St.
Augustine Academy
130 South Wells Road Ventura California 93004 805-672-0411 Fax 805-672-2365 e-mail [email protected] www.SaintAugustineAcademy.com February 15, 2013
Board of Governors President Thomas Q. Ellis Secretary Robert R. Orellana, Esq. Treasurer Michael C. Collins Members Abel Montiel Jeff Schuberg Michael F. McLean, Ph.D. Louise Warnert
St. Claude de Colombiere
Dear Families:
What a week! Let us pray for our Pope and for the coming consistory, that it be the servant of the Holy Spirit. Also, with Lent starting, it is a great moment to offer up our sacrifices for this intention. And, to help with Lent, we continue with Part Two of HAPPINESS: Recall, we were reviewing the friends and enemies of self-control/will-powerthe REAL challenge to our virtue, hence our happiness. Dr. Kaczor continues, first on rationalization of behavior, then will power again: Rationalization of failure Dont rationalize your failing, learn to figure out WHY you fell. Put yourself in the position of non-judgmental curious observer. Time? Circumstance? Something before? Since humans are habitual, we can often find out how a pattern leads to the problemwhich makes it easier to fix. Who, what, where, why, when, how? Think honestly so you can determine the pattern and then make a plan to avoid, circumvent, and fix such situations. Rationalization of goodness - Sometimes we remind ourselves that we are being good, which gives us permission to be bad a rationalization to sin. I am doing good, I deserve a reward. Rationalization of today - Tomorrow I will be good, so today we promise ourselves that things will be better tomorrow, so today it is okay to do bad. When salads appeared on the menu of McDonalds, Big Mac sales went up.Oh, this is a healthy place, next time I will get a salad, but today BIG MAC! One of Dr. Kaczors examples was very gripping but I will just present it in summary: A medical student at UCLA found herself on facebook increasingly often, for longer periods of time. Then, found herself short on homework and sleep. She caught herself in this downward spiral and put a note on her computer: Is facebook now worth not becoming a doctor? She just graduated! Rationalization of need - I need this to be happy. Ummmno you dont! Dont liethe word NEED means something (think African babies need food, Haitian orphans need clothing.) Rationalization of stress/emotion. This may be the most powerful rationalization we must learn to deal with. Here is a practical way to deal with all these emotionswrite a short three-part letter to yourself. 1. Describe emotion you are going through. 2. Note how many others suffer through this thing tie it to the universal human story (nasty boss, mean friend, loss of relationship) 3. Finally, how would you advise someone else through this issue? What the heck effect Well, I had one cig/drink/gossip comment, might as well have the whole pack. When we open the door, will power fails, we sink deep. This holds for sin, too. Beating yourself up effect This is the opposite of the previous, but is hugely counter-productive it does NOT work. Healthy regret is okay and proper. Toxic regret, woe is me, is not. The answer or antidote to this effect is to be compassionate, loving and patient, like CHRIST does. Love our neighbor as ourselves, as indicated in the letter to self described in the stress/emotion rationalization. St. Thomas Aquinas talks of this; people are made in the imagio Dei, so we should be kind, loving and compassionate to peoplebut we are people too! So we must love ourselves as others. We love ourselves in the mercy of Christ. We all make some fun of the 70s pop psychology of looking out for Number One, but that is not what is being described here this is recognizing our own worth as a true child of God. This helps us overcome the weakness of will it actually increases self control and power of will because it is the mean between the extremes of what the heck and toxic me. Think, how does a good confessor treat us when we sin mostly with compassion and encouragement, and FORGIVENESS. St. Alphonsus teaches priests to, when in confession, be gentle as a lambnow this is confirmed as wise by modern psychological studies a breath of fresh air compared to the diabolical psychological experiments of the 20th century. Reflection helps us grow! Next week the final segment: Handling temptation in the moment. 6 recommendations:
Headmaster Michael J. Van Hecke, M.Ed. Vice President of Development J. Peter Slaga
Board of Advisors Mr. John W. Blewett Wanderer Forum Foundation Hon. Jeremiah Denton Former U.S. Senator Mr. Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. President Ave Maria University Dr. Ronald P. McArthur Co-founder Thomas Aquinas College Mr. Roy S. Rohter, S.F.O. Founder St. Augustine Academy Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. Chancellor Franciscan University Mr. James Stenson Educator and Author
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Feb 15th Feb 18th Feb 20th Mar 1st Mar 8th Mar 16th High School Movie Night NO SCHOOL Federal Holiday. Stations of the Cross (every Wednesday at 11:50 AM) Early dismissal First Friday Ice Skating Rec Day End of 3rd Quarter School Play Cyrano De Bergerac
STUDENT COUNCIL NOTES: HIGH SCHOOL MOVIE NIGHT Courageous. Friday, February 15th 7:30 PM. Back by Popular DemandICE SKATING Friday March 1st Rec Day. See Flyer.
Attention Car Pools of 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders! On Wednesday, February 20th, the 4th, 5th and 6th graders will be going on a field trip to the Griffith Observatory. Due to timing at the observatory, our students will not arrive back to campus until 3:20ish. Please make suitable adjustments to carpool pick-up times.
SAT/ACT Study Group STARTS NEXT WEEK, Feb. 23rd. Every Saturday, between now and the end of April, Mrs. Finley will host an SAT study group for students to gather and work on their practice SATs or ACTs. It would be a designated place and time to work on only that, since too often best intentions of spending time on it at home get derailed by chores, siblings or friends. Times: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. At first, it will be general practice, then, after Easter we can work on full, timed practice testing. This would coincide with our annual SAT Prep class by Mr. Medina. HOMEWORK FOR ABSENT STUDENTS Teachers are working on making sure sheets get filled out. If a child is sick, their sibling will get the sheet at the end of the school day. That child should also gather books from the locker. If there is no sibling at the school, the sheet will be on the front table in the office entrance for pick-up by a parent or designated representative (maybe a fellow carpool person?)
YEARBOOK - ADS if you want to buy a quarter page for your business, or to write something to their student. 1/4 page would be $50, half $100, full $150.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS NEXT Sunday 2-24-13 Ventura H.S., Poli Street Gym, Varsity: 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM NEXT Sunday 2-24-13 JV: Same Gym, 8:00 AM PLAYOFFS BEGIN ON THURSDAY NIGHT 2-28-13 Cabrillo Middle School
MIDDLE SCHOOL Boys: Wednesday St. Mary Magdalen (HOME) 3:30 PM Girls: Tuesday St. Mary Magdalen (HOME) 3:30 PM
Coaches note: The girls lost their first game in a squeaker, by two baskets, after Joan Loughman was sidelined with an ankle injury. We look forward to a rematch soon. The Middle School Boy Crusaders had to put the brakes on since they were so successful this week, building on their run in the second half of last weeks game. They eventually won 45 to 7 Wow! Ora Pro Nobis: We pray for our Holy Mother Church in this time of transition bless the Pope and the Cardinals. Let us remember to pray for one another. We pray for the soul of John Blewett, grandpa to many SAA alumni and long-time friend of many of us and a great supporter of the school. For the Helguera family (Josefinas family in Argentina) who suffered a severe car accident thankfully everyone is recovering. For Molly Rosecrance. For Tom McGrath. For David Browitt, Fr. Jim, OFM, from St. Paschals, Barbara Lunde and Mary Artner. For Mr. Pat Ramirez, Mr. Joseph Kern, and Kim Levy. Let us pray for the health of Rosie Grimm, Angel Castillo, Noah, and Michelle Loughman. Finally, remember to pray for our country, our soldiers, and, for all priests and religious, especially our Archbishop Jose Gomez and Holy Father, Benedict. Post Office Box 4506 Ventura California 93007 805-672-0411 Fax 805-672-2365 e-mail [email protected]
