Dear SUA Community,
Even though our students are in high school, there is still a lot of enthusiasm around Halloween. We have decorated doors and restrooms, as well as trick-or-treating on campus, all thanks to the efforts of our Student Council and Campus Ministry students. There is a morning tailgate on the East Quad sponsored by GAA and a costume parade. All of these things build community and memories - and they also make our days more enjoyable.
Following Halloween, we have All Saints’ Day. As that Holy Day of Obligation is on a Saturday, we will not be holding a schoolwide Mass. Nevertheless, I remember our priest from last year’s All Saints’ Day Mass, who reminded the students that we are all in the process of becoming saints and supporting each other in that goal. At the heart of our mission at Saint Ursula Academy is our Catholic faith and Ursuline values. We are committed to graduating young women filled with faith, integrity, and courage. That outcome is accomplished through persistent focus on faith formation activities as an integral part of our non-academic programming.
The Class of 2029 was introduced to our Ursuline Heritage during a Faith in Action Day several weeks ago. It is critical that our students understand how the vision of Saint Angela Merici informed all aspects of the work of the Ursulines of Cincinnati and their commitment to bringing Ursuline values to our students and to the neighborhoods surrounding our campus.
Kathy Hammond, our Vice Principal of Student Life, in collaboration with Andrea Brunsman, our Campus Minister, has restructured our Faith in Action Days this year. Each grade will have an activity or experience focused on what it means to be a Thinker, Leader, Nurturer, or Prophet in Christ, as well as a retreat. The grade level retreats culminate in the senior-year retreat, called Kairos. Kairos is a Greek word that means “the Lord’s time,” and the Kairos retreat is just that: a multi-day time of prayer and reflection fostering spiritual and personal growth. Our first Kairos retreat will take place in two weeks; please keep our retreatants in your prayers.
Faith formation is an ongoing process and commitment. In addition to the learning that happens in the Religion classrooms, students attend schoolwide Masses where the sense of being a community of daughters and sons of God is so apparent. Each grade has four Communion services throughout the year, remembered as special times to celebrate the Eucharist in smaller groups. Our Campus Ministry program offers many optional faith formation opportunities throughout the year, including praying the Rosary, Adoration, and prayer services. Many of our students love to attend our Faithful Friends and Food events as a way to pray together and strengthen our sisterhood.
Halloween may be all about costumes and the fun of pretending to be someone else for a day, but our faith formation is all about bringing our students back to who they truly are: young women made in the image and likeness of God filled with faith, integrity, and courage. Our retreats, Faith in Action Days, and shared prayer bring our students closer to their authentic selves, the saints-in-the-making that God envisions.
Go Bulldogs!
Kathy
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