Faith Formation: St. Clare GrACE in Review

 

 It is commonly held that “grace” is that gift that God gives us… Whether often defined as “unmerited favor”, grace can be viewed as a wonderful gift bestowed by God … one we should be thankful for which prompts us to look for ways of showing our thankfulness to Him for our blessings.  In terms of this recent initiative in the province of Alberta, GrACE stands for Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education? GrACE advocates for publicly funded Catholic education across Alberta. It is supported by the Alberta Bishops, the Alberta Catholic School Trustees and the Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Catholic Education Week and World Catholic Education Day.  Catholic Education is moral-based education, where every student is seen as a gift from God to be nurtured and cherished.  Catholic Education is learning with a special purpose. It is a joint effort of our entire Catholic Community to educate our children in a manner that is permeated by the Catholic faith.  We are essentially teaching our students not only the skills they need to be successful in life, but also the skills and morals necessary to be a well-rounded Christian.  Having said that, we are blessed at St. Clare to be a GrACE school. We are proud to be among several schools in the province of Alberta and in CSSD to have our very own GrACE Team (members pictured below).  It has been wonderful and spiritually rewarding being a part of this wonderful initiative!  We held a number of events to celebrate the permeation and advocacy of our Catholic faith in our school and parish community. 

The year began visually with members of the GrACE group and additional staff members assembling bulletin board and showcase displays in prominent locations in the school.  The first picture features a visual representation of our annual District Faith Theme “Knock and the Door Will Be Opened”.  The second features a display promoting the GrACE initiative our involvement as a GrACE school through survey feedback on “Why Do We Support Catholic Education?”

On the morning of November 18^th, 2019, schools in the Ascension Parish community assembled to celebrate and discuss the importance of Catholic Education with one another.  The gathering featured stories, sessions and messages from Sr. Madeleine Gregg, Dr. Bryan Szumlas and Fr. Avinash.  Aside from enlightening sessions, an important component was the table-talk discussion that happened involving colleagues from other schools about the different ways to promote Catholic Education in their respective school communities.  We then looked to infuse some of these ideas in the school especially as it relates to student involvement and having them step up as advocates of Catholic Education at the school level. Several highlights of the gathering are noted in some photo collages below.

Big “take-aways” from the GrACE gathering at Notre Dame in November was the inspiration to establish a Student GrACE Team and a Student Faith Formation group comprised of Gr. 6 students as part of a CTF Interest Group.

The students involved in the Faith Formation and Student GrACE Teams explored ways the members of our school can intentionally support Catholic education at St. Clare. We met during the weekly CTF period to plan ways to promote Catholic Education at our school.  From those weekly sessions, the team played an active role with contributions in weekly Hymn Sing assemblies and our “Faith Day”.  They selected songs, visuals and prayers which were included at these occasions.  Students of these teams even created a vibrant tri-board visual display promoting Catholic Education for “St. Clare’s Crossing”.

 

We were blessed to have Bishop McGrattan and Fr. Avinash visit our school for a Pastoral Visit on Friday, November 22^nd, 2019.  Part of the visit included a school tour, viewing the visual displays in prominent areas of the school, meeting several staff and students including members of our CCC and GrACE teams.  Below are some photo collages of the Pastoral Visit which included observation of a CCC Buddy Class Activity with 6Z & 2H and His Excellency participating in a “Just Dance” activity with the students in 1M.

On January 30^th, 2020, we hosted our third annual Faith Day Event in conjunction with our Feast Day of St. Clare.  This was be a GrACE Event in cooperation with our Catholic Community of Caring Committee.  Like in years past, we engaged presenters and personnel from the Diocese of Calgary, Calgary Catholic School District and Ascension Parish. Months of planning by our GrACE Groups and the CCC Committee went into staging this high-profile occasion which was held to honor our Patron Saint and commemorate the District Faith Theme, “Knock and the Door Will Be Opened”. 

The various classes from Kindergarten to Grade 6 were treated to presentations to deepen their faith response on the topic.  We were blessed to have the involvement of the following presenters from the Diocese of Calgary, Calgary Catholic School District, Ascension Parish and North West Calgary. The day commenced with a school-wide presentation including featured guests, our school GrACE teams and special musical performances by our St. Clare Music Ministry followed by morning & afternoon breakout sessions with scheduled presenters for our Kindergarten to Grade 6 classes. Central to the day was our liturgy at 11:00 am in honour of the feast day of our patron saint with Fr. Adrian Mertens serving as the presider. Overall, the events of the day served to deepen the understanding of the District faith theme in addition to celebrating our school's Patron Saint. Overall, it was an amazing faith-filled celebration in our school community.

This is just a short collection of highlights of an amazing journey in GrACE at St. Clare this year.  These are small assortment of acts that have built a tapestry of faith amongst our staff, students in our school and faith community. Such an experience has served to enhance the vital role that our faith needs to play in the teaching and learning at our school.  When I think of Catholic Education in Alberta, I think of a blessed opportunity to educate our children in a manner that is permeated by the Catholic faith.  I have had the great privilege to work with colleagues who see their jobs as vocations associated with Christ’s call to love one another. Being an educator in a Catholic School is not just a job . . . it is a calling . . . a position that embodies a mission to impart and share our faith in the walls of the classroom, school and beyond. We are involved in witnessing to our students and each other. I have benefited from the efforts and creativity of so many teachers throughout my years in Calgary Catholic School District who have organized Christ-centered, life-changing experiences for our young people. I am confident that such will have an enduring legacy for generations to come. 

 

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples since December 2019, has referred to children as our “unconventional prophets and evangelizers”. It is time well spent to make the space every so often to sit and reflect on how God is nourishing us through the students and staff that we meet in our Catholic Schools. What a gift to meet the Lord each day in buildings where God is actively welcomed.  Let us pray that we will never lose sight of the varied ways God continues to bless us!  As witnesses of God’s grace at work in lives throughout this school year, let us continue as we proclaim and reflect on the following words with grateful hearts as we embrace the responsibilities and rewards of our Catholic mission on Earth . . .

In closing, please take a few minutes to enjoy "Your Grace is Enough" by Matt Maher. This is a song often played during liturgies and Hymn Sing Assemblies at St. Clare.  It is a lively song whose words are a powerful reminder of how much God loves us to give us a blessed gift that can seem “unmerited” from our humble vantage points – grace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wN-fspKg1Q  - Your Grace is Enough by Matt Maher