Principal's Message for Thanksgiving

This week’s Principal Message is just in time for Thanksgiving.  I would like to take this opportunity to mention that we all are blessed in so many ways if we simply take the time to recognize it.  We should be thankful for our Faith, family, friends, health, homes, country, etc.  We should also be thankful for our school!  I know I am, and, I ask you all to pray for our school and give thanks for all the wonderful people involved in making Saint Mary School the special place it is and has been for almost 70 years.  Below, I’ve listed five things to pray for our school from an article I read, derived from the Proverbs.  So, please take the time to pray for our school, especially at Thanksgiving and going forward.  As we all know, prayer works!  Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Things to Pray for Our School (from Proverbs 1:1-7)

1. Thank God for learning. Thank God that he has provided everything we need “for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight” in his word (v 1-2). While human minds enjoy unravelling the puzzle of how the world around us works, God has not left us guessing on the question of why—he’s told us clearly through Scripture. That’s a big reason for thanksgiving!
2. Get future-proofed. Pray that students would learn “prudent behavior” (v 3).Thank God for the way he uses education as an instrument of his common grace in restraining the effects of sin on society. Pray that this school would teach children “prudent behavior”, and equip them to make choices that do good, not harm, to others as they grow up.
3. Love fairness. Pray that students would learn to do “what is right and just and fair” in God’s eyes (v 3). Sometimes it seems that our culture’s definition of right and wrong is drifting further and further from the Bible’s definition. But pray that children in this school would be taught that what God thinks is right is indeed right; that what God says is just is indeed just; and that what God says is fair is indeed fair. 
4. Learn discretion. Ask God to teach “discretion to the young” (v 4). Kids can be very cruel with their words. So pray that these children would learn to control their tongues and speak words that are kind and patient, not offensive or mean.
5. Fear God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (v 7). Pray that students and teachers would come to fear God—and realize that this is far more important than all the knowledge the world offers. Pray for Catholic teachers you know, and anyone else who has an opportunity to witness to the gospel—ask that they too would fear God, not humans, and so speak faithfully and courageously of Jesus.  

Please continue to pray for our school, its staff, students and families, and our clergy as we strive to provide an education that is unapologetically Catholic, family centered, caring to others and respectful to all. Please check our website, Facebook page and the Church bulletin for updates and upcoming events that you can enjoy with us.

God Bless,
Craig Palmer
Principal