Mrs. Mary Spieker – Director of Religious Education
618 Fullerton Avenue
Whitehall PA 18052
610-266-0695
February 2012
The Roman Catholic Church maintains many ancient traditions.
Blessed
Candles
are another beautiful tradition used by the Church in the Sacraments and other
devotions. God made use of fire and flames many times in the Old and New
Testaments. He appeared to Moses in the form of a fiery bush; the Holy Spirit
descended on the Apostles in the form of fiery tongues; and Christ is often
referred to as the “light of the world to enlighten them that sit in the
darkness and the shadow of death.” The lighted candles remind us of all this.
They have the effect of expelling devils and bringing blessings to the places
were they are lighted.
The prayer that the priest says for the blessing of the candles is beautiful:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, we implore Thee to bless these candles and through the power of
the holy Cross, to bestow upon them Thy heavenly benediction, who has given them
to mankind to dispel darkness.
"May they, through the sign of the Holy Cross, obtain such blessing that
wherever they may be lighted or wherever
they be placed the powers of darkness may vanish, trembling and affrighted, with all their aids and accomplices and
be driven from these dwellings, and never again dare disquiet or molest them that serve Thee, Almighty God.”
The following children received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time on Thursday evening,
January 19. Please continue to pray for them and for their families as they begin preparation for the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
Alexia Arevalo Riley Christine Paige Donohue
Lennon Dreisbach Weinsten Exantus Giovanni Failla
Nicolette Grundman Michael Hernandez Alyssa Jimenez
Elie Khalil Jessica Maher Arizona Marakovits
Giuseppe Mazzola Lauren Phillips Hannah Prevoznik
Briahna Raub Abdul Rucker Jr. Jakob Schlosser
Matthew Seyfried Tyler Smith
REMINDER
Children in the second grade sacramental preparation program will attend Liturgy of the Word on Sunday, February 12,
at the 10:30 AM Mass.
Confirmation
The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated at Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary Parish on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 4:30 PM
CONFIRMATION INTERVIEWS
Confirmation interviews are schedule for Monday, February 13 in the school building immediately following
PREP class. All service hours will need to be completed and handed in at this time.
DATE CHANGE – CONFIRMATION PRACTICE
Confirmation practice with students originally scheduled for Sunday, March 4th at 1:00 PM has been changed due to Baptisms. The new date for this Confirmation practice is Saturday, March 3 after the 4:30 PM Mass. Students are expected to attend the 4:30 PM Mass and will be seated as a group in assigned seats. Our practice will begin immediately after Mass. Practice will last approximately 45 minutes to an hour. PLEASE NOTE: The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered from 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM on Saturdays. Confession is a great way to help your child prepare to receive the Holy Spirit more fully in Confirmation.
A Second Confirmation practice is on Wednesday evening, March 7 at 7:00 PM for candidates and sponsors. Thanks in advance for your participation and dedication.
Parents are reminded to send the form for released time to the school districts if they need to have students released early from school on March 8.
ATTENDANCE
Parents are responsible to make certain that their child does make-up work if they have exceeded our three-absent
per year policy. I will only notify you of how many make-up assignments are necessary, your choices of assignments,
and when they are due. I am sorry if you find this an addition burden, but in all fairness this has been the policy at
St. Elizabeth’s PREP and all are reminded each year of this policy. Without some kind of accountability,
our policy and program can become meaningless. All parents with students over the three-absent limit will be receiving a note via e-mail by March 5. Then it is in your hands to carry through in the spirit of learning about our faith. If you have any questions or can offer a substitute make-up opportunity such as service hours, please contact me directly.
Prayer Services Planned!
Our 6th Graders worked hard creating and implementing our PRO-LIFE Prayer Service on January 23. We thank the many parents who came to pray with us asking the Lord to help change the minds and hearts of those who create laws that work against the RIGHT TO LIFE. Only Creator God has the right to give and take life.
Our 5th grade PREP class will soon begin to plan for our Valentine’s Day Prayer Service to be held on Monday, February 13. All parents and families are welcome and urged to attend and pray with us!
Monday, February 13 – St. Valentine Prayer Service –
Planned by 5th grade PREP
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20
On March 12, Kim Zardet, the Mission Education Director for the Holy
Childhood Association in the Diocese of Allentown, will visit our PREP
students. The Holy Childhood Association has served children all over the world
since its beginning in 1843. Their motto of “Children Helping Children” is the
focus of HCA. The money raised and donated assists children directly in
developing nations around the world and provides
mission education materials to children in the
U.S.
During
her visit, we would like to present Mrs. Zardet with a monetary donation from
our PREP fam
ilies.
We will be baking and selling fresh cookies on Monday evening, February 27, snow
date March 5. We will call
each class to the cafeteria to enjoy two homemade cookies and some nice cool
milk or water for a $1.00
donation to Holy Childhood. If any parents can help this evening in the
cafeteria, it would be greatly appreciated.
Each class will also be asked to create a spiritual bouquet through prayer and good works to present to Mrs. Zardet on March 12. Please keep the Holy Childhood Association Mission in your prayers for the good of all.
USED CLOTHING/COAT DRIVE
Our fifth grade PREP class will be hosting a
used clothing drive the weekend of April 14-15. Once the spirit
moves you to begin spring clean-out, please remember our fifth grade Mission project. More information to follow.
Home School Update
The second meeting for those children who are being “Home-schooled” for Religious Education will be the week of Feb. 6, 2012. Unless other arrangements have already been made, please call (610-266-0695) or e-mail me at dirreled@sercc.org and we will set up a convenient time to meet.
Homework
Please check to make sure your child has completed the homework
assignment each week. In most cases, homework is given weekly with an added e-mail reminder.
Together, we can train our children to know, understand, and value our faith through our own words and examples.
Volunteering
Although we have dedicated and effective volunteer catechists and
assistants in place, please consider volun
teering in our PREP classes on Monday nights and/or the Liturgy of the
Word program on Sundays. Many come to me with wonderful ideas, but we need more
helping hands to implement these suggestions. Please think about it. Pray
about it. See if the Spirit moves you!
Presidents’ Day
There is no class on Monday, February 20, because of the holiday. Enjoy your long weekend!
Inclement Weather
In case of inclement weather, please watch for an announcement of cancellation for St. Elizabeth PREP Classes, Whitehall, on the usual local stations. I will try to get the message announced as soon as possible.
Rule of Thumb: If the Whitehall-Coplay School District has cancelled classes or has an early dismissal, we will not have class.
WFMZ – TV Note: Schedule delay or closing information will be listed on our website and not on Channel 69 (except for extreme weekend weather conditions).
February
BirthdaysHappy Birthday to: Natalia, Andrew, Luke, Nicholas, Lennon, Anyah, Destiny, and Lennon.
The Origin of St. Valentine
The
origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a
mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his
Christian
faith. Other historians hold that
St. Valentine
was a
temple
priest jailed
for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really
existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient
church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February
14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=159
The PREP Word of the Month: Kyrie Eleison – Christe Eleison
Kyrie Eleison - Greek for "Lord have mercy."
Christe Eleison – Greek for “Christ have mercy.”
This phrase is a very old, even pre-Christian, expression used constantly in all Christian liturgies.
Calendar
FEBRUARY
February 6 Class
February 13 Class
St. Valentine Prayer Service – Hosted by 5th Grade – 6:45 – 7:20
February 20 NO CLASS Presidents’ Day Holiday
February 27 Class
Bake Sale – Holy Childhood
MARCH
March 5 Class
March 12 Class Guest Speaker: Holy Childhood – Kim Zardet
March 19 Class
March 26 Confessions – grades 2 - 8 6:00 PM in church
Happy Valentines Day! I’ll be thinking and praying for all of you.
Mrs. Mary Spieker
Director of Religious Education
