January
2023
ADMIN TEAM MESSAGE
Welcome to 2023!
From all of us at Holy Family to all of our school families and partners, we wish you a Happy New Year! We continue to celebrate the Advent season and the birth of Christ, with the Epiphany on January 6th. Advent is a time of awakening of our memory of God who became a child, the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The new year gives us the opportunity to reflect on the growth of our students thus far as well as set new goals or continue working towards goals we have already set. We are so happy to welcome back our students after the break and hear the school buzzing with little voices again.
We would like to welcome Mrs. Loeppky. She has been with us since the middle of September, teaching in the grade 4/5 room and will remain with us until the end of June. We also welcome Mrs. Nelson who has been in the grade 6/7 room since the start of the year and will remain with us through to June. We are also welcoming Ms Kovalsky back to Holy Family. She will be teaching in the grade 3 classroom until the end of June. We are happy to have them continue to be a part of our school family!
January weather is very unpredictable. Please make sure your child(ren) is dressed for the weather. When the weather is nicer, classes will have the opportunity to spend more time outside and we want to make sure they are dressed appropriately. Please check the January calendar for important dates. Just a friendly reminder that if your child is absent from school, please utilize Edsby to enter their absence and communicate with their teacher to find out what work your child will be missing.
We would like to thank all of our families for all the support during our fundraising event and the gathering of food for the food bank in December. Your generosity and support is always greatly appreciated.
We are excited for what 2023 brings for Holy Family School!
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Combres & Mrs. Weber
Faith Committee
Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
Prayer of the Month– 5 Finger Prayer
Saint– St. Agnes– Feast Day Jan. 21
A Message From Father Phinh
Dear beloved in Christ
In this holy night, the God-Man is born, choosing to come into the world from the womb
of a mother, like every other human being. Jesus is the first and only son brought into
the world by Mary. The son of a human mother Mary, at the same time, this Son has
been given by the Heavenly Father as the greatest gift for humankind. The Son who
is one being with the Father, he whom we confess in the Creed “God from God, Light
from light”, becomes man. Through his birth, the way of salvation passes through us.
The eternal Father gives us his own Son, which made manifest that night in
Bethlehem. Bethlehem means ‘house of bread. Jesus, the bread of life begins his
infant life in a feed trough, or breadbox. The angel announced: “To you is
born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11)
This is the revelation of God’s steadfast love for us: Pope St. Leo the Great says, “He
gave us His own Son as the price of our redemption, the holy one to redeem the
wicked, the sinless one to redeem the sinners; the just one to redeem the
unjust; the incorruptible one to redeem the corruptible and the immortal one to redeem
the mortals. In Him we have received everything. The Eternal Father could not have
given us more”.
In presenting the profound meaning of Christmas, Pope Leo the Great again issued an
invitation to the Christian faithful with these words: "Let us be glad in the Lord, dearly-
beloved, and rejoice with purest joy that there has dawned for us the day of ever-new
redemption, of ancient preparation, of eternal bliss. For as the year rolls round, there
recurs for us the commemoration of our salvation, which promised from the beginning
and accomplished in the fullness of time, will endure for ever".
"Today the Maker of the world was born of a Virgin's womb, and He, who made all
natures, became the Son of her, whom He created. Today the Word of God appeared
clothed in flesh, and that which had never been visible to human eyes began to be
tangible to our hands as well. The fountain of salvation which God desires to offer
each human being has now been opened. The Son of God became like us: true God
and true Man. On this night the frontiers of human existence are extended. The Son of
God, taking upon himself man’s limitations, opens before our eyes the prospect of
God’s infinity. “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those on whom his
favor rests!”
O marvellous exchange! Man’s Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have
been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our
humanity. The greatest Christmas gift ever given to humanity is Jesus Christ our
Saviour. May God's blessing be upon you and your family on this blessed Christmas
and the New Year 2023 to come!
Sincerely
Fr. Phinh Do
IMPORTANT DATES FOR JANUARY
11- Party Hat Day- wear gold and silver
12- Mass @ 9:30
16 & 17- Gr. 5 Learn to Ski Program
24-Chinese New Year- wear red today
25- Early Dismissal @ 2:00
30-No Classes
31- Backwards Day- wear your clothes backwards today


SCC
Special thank you to our SCC for finding creative ways to raise funds for the playground loan. The playground has been a real asset this last year for our students to be able to use and enjoy. Thank you to all who supported the poinsettia fundraiser and who purchased Co-op cards. We continue to sell Dominos coupon books for $20 at the office.


Winners
PRE-K AND KDG FAMILY CHRISTMAS SUPPER AND CONCERT


