Dear Parents/Guardians,
Today at Mass we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Luke, writer of one of the Gospels. In his homily today, Father Rinaldi spoke of St. Luke and the other saints. He explained that saints are like the stars in God’s sky to show their presence. They are the light of God in the sky, watching over us. Father went on to explain that before the use of clocks and watches, people would use sundials and that is why many people used to believe the new day started at sunset. He further explained this is why we start our Easter celebration with the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, the night before Easter Sunday. At the Easter Vigil, we start in dim light while everyone lights a candle from the Easter candle, slowly lighting the church. The light of the candles represents the light of God shining within us. This light calls us to be missionaries for one another bringing light to each other in dark times. I hope we are able to bring some light and happiness to you.
Administrator Availability: This is just a reminder that both Mr. Shields and I are available every day, all day, for any questions or concerns. We work 7 days a week (including nights) and will make ourselves available for you at your convenience. Please do not rely on information from social media if you hear of a concern. I assure you that the majority of what you hear is based on rumor and an exaggeration of the truth. Your students are excellent at emailing me as soon as they have a concern. They email me or come to me right away and are very comfortable knowing they can count on my confidentiality. I hope that you will do the same. This week there was a rumor about a pocket knife in 7th grade and that a student had been expelled for threats. None of this was true. There was no pocket knife in school, nor was there a threat made to anyone here. I would have been happy to explain that, but not one parent called the school. It was, however, discussed in a small parent group on social media. In the event that this was a true threat or concern, I would not have been made aware of it if it were not for the children. Children are asked to leave our school if they do not follow school rules or handle themselves appropriately and respectfully. That information is not worthy of a note home, as all children and their families have a right to privacy.
Today, we welcomed Salesianum High School’s Tucker House. Students from Tucker House, named after our beloved first pastor, Very Reverend J. Francis Tucker, O.S.F.S., came to spend the day at St. Anthony’s in prayer and service. They helped me clean out the storage area under the Kindergarten as their service part of the day. I have wanted to do that for my 19 years here. They were a terrific help. They were not afraid to do some heavy lifting and get their hands dirty. While we were cleaning, I found copies of a painting done by Father William Keech, our fourth pastor. In 1992, Father Keech painted the portraits of the first four pastors of St. Anthony’s. Check it out on Facebook! It was nice to have a painting to show the young Salesian gentlemen the face of the house they were named after. Father Tucker was also the name of our playground for all of my years here as a St. Anthony student. I was thrilled to find this painting today. Father Keech, the artist, is in his 90s now. Thank you to Father Brian Zumbrum for bringing the young men here today, for helping us with a huge task, and for reminding me of my younger days here as a student, blessed to have known two of the first four pastors. Without cleaning and purging, I would not have come across that painting again. Despite what my own children think, I am not old enough to have known Father Tucker or Father McCoy. My husband likes to point out the fact that the first two pastors of this parish were indeed Irish not Italian as I had always led him to believe. I respond, “St. Patrick was Italian, since he was born in Roman Britain!”
Halloween Events – Be sure to read the colorful flyers that were sent home this week and last week about all of our upcoming fun. We have a Candy Corn Count, Pumpkin Decorating, and our big Halloween party next Friday. I can’t wait to see you there and see all of the creative costumes. Remember that this event will have games, dancing, food, face painting, photos, and much more for the younger children. The Haunted House is designed by the 8th Grade class and their parents. It is intended to be scary. Please do not take your child into the haunted house if you think they will be afraid. It is the one activity geared to the middle school students.
Y.A.C. News:
- St. Anthony’s Grade School 2019-2020 Sports Registration is still open! – It’s a busy world! In an effort to help make things easier we have opened our Sports Registration across all seasons covering Winter 2019, as well as Spring and Fall 2020. Register your athletes for the seasons of their choice. You will NOT be charged the registration fee for each season until it is upon us. Only winter/basketball registration fees will be due at this time. Basketball signups will close on October 18th. Go to https://www.hometeamsonline.
com/teams/?u=STANTHONYYAC&s= org today to learn more.
Parish News:
- November Parish Monthly Social – The parish social will be held on Sunday, November 3rd, in the Ballad Room of the Grade School, following the 9:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M. Masses. Stop by for food, fun, and socializing with fellow parishioners and friends. The social, as always, will feature a variety of great donuts and tomato pie from Serpe’s Bakery, delicious breakfast pizzas from Degnars’ Greenhill Deli, and more! Hope you can join us!
Grandparents Day – Thank you to all grandparents and special people who came into share the special day with your grandchildren! I know it is one of their favorite days of the year. The photographs from Grandparents Day are now available online to view and purchase.
Please join us for Mass every Friday at 8:00 A.M. Your children are wonderful and reverent, and the Antonians sing beautifully!
Please be sure to follow us on Facebook! If you haven’t followed us yet, look for St. Anthony of Padua Grade School Families, Alumni & Friends. There are regular posts with information, events, and pictures of what your children are doing in school.
Fall Blessings,
Mrs. White
“The saints are like the stars. In his providence Christ conceals them in a hidden place that they may not shine before others when they might wish to do so.” ~St. Anthony of Padua