Sacred Heart Family Newsletter

Week of April 6, 2020

Saint of the Week: What’s Happening This Week St. Josephine Bhakita Holy Week “I am definitely loved, and

Hello families, whatever happens to me I am awaited by this Love.

The Friday before last, Francis offered his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ prayer and blessing as And so my life is good.” a special offering to answer the coronavirus crisis. I have been a church lady for 10 years and did not know what ‘Urbi et Orbi’ meant, so if you didn’t either, you can join Read more about St. Josephine Bhakita here! the club! I looked this up and found out that translated, Urbi et Orbi means “To and to the World.” It is special because a Pope normally offers it only three Religious Education for times: on the occasion of his becoming Pope, on the Feast of the Nativity, and on the Feast of the Resurrection – the greatest celebration of our faith – which is . the Week - Summary For to offer this only a few weeks before Easter spoke to the significance of the situation all of humanity finds itself in now. Fall Program Grades 1st through 7th: Thanks to technology, this prayer and blessing was broadcast worldwide, with Pope Francis presiding in a desolate and rainy St. Peter’s Square. The constant visual Chapter 19 plus Triduum reminder of the strange and frightening circumstance we are in was not greater than the comfort of the Holy Father’s words, as he reminded us of Christ calming the Sections for Grades 4, 5 and 7 turbulent seas around the boat carrying Him and His terrified disciples. We are part of a very long, rich tradition in our faith of being led through dark times with the great light, fortitude and love of God, our Father. From “our forebears, Israel’s children,” Summer Program who crossed through the Red Sea led by Moses to escape the torment of Pharoah, Grades 1st through 7th: through the earthly ministry and great sacrifice of love of our Lord, Christ, to the centuries of witness in His name of our martyrs and the courage of our saints, to Easter Chapter this present day crisis, we acknowledge our fear while taking courage from the affirmation of our strength as descendants of a truly blessed, steadfast and holy Parents/adults can review chapters in lineage. the textbook with children, and children in the Fall Program will complete the To get back to technology, I like to follow Catholic Instagram accounts for a little “instant inspiration” during the day (I think of it as “spiritual caffeine” ) and I recently chapter 19 review (there is no review read a quote there that has really stayed with me: having joy doesn’t mean you don’t assignment to submit for Summer suffer, it means that even when you suffer, you trust. Our trust is founded in the faith Program, just to read the Easter of the God who created us, loves us, and is with us, so even as we suffer, we can chapter). Fall families have two still have joy because we know we are His. This may be the most difficult Easter many of us have experienced, but the joy of the salvation we have in Christ, whose options for completing the reviews: commandment that we love one another so many are truly and profoundly living right online or hard copy. For our online now, endures and reigns through every generation. option, click here. If your child ~ Jessica completes the hard copy, you can either hold on to it for submitting when *Holy Week Masses and Services* we resume, or scan and email to Mrs. Kane at You can access livestreamed Masses and services [email protected]. at this link. For additional resources for practicing faith at home, see our online resources guide here. **Chapter reviews will count as attendance for the classes we miss.**

Resources for Parents Celebrating Holy Week During Quarantine One of our family’s favorite holidays is St. Patrick’s Day, That is a hard reality. While we acknowledge and and we will always remember this one because accept that, let’s do everything we can to make Holy coronavirus became a life-changing reality here right Week beautiful in our homes. Not in spite of what we before March 17th. The irony is that, due to the social are missing, but because of the blessings we still have. distancing and quarantining, our family actually ended up having FOUR corned beef and cabbage dinners. To help with this, we have resources and ideas available Suddenly I had time for a 3 hour corned beef braise, on our web site on our Faith at Home page, and we will making bread from scratch, and setting a formal table. keep adding to this as time goes on. If you have For our fourth St. Pat’s corned beef dinner, I pulled out all something you are doing to bring faith into your home the stops – table cloth, candles, good china, and my Lady for Holy Week, let us know and we will add it to our list! of Knock centerpiece. It was a dinner I think we will We are also posting pictures on our Facebook page and always remember. web site of how our families are celebrating, so if you’d like to send pictures, you can email them to I will be honest though – not being able to be with our [email protected]. whole family on Easter Sunday will be painful. We have traditions in our family, as I know you do in yours, that we We wish all of our families a beautiful and blessed Holy will not be able to do this year. Week, and a joyful and Happy Easter!

Living Through the Pandemic – Helping Our Children and Supporting One Another

Parents and families have an incredible burden of concerns right now. We meet these concerns with faith and with the gifts offered through the contributions of people in the social and medical sciences who can help guide and direct us in meeting the needs of our children. Below you will find some of those resources; some will be “repeats” from week to week since they will be helpful to you throughout this crisis.

Resources for Parents: How to Navigate Today’s Pandemic Season, by Dr. Tim Hogan (this is a recording of last week’s webinar)

April 7th , 2 pm Webinar - Embracing Our Role as Elders: Guidance and Encouragement for Grandparents and Families During Today’s Pandemic, by Dr. Tim Hogan (space is limited, click the webinar for registration link) *Please pass this link on to grandparents in your family! We will add a link to the recorded webinar next week as well.

A Guide to Helping Families With COVID-19 – National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Helping Children Cope with Changes Resulting from COVID-19 – National Association of School Psychologists

Helping Kids Cope with the Coronavirus Outbreak – Dr. Joseph White, Our Sunday Visitor

Mrs. Jessica Donohue, Director: Religious [email protected]

Education Mrs. Barbara Kane, Administrative Assistant & Coordinator, Mini Vinnies: Contact [email protected] Information Temporary Phone: 609-491-3092