Regal Leader
Volume 49 - May 7, 2018
A look to the week ahead
I hope you were able to enjoy the weather this weekend. We are getting rewarded for the extended winter we had just a few weeks ago. I will be working to schedule interviews for our teaching vacancies. Let me know if you would like to join one of the interview teams.
AP tests start this week. The schedule has been shared and specific dates are given below.
Looking ahead...
The Awards Assembly and last day for seniors is May 23. Seniors will not be in classes that day so their last day of classes is May 22.
Baccalaureate Mass is at 7:30 at St. Wenceslaus Church on May 23. Graduation is at 2:00 on Sunday, May 27. All teachers are expected to attend Baccalaureate and graduation.
Wednesday: Mass @ 2:15, Vocal concert at St. Patrick Church @ 7:00
Thursday: Department meetings until 3:30
Friday: Title funds meeting at ICCSD @ 1:00
Have a great week!
This Week's Morning Prayer - Not over the intercom during AP tests
5/7 Loving Jesus,
Lydia opened her heart to pay attention and her response
was to invite you to "stay at my home."
Today, open my heart so I can pay closer attention
to your constant and loving presence in my life.
I long to invite you to come and stay in my home, as you invite me to live in you.
My heart is filled with Easter hope and I exult in your glory and sing for joy.
Let me open my eyes to look for the Spirit you send to us from the Father
who will set our hearts on fire with your love.
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
5/8 Jesus, source of all life,
Paul and Silas were in prison, yet they prayed
and sang hymns to you, while other prisoners listened.
The earthquake not only shook the ground,
but the beliefs of the jailer and his heart was opened in a new way.
Lead me to sing the hymns of my belief in you even when I feel alone and imprisoned.
Fill my mind with the light of faith and my soul with the fire of your love.
Bless me this day with a heart free of jealousy and friction
and a life open to the needs of others.
I give thanks in your name!
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
5/9 My brother, Jesus,
The ancient words give me joy and strength:
"In him we live and move and have our being."
I know that I live in you and you give life and breath to everything.
Your Spirit inspires me to seek God and search for you.
In my seeking for you, I want to offer thanks and praise
for being called into the light of your mercy.
May my life today be dedicated to serving others
and may my day be one of joy and praise to you.
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
5/10 My heart is filled with joy, Loving God as I sing your praise.
You have done such wonders in my life and made me a part of your redemption.
Sing your song in me today, my God and guide me in the darkness
when I do not see you with me.
Strengthen my faith and my witness of you as I wait to see you in my life again.
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
5/11 Loving Jesus,
You promise that I will see you again and that my heart will rejoice.
Hold me close in my fears and give me the courage
to live my life openly as your witness.
You say to me: "Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you."
I ask that your presence in my life gives me the courage to live out your gospel with my
life and to shout cries of gladness as my heart rejoices.
I ask that in every trial in my life, I have the grace to suffer with you and for you.
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Mass on Wednesday This Week
7-12 Vocal Concert on Wednesday
Thursday Afternoon Meeting
Yearlong Reflection Journal
Links to past videos:
Week 3 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/week-3-2/
Week 4 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/week-4/
Week 5 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/2001/
Week 6 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/week-6_201/
Week 7 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/week-7_/
Week 8 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/big-mansion-episode/
Week 9 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/truth-person-episode/
Week 10 - https://beingcatholic.com.au/jesus-and-the-poached-egg/
Week 11 - https://beingcatholic.com.au/the-nobility-episode/
Week 12 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/new-missionaries-episode/
Week 13 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/2788/
Week 14 - https://beingcatholic.com.au/the-pope-francis-episode/
Week 15 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/internet-episode/
Week 16 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/rigorous-curriculum/
Week 17 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/power-witnesses/
Week 18 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/okavango-episode/
Week 19 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/human-rights-episode/
Week 20 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/european-sports-car-episode/
Week 21 - https://beingcatholic.com.au/the-lost-sheep-episode/
Week 22 - https://beingcatholic.com.au/the-unity-of-purpose-episode/
Week 23 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/?p=3441
Week 24 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/great-cloud-witnesses-episode/
Week 25 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/going-deeper-ep/courage-episodes-part-1/
Week 26 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/?p=3578
Week 27 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/?p=3596
Week 28 - http://wp.me/P3nYbb-Yf
Week 29 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/the-perfect-dinner-episode/
Week 30 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/week32/
Week 31 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/?p=3664
Week 32 - http://beingcatholic.com.au/christocentricity/
Reflection questions:
Week 3 - Popular culture brings many challenges and pressures to our students. What do you think the Church can bring them to help them deal with all of the outside influences they face? How does Regina do this? Can we do more? How?
Week 4 - What structures or opportunities exist at Regina to help students build a deep sense of community? Can we do more? What?
Week 5 - What kind of balance exists between a Regina student’s intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual lives? Are we happy with the current balance? If so, what can we do to change it?
Week 6 - What practical ways could we incorporate periods of silence into our school day?
Week 7 - Is Jesus the genuine foundation of Regina? In what ways can we improve in making Jesus the foundation of Regina?
Week 8 - Does the sense of Regina achieving its mission ‘depending chief!y on you’ make you feel excited or burdened as a community?
Week 9 - An authentic Catholic school will try to reveal to students the deep truth that they are made in the image of God, that they are loved and that are needed in the world. How effective do you think Regina is at the moment in helping young people know these truths?
Week 9 - It takes courage and effort these days to present Jesus both to the hearts and heads of young people. Do you think your school has the courage to first make Jesus a priority for staff and then proclaim Him to young people in the many opportunities of each day or is Jesus given an occasional mention? What could change and how?
Week 9 - The idea of your subject being a way that students encounter truth can be a paradigm shift. Being totally honest, do you think your school values academic and teaching excellence more in terms of rankings and its appeal to parents or in terms of leading students to truth and Christ? Could both be possible?
Week 10 - What ways currently exist to really encounter the person of Jesus at Regina? What could change or be given more emphasis?
Week 11 - In what ways do you see your school currently developing ‘strong habits of virtue’ in each student that will ‘sustain them in the struggle of life”? What is one thing that could be attempted to strengthen this?
Week 12 - How effectively do you think Regina addresses the spiritual hunger that exists in every young person? Could more be done?
Week 13 - Try and define two or three core elements that truly capture what living the Gospel means.
Week 14 - Do you feel your strengths and expertise are creating a community where love for others is increasing? If not, what could be attempted or done differently?
Week 15 - How could Regina, “...bring warmth and stir hearts.’ through how it understands and uses social communication?
Week 16 - What is your sense of the quality of Regina’s religious education curriculum? Do you think students are given the chance to engage deeply with the Catholic faith on a rigorous level?
Week 17 - If observers spent a week at Regina what would they encounter? What ways exist at Regina for staff to deeply encounter Christ?
Week 18 - John Paul II saw Jesus as the centre of the universe and of history. Would it be fair to say that Christ is the centre of Regina?
Week 19 - Do you think that Regina is currently a place where students, ”...sense their dignity even before they have a definition for it”? What things make this likely or unlikely? What needs to change or what more can be done?
Week 20 - As a staff how do you see the current balance at Regina between a focus on knowledge and outcomes and the bigger picture of human and spiritual formation of staff and students?
Week 21 - How are we meeting the needs of the poor at Regina whether that be financial, relational, social or spiritual? What do we need to do more of? What could we start doing that we are not doing at the moment?
Week 22 - Describe the ‘purpose’ of Regina in a single sentence.
Week 23 - In what ways are we currently bringing the brokenhearted in our Regina community, ‘...rest for their souls.”? In what ways can we help them encounter Jesus who wants to be closer to them? In what ways are we being the presence of Christ to them? What could we attempt?
Week 24 - What role does tradition play in the life of Regina? What is our most valued school tradition? Could new traditions be started that would create a more vibrant Catholic community?
Week 25 - How can moral courage be lived out as a staff at Regina when it comes to witnessing to the Catholic faith? What would it cost people?
Week 26 - In terms of finding the courage to be a faithful Catholic school that is committed to sharing the Good News what do you think are the biggest fears and obstacles to this courage that need to be faced and overcome at Regina?
Week 27 - As well as the focus on Jesus and the need to value every person, what other basic principles do you feel matter at Regina? What opportunities currently exist at Regina for reflection and self-criticism?
Week 28 - In what ways if any do you think Regina is undertaking missionary work in the lives of young people?
Week 29 - As a staff do we love our students equally? How well do we love the most difficult of our students? What strategies can we share with each other for loving those that test our capacity?
Week 30 - How do you feel as a staff about the idea of teaching truth in a very relativist world? Is is hard or easy for you?
Week 31 - What could we do as a staff to know Jesus more deeply and discover the joy that scripture and tradition tells us can be found in Him?
Week 32 - What is one simple practical step that could be taken to give more staff and students the opportunity to encounter Christ?
Easter Resources
Easter arrives early this year on Sunday, April 1, 2018, offering all of us the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the entire Easter season with our students before the school/catechetical year comes to a close. There are a myriad of resources and opportunities parishes and schools can use during the Easter season. As you prepare to guide your faith community through all 50 days of the Easter season, take a peek at some of the amazing tools available at the 'click' of your mouse!
- Church Life Journal posted an outstanding blog about celebrating the Easter Season in the classroom. Here is the link to the article.
- Busted Halo is a great website especially for those who work with teens and young adults. Take a look at Holy Week in Two Minutes.
- Joe Paprocki's Catechist Journey arrives in my inbox every afternoon with helpful and insightful suggestions for Catholic school teachers and parish catechists alike. His Easter Folder contains an amazing list of helpful ideas, articles and learning activities.
- The Liturgical Catechist has become one of my favorite sites for video clips, articles, links and ideas. I highly recommend looking through their list of Easter resources. Click here.
- Loyola Press has also assembled a series of resources and lesson plans. Click here.
- The Diocese of Albany, NY has assembled an excellent Digital Library for anyone to use. Take a peek at their Easter Folder and then explore the entire collection.
- Catholic Family Faith has curated excellent suggestions that you can look through and share with the families you serve. Click here.
- The Religion Teacher website has great Easter activities click here as does Building Faith click here.
- The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) website is always a good place to start. Their overview of Easter is worth a look, click here.
Submitted by Lisa Orchen, M.Div., the Archdiocese of Hartford's Director of Catechetical Initiatives
Glenn Plummer
Email: glenn.plummer@regina.org
Location: 2150 Rochester Avenue, Iowa City, IA, United States
Phone: 319-321-4234
Twitter: @gap_4