It is hard to believe that fall is going by so quickly and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I guess we say that all the time because we live such busy lives. However, with Daniel being my youngest and a senior, I sure wish it would slow down!
Well as we get closer to Thanksgiving and then on to Christmas, it is a time to look over our life and thank God for all the wonderful blessings we have in it. Like most of you, at the top of the list, I think of my family, starting with my husband, Bob, and four boys. How they give me so much to be truly thankful for with their love and support: and their never ending energy. They certainly keep me busy and life interesting. I think of my parents, siblings and all their families, how grateful I am to be able to spend time with them either at a family gathering or through conversation on the telephone. I think of my friends, in the community or ones developed over the years. How unique they all are, but each of my friends, all special and important in their own way. I think of my parish family at St. Leo, from Father Jason to the children in class or at church and to all of you. How thankful I am to have the gift of faith and the ability to share that with others often. I hope as the holiday season progresses I can keep the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as the center of my focus as I recall God's fulfillment of his promise through the birth of his son in a manger.
Well that is enough rambling, let's get to the point! This was our 10th week of class and this week we started at mass with the feast of St Leo the Great, our patron saint!! What a great learning experience for all of our students! Father Jason, again with his wisdom, spoke during his homily and told us about the importance of this Pope from the 5th century who later became a saint. He gave us 4 main points for which St Leo is remembered. The 1st because he stood up against heresies in the church that were occurring at that time. Second for standing up against factions that wanted to dispute the duo nature of Jesus, in that he was fully human and fully divine. Third that he protected Rome against invasion from Attila the Hun. And Father's last point was that St Leo is remembered for his writing and speeches. It is so good to know some history of our patron saint!
Class began with our opening prayer to the Holy Spirit. We then discussed the upcoming trip to Bowling Green to attend the Diocesan Youth Conference. So far we have 8 students playing to attend. We will leave Friday November 19th at 2:30 and return Saturday night about 10:30 pm. I know we will have a great time sharing our faith with others!
This week we studied lesson 6 in the Teen timeline series covering the period in the bible from the Exile to 2nd Kings. This is the period of the Divided Kingdom with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The Israelites then fall to different kingdoms of the time from the Assyrians to the Babylonians. We hear of the prophet Daniel and how he is the Portrait of Trust through prayer and his great faith in God. After the Babylonian exile, the Persians take over and allow the Israelites to return from exile to the land of Canaan. From the book of Esther, we hear about a women who was very beautiful but who's inner beauty far surpassed her outer beauty. She was the Portrait of Heroism and saved the Jewish people from persecution. We hear next about the conqueror, Alexander the Great. During this time the Jewish people were ruled by the Greeks. Mark Hart explained how the books of the Bible were set in the 5th century and in place for over 1000 years. When Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation instead of using the Greek translation of the Old Testament that contained 46 books and was the one used since the Bible books were 1st put together. He used the Hebrew translation of the Old Testament to make his bible which contained 7 less books. That is the reason the Protestant Bible does not have as many books as ours. The 7 books of the Bible had been there for over 1000 years and without them there is a big gap is the story of salvation. One of the missing books is the book of Maccabees. We learned about the Maccabean revolt where the Jewish people fought for their freedom and independence. The Jewish priest went into the Temple to purify it and only had enough oil to burn for 1 day. But the oil burned for 8 days and this was a miracle! Our Jewish neighbors celebrate this every year with Hanukkah and their 8 candle menorah. We ended the lesson knowing that Greece would soon fall and the Romans would take over this area of the world. We ended to begin next time with the fulfillment of God's promises to all of us.
Next week on Wednesday we will meet after mass with the parents of our confirmation students to discuss the confirmation schedule. I hope all students and parents can attend this important meeting.
Have a great week!
God bless all of you,
Dr Joyce
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