Weekend Wisdom - September 7-8th, 2024
Dear Parishioners of St. Francis Xavier and St. Mary,
The 2024-25 school year has officially launched! I pray that the students in all of your lives, whether your child, a grandchild, or a neighborhood kiddo, all find themselves settling in, finding success, and feeling loved in their school setting.
Each year at Notre Dame of De Pere, we select a theme that is in alignment with a Bible verse. This year’s theme is Isaiah 43:1, “I have called you by name and you are mine.” In our first few days, this theme has been woven into conversations about God’s plans for every one of us and how He knows us and loves us all beyond measure. This is at the core of our identity as individuals and as part of a greater community. We are God’s children. All of us. How we move in the world should reflect this most important piece of our identity and acknowledge the same for every person we encounter.
As we celebrated our first school mass of the year, Fr. Mike’s homily focused on the two great commandments of loving the Lord with our mind, body, and soul and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Not only a powerful message but as students are learning all the rules of school, these two “rules” are the core rules for every other procedure. It doesn’t have to be complex to be powerful.
Here are a few beautiful moments from our first few days in school that showcase the experience of treating our neighbors as we would ourselves, knowing they also belong to God.
A new student was sitting alone at lunch and a classmate immediately noticed when he walked into the lunchroom and made a beeline to go sit with the classmate. His friends joined when they had their lunches.
A first grade student sitting so so close with their newly assigned seventh grade Mass buddy. Seventh graders are often all about personal space but are so willing to help a little one.
A wave of students running from the bus to school and in the midst is a middle schooler and a preschooler who just met on the bus. The middle schooler tells the PK friend they will show them where their class is.
A new third grader bursts out of the building at the end of the day into his dad’s arms and declares, “It was a great first day! I have like 50 new friends.”
Schools plan, prepare, and set expectations for all to feel loved. I wonder, what if we, as adults, followed the children’s lead and took these same habits into the world to love our co-workers, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers as ourselves? God has called each one of us and them by name too.
With heart and soul,
Molly Mares Principal, Notre Dame of De Pere
