day. In grades 3-5, we looked at the ways in which some of the words we say to others can be true, but they are hurtful, unkind or unnecessary. In our middle school, students learned that we grow in our relationships with others when we can be trusted. However, we are also called to use charity and to respect each other's privacy when we share personal information. The truth we share should be good for others to know and it should not be someone else's truth.   

This month we see examples of honesty in the face of persecution in the lives of Saints Jacinta and Francesco Marto, of Fatima; St. Kateri Tekawitha and St. Athanasius. The Marto children, along with their cousin Lucia dos Santos, were jailed and accused of being liars when others learned that the Blessed Mother had appeared to the children at Fatima in 1917. Despite being afraid and alone, they prayed the rosary in jail and soon all of the other prisoners prayed with them. The children refused to deny what they had seen and after they were released from jail they had other visions of the Blessed Mother asking them to pray the rosary for world peace and for sinners.
St. Kateri Tekawitha, the patron saint for the environment, is the first Native American saint. Her face was scarred from the smallpox that she had as a young child and was often seen with a blanket wrapped around her face to hide the scars. Both of her parents died from the disease, so she was raised by an uncle. St. Kateri converted to Catholicism when she was 19 and refused to marry. Her tribe didn’t like her conversion or her decision to devote her life to her faith, so she had to move away.
St. Athanasius, was a Greek Bishop, who lived more than 1,600 years ago. As a defender of the faith, he taught that Jesus was God and fought for this statement of our faith to be included in the Creed that we say at Mass. At the time, St. Athanasius was persecuted for fighting for this belief and he was sent into exile for 17 years. 

God Bless,
Mrs. Henry
 

                             

"We who have a voice must speak for the voiceless." ~~Saint Óscar Romero

God Bless,
Mrs. Henry
 

Zeal

Be not afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ! ~~Saint John Paul the Great