Everest Academy Lemont Blog

Copyright Catholic Kids Net 2011

www.k4j.org

The potato crops in Ireland had failed for many years. The people had their Catholic faith, but even so it was hard to keep up hope when they were so hungry. Many Catholics were even promised food if they would give up their faith! They prayed to Mary, Cause of Hope, for help.

One summer evening in 1879 it was raining in Knock, Ireland. Suddenly, Mary, St Joseph, and the Apostle St John, appeared in a blaze of light outside the Church of St. John the Baptist!  Behind them, near St. John, were a cross and a lamb on top of an altar. Adoring angels were all around.  Mary was praying and raising her hands toward heaven. St. Joseph was preaching, dressed like a bishop.  The people watching this amazing sight were drenched with rain but the ground under the image was dry! The people stood watching and praying the rosary for two hours as the scene continued.  They were strengthened in hope and in love. It was as if they had been invited into the home of Mary - she had lived first with St. Joseph, her husband, then in the home of St. John, the son Jesus gave to her when he was dying on the cross.

Our Lady of Knock, please bring me into your home.

 Help me to learn to be modest and share my love with others the way you did!

Agnes means “lamb” in Latin, the ancient Roman language. St Agnes was born during the early days of the Church, when Roman soldiers persecuted Christians.

Agnes was only 13 years old when she was arrested for her love for Jesus. The judge tried to make her forget her love and marry a young man named Procops who fought against the Christians. But Agnes refused, saying that she loved Jesus and had promised to follow his teachings and love others as he taught.

St Agnes gave her whole heart to Jesus. She gave him everything so she could follow him completely. The Church teaches us that people who do this may be called “companions of the Lamb.” They receive the special ability to follow Jesus, the Lamb of God, wherever he goes!

St Agnes, help me to live what I believe.
Help me to follow all that Jesus teaches!

 

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St Joseph was the foster father of Jesus. He was very humble and obedient. When an angel told him that he should take Mary as his wife, he immediately obeyed. And when an angel sent by God told him to take Mary and Jesus and leave Bethlehem, he did. St Joseph worked hard to provide for his family. As a carpenter, he had to work very, very hard, but he still did it. St Joseph is a great saint. He is the Patron of the Universal Church and families.

St Anthony was born in Portugal in 1195. When he was a boy he wanted desperately to be a knight for the Church. But God had an even better plan in mind. Anthony would become a great crusader for the Church, but his only weapon would be his special love for the Child Jesus!

St. Francis of Assisi lived during a time when people thought too much about riches, and not enough about receiving the greatest gift - Jesus - into their hearts. One day when Francis was praying, he heard Jesus say, “Go, Francis, and repair my Church, which you see is falling into ruin.” From that day, Francis worked to build the Church. He started an order of poor monks called the Friars Minor, or Franciscans. They taught others to seek Jesus, poor and gentle, to fill their hearts. One Christmas Eve, Francis led the Friars Minor up a mountain to celebrate Christmas Mass. He had a new idea about how to share the joy of Christmas with his family of monks. There, before the altar, he had placed an empty manger. Next to it was a real donkey and an ox! After Francis read the Gospel, he prayed for a long time over the manger. Suddenly, people saw the Christ Child appear in the manger, smiling and looking up at Francis! St. Francis had invented the first nativity scene to help celebrate the wonder of Christmas!

Last weekend, Pope Francis performed the consecration before the image of Our Lady of Fatima, asking Mary’s help to “revive and grow faith.” Oct. 13 marked the 96th anniversary since the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to shepherd children Jacinta Marto, her younger brother Francisco and Lúcia dos Santos at Fatima - who happen to be our Saints of the Month (see below)

One day in 1917, three shepherd children named Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco were tending their sheep near the small town of Fatima, Portugal. Suddenly, Mary appeared to them over the top of a small tree. She told them to come and visit her in that same spot each month. Mary revealed many things to the children, some of which were secrets. Soon, however, the town’s people began to get very curious. They tried to make the children tell them the secrets, which the children had promised Mary they would not do. A government official threatened to burn them alive in boiling oil if they would not tell him the secrets, but the children were responsible and remained faithful to their promise to do what Mary asked of them. In October, Mary appeared to the children one last time. There was a crowd of thousands of people gathered to watch. It was a rainy day. Mary gave all the people a sign -- the sun came out and danced in the sky! The doubting people became believers. They were now FREE to love God and each other!

Mary, help me be RESPONSIBLE in my actions,

just like the three humble children who did what God asked of them,

even when it was very hard. Amen
 

All contents copyright © Catholic Kids Net 2010

Once there lived a poor fisherman named Peter. One day, Jesus met Peter on the shore and he said, "Come follow me.  I will make you a fisher of men."  Peter's heart was filled with love for Jesus. He wanted to follow Jesus forever - he wanted to be Jesus' loyal friend.

But one dark night, soldiers came and arrested Jesus.  They wanted to kill Jesus, and Peter was afraid. When people asked Peter if he knew Jesus, he said, "No!" three times.  When a rooster crowed, Peter realized that he had not been loyal to Jesus.  Peter cried and could not stop.  Jesus forgave Peter.  Jesus never stopped being loyal to Peter.

After Jesus rose from the dead, he put Peter in charge of his Church on earth.

Jesus, thank you for being my loyal friend always. 

St. Peter, help me to trust in Jesus' love, even when I have made mistakes.

All contents copyright © Catholic Kids Net 2010  www.k4j.org

St. Philip Neri

St. Joachim and St. Ann were Mary's parents. They loved God very much, and they taught little Mary their strong faith. They trusted in God's special plan of love for their family, no matter what. This made it possible for God to carry out the most amazing plan of love!

God asked Mary to become the mother of Jesus, his Son. How could this be possible? Mary was not sure, but she had learned from her parents to trust God's word. St. Joachim and St. Ann had taught Mary to love God's plan by talking with God in her heart. They had taught her to pray! Mary said "YES!" to God's plan right away. She became the mother of JESUS!

 St. Joachim and St. Ann, help me to love God's plan by obeying my parents right away!

All contents copyright © Creative Catholics 2010

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

St. Jerome was a monk who lived in a cave. (Many people think this was the very same cave that Jesus was born in. It’s even said that Jerome died with his head resting on Jesus’ manger!) While St. Jerome was alive, he did many things to help people know God’s truth. He translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin so more people could understand it. And he argued a lot with many people, including St. Augustine! It was not a bad kind of argument. It was a kind of argument that helped people discover God’s truth. St. Augustine once said, “If Jerome doesn’t know, then nobody does, or ever did.” God rewarded Jerome for loving and sharing his truth with others.

The greatest Herald of all time was St. John the Baptist. The first time he and Jesus met, they were not even born yet! But at the moment John heard Mary greeting his mother, Elizabeth, he leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. He was announcing that Jesus was near. St. John spent years in the desert eating locusts and wild honey and learning the truths of God from the Holy Spirit, his constant Friend and Guide.

John was being prepared in a special way for his important mission. St. John came out of the desert and began to teach the people. He announced that Jesus had come into the world, and would soon be with them to share the love of the Father in Heaven. St. John helped the people prepare to receive Jesus by being sorry for their sins.

He helped them become ready to know and love Jesus, and serve him by sharing the truth about God with others! Finally the time came and Jesus came to John and asked that he baptize him. John did not feel worthy but Jesus wanted to make water holy so that we could be baptized too. Then John said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” People stopped following John and started following Jesus. St. John the Baptist’s mission was complete!

Deacon Lawrence worked with the pope in Rome hundreds of years ago. Deacon Lawrence
loved the poor very much. He gave them everything he had.

A greedy Roman governor loved money and thought that the Church might be hiding a great
treasure, so he ordered Deacon Lawrence to bring it to him. Deacon Lawrence asked for three days to collect it all.

Three days later Deacon Lawrence came before the
Roman governor with a great crowd of people –
all the poor, hungry, sick and suffering people he was
able to find. Deacon Lawrence said, “Here, sir, is the
great treasure of the Church!”

The Roman governor was furious and ordered Deacon
Lawrence to be taken away. He had wanted gold
and jewels, not poor people!

Deacon Lawrence LOVED the Church and he was not afraid. Jesus was verypleased with Deacon Lawrence’s bravery and love. Jesus welcomed Deacon Lawrence into
heaven where he was now...SAINT Lawrence!

Jesus, help me to love all people as the treasure of the Church!

A little girl named Imelda was best friends with Jesus. Imelda loved Jesus very much. She knew that Jesus was God. He taught her how to love. This made Imelda very happy. And whenever Imelda had done something wrong, she went to Jesus in her heart. Jesus taught her to say, “I am sorry. Will you forgive me?” She said this to Jesus, and to anyone she had wronged. When Imelda was old enough, Jesus taught her how to come to him in the sacrament of Reconciliation, where he erased all her sins and made her soul clean and strong. Now more than ever, Imelda wanted to receive Jesus in the holy Eucharist into her body at communion time. But Imelda was not yet old enough. Imelda had a very special mission, and she lived with a group of religious sisters in a convent. She wanted to spend all of her time in prayer with Jesus. But she still was not old enough to receive Jesus in holy communion!

Then one day, when Imelda was talking with Jesus in her heart after the other sisters had received the holy Eucharist at mass, something wonderful happened! A white Eucharistic host moved through the air and rested over Imelda’s head! Jesus in the Eucharist had come to Imelda in a very special way! The priest took the host, and gave it to Imelda. Imelda received her first holy communion. Now she was perfectly happy.

With the help of our K4J (Kids for Jesus) program, here's what our students will be learning this month...

Virtue of the Month: GIVING: I offer my best to Jesus and others all day long!

Scripture Verse: God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:7)

Virtue Campaign: Give your heart to the One who loves you the most!

The beginning of the school year to begin the habit of visiting Jesus in the chapel to thank him for all the beautiful gifts that he gives us.  Going to the chapel to pray is a great way to grow in our love for Our Lord.  For each visit to the chapel for Mass, or Communion Service, or just to say hello to Jesus, students can place a small white circle on their class monstrance posted just outside the chapel doors.  Our campaign is to see which class will visit Jesus the most this month.

Saint of the Month: St. Martin of Tours

St. Martin of Tours. St. Martin was an army officer who wore a long, warm cape. One day he rode his horse near a poor, shivering man. Martin stopped and slit his cape in two with his sword and gave half the cape to the poor, cold man. Later that night when Martin was sleeping, he dreamed that Jesus had taken the place of the poor man and was wearing his cape. St. Martin understood that by GIVING to the poor man, he had GIVEN to Jesus!

St. Martin, help me GIVE to God and others from my heart, as you did!