MOTHERS Hold their child s hand for a moment And their heart for a LIFETIME

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1 St. Paul Catholic Elementary School Avenue Edmonton, AB T5N 0C7 Phone: Fax: Website: May 2018 Administrators Message MOTHERS Hold their child s hand for a moment And their heart for a LIFETIME Happy Mother s Day to all our mothers, whose love is so precious that it can never be measured, and whose patience seems to have no end. Website Updates! Please view our website for our updated school calendar, messages from the district and our new twitter feed. Run Wild Marafun We are excited to be participating in the 'RunWild Wild ones Marafun' again this year! The race is on Sunday, May 6 th. This unique race provides students age 4-12 the chance to participate in their first marathon. It s an opportunity for our students to focus on fun and fitness, as well as give them a chance to This year all money raised will go to the Zebra Child Protection Centre and the St. Albert Seniors Association. If your child would like to participate for the race please register online at Children who enter and raise money receive a race package, race bib, t- shirt, and medal when

2 they cross the finish line! Any parents interested in volunteering to run in the mornings are asked to contact Mrs. Benoit by at or by calling the school at Any students who would like to participate can meet Mrs. Benoit on the back 8:10 every morning, for a group run around the school field. Easter Mass We celebrated our Easter Mass on Wednesday, April 11 at 9:00 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church. For Catholics, Easter isn t just a single day of celebration Easter is celebrated for an extended period of time - 50 days to be exact! During this fifty days of Easter we relive the joyous events of the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary the Resurrection, Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost. Our next school mass will be the last week of school, on Wednesday, June 27 th at 9:00 am. Kindergarten Registration We are presently accepting registrations for our Kindergarten Program. This program is offered to children who will be five years of age before March 1, If you have relatives or friends who have children in this age group, please make them aware of our program. Upon registration, we require a copy of the birth certificate and baptismal certificate. Family Dance A message from Family Dance Committee chair, Lisa Sadd: Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and enjoy our Candyland Family Dance on April 13th. We are very grateful to the many families who worked a dance shift or donated items for dance prizes and our silent auction. Events like this do not happen without the help and support of our St. Paul families. Thank you also to Mrs. Tomko, Señor Rojas and all the grade sixes who made the fabulous decorations, sold tickets and worked the concession. You rock! Lastly to the committee, we appreciate all your time, effort and ideas. Hot Lunch Theme: Jersey/Oiler day Every Friday in May, students can order Hot Lunch from Healthy Hunger. Parents can order and pay on line. If you need information about ordering, please contact your room rep or go to Healthy Hunger at: On Friday, May 25 th come dressed in your favourite sport jersey or Oiler apparel. The accompanying hot lunch will be from Booster Juice.

3 Year Book If you have any school pictures that could go into the St. Paul yearbook, please them to the following link. Archbishop Macdonald student volunteers Students from Archbishop Macdonald High have been volunteering their time to work with some of our classes in April and will continue during the month of May. Greenhouse Fundraiser Spring Has Sprung!!!! See Your School Bloom - Greenhouse Plantraiser On Tuesday, May 15 th, between 10:00 am 3:30 pm, come by the school and buy plants for yourself, family, and friends. All friends and relatives are welcome!!! Our greenhouse is first come first serve as we have limited space. The prices are very competitive with other greenhouses with the bonus of 30% going to the school. Please pay by cash or make cheques payable to St. Paul Parent Advisory. Last year we sold a little over $12,000 in plants raising the school around $4,500. The plants were absolutely beautiful as were the pots so please come take a look!!! If you have pre-ordered plants we would like you to stop by sometime in the day between 10:00-3:30 to pick up your plants. If you would like to help at the event please Michelle at bmbessette1@me.com ECS Parent Newsletter- A Message from Bishop David Edmonton Catholic School District Parent Newsletters May 2018 Mothers and Myrrh-bearing Women Soon after Jesus resurrection, the word of God continued to spread and the number of faithful greatly increased so much so that the twelve disciples had difficulty in continuing to care for the widows and the daily distribution of food. To help in these important tasks, the disciples chose seven men from among their midst, including Stephen, who would become the first-martyr for the faith (see Acts 6:1-7).

4 Yet, men were not the only ones who followed Jesus and supported his ministry, both in his life, and at his death. So, as we celebrate Mother s Day, let us recall the myrrh-bearing women, who ran to the tomb on that first Easter morning. The myrrh-bearing women are the eyewitnesses of Jesus death and the place of his burial. They are also the witnesses of his resurrection. And they are the ones who receive the glorious news from the angel, who tells them, Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you. Lord: As we read in Father Thomas Rosica s book, Stay with Us, Encounters with the Risen These women represented countless nameless yet devoted women who were part of the crowds Jesus addressed and in the homes he frequented. They were the courageous ones who reached out fearlessly to touch the fringe of his cloak. They shouted after him; they entered his hosts houses uninvited; they poured expensive perfumed nard over his feet. They knew the promise made to them, they welcomed him, they knew from Jesus own treatment of them the strength of their own testimony to him, and they were unafraid to show him great love. In the end, they stood beneath his dying body, while the men were hiding for fear of the authorities. It was the women who grounds spices for his burial and calculated how to roll back the stone from his tomb. They attended firmly to the business of his living and dying. [And] they were rewarded for their fidelity by being the first recipients of the Good News of the Resurrection (pp ). My late mother, Olga God bless her soul, was also a myrrh-bearing woman in her own right. As I ve shared before, she taught me as a young boy about God, about love, and the importance of family and friends. She taught me about caring for neighbours. She taught me my daily prayers the Our Father, the Hail Mary, how to make the sign of the Cross, and the Ten Commandments in Ukrainian I might add, and even before I ever attended summer Catechism with the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate at the age of 5 (mom didn't want the Sisters to think that she neglected her duty as a mother in passing down the faith to her children!). Like my mother, your mother, all mothers are myrrh-bearing women. They received the Good News of the Resurrection of Our Lord that very first Easter morning. They received the great command to go tell others of the joy of the Gospel message, of God s love and mercy in the world. This Mother s Day, let us offer a word of prayer and thanksgiving to God for all moms who have showed us love and raised us to be who we are today, truly children of God. Happy Mother s Day to all moms! And to my mom, may God grant you eternal rest! I love you! Bishop David

5 Mother s Day Honouring Our Mothers The practice of celebrating Mother s Day comes from Civil War times. Mrs. Ann Reeves Jarvis wanted to organize a special day for mothers who had sons fighting on opposing sides in the Civil War. Ann Jarvis was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Jarvis s daughter, Anna, wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started and, in 1907, began a movement to make Mother s Day a national event. Anna wanted to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world. Finally, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May as Mother s Day. Mothers teach love. And they teach it by doing loving things for their children and for other people. Mothers, like Jesus, become the measurement of how we are to love. Jesus said, I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John 13:34) So every mother silently says the same. Watch me and you will learn how to love. Let me move you from self-centeredness to sharing and concern for others. Watch me and I will show you how to do it. This way, every mother furthers the good news of Christ. Out of French Revolution came the story of a mother who had wandered through the woods for three days with her two children, trying to survive on roots and leaves. On the third day, she heard some soldiers approaching and quickly hid herself and the children behind some bushes. The sergeant in charge prodded the bushes to see what was stirring behind them. When he saw the starving woman and children he immediately gave them a loaf of bread. The mother took it eagerly, broke it into two pieces, and gave one piece to each of the children. She has kept none for herself, the sergeant said. Because she is not hungry? a soldier asked. Because she is a mother, the sergeant replied. Love is taught by loving actions. Our first experience of love in this life comes from our mothers. We recognize that instinctively. We need to acknowledge also that the love of God is taught by lots of moms and dads even the ones that are childless or single. And so Mother s Day and Father s Day really celebrate all those people who have mothered and fathered us, and taught us how to love. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John 13:34) This is the perfect verse and message for Mother s Day. Why? Because love is what mothers do best. Happy Mother s Day! Fr. Julian Bilyj District Chaplain Resources: A World of Stories for Preachers and Teachers by Fr. William J. Bausch. Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, CT,