All of the Angels and Saints, Pray for Us!

This year, we have been talking a lot about the angels and saints. An army of help in heaven available to us whenever we need them. Wow! What an incredible thought! I think about this a lot when I am feeling very alone. There are times when we can all feel very alone. We can feel alone in our mourning or alone in our contact with the outside world. We can feel alone in the heavy weight of expectations to care for our children or our parents. We can feel alone in a crisis or while we battle sin. We can even feel alone at a party or in a room full of people. Loneliness can be very difficult. It is an emotion that just weighs us down as we try to make sense of the world around us. This is when I like to turn to our saints and angels. If you go to https://www.catholic.org/saints/popular.php the saints are all categorized by popularity. You can click on the saint’s name and learn about all of the ways each of them became closer to God and made the world a better place. You can even see which saints are trending in popularity. Who else is looking up Saint Monica because their adult children need prayers for conversion? Who has been researching the life of St. John Paul because they feel called by God to do something big and they lack the courage. He says to “Be not afraid.” Knowledge of the saints can take away our loneliness. How? They know! They walked the Earth and struggled the same way we do. They wrestled with their own sin and they learned to trust God for all things. We can do the same. We can turn to the saints to pray for us. To pray for the people we are concerned for. There is an army of them in heaven.

In celebration of All Saints Day, the 5^th and 6^th grade students participate in the annual Saint Art Prize contest. Each student, independently, researches a saint of their choice, creates original art work to accompany the research, and presents the saint to the school community. This year, each student really connected to their chosen saint and presented a personal account of their life and how they influenced them. What a great job! The Grand Champion is Ethan Parker. 5^th grade prize- Brooke Houser. 6^th grade prize- Dominic LaRussa. Judge’s Award- Aeva Hobart.

As we continue to stay focused on Christ during 2020, it is comforting to know that the saints and angels are always with each of us. We are never alone in our struggle and weakness or our isolation and loneliness. Divine love will bring us closer to heaven. All of the saints and angels in heaven, Pray for us!

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Seven situations when you need to say “no” to your child

By Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PH.d

“Please can I? Can I? Huh? Can I? Can I? Puh-leeeze?!”
“You never let me do anything! It’s not fair! You only do things for my sister!”
“Everybody else gets to do it. Why are you always so mean?”

Setting limits with kids can be challenging. They may beg, bargain, cry, accuse, or demand relentlessly in ways that are wearing for parents. Some parents may give in just to avoid a battle. Others feel guilty for disappointing their children. Still others find themselves saying no at the top of their lungs. Saying no is an important responsibility for parents. Our no’s teach kids important lessons about life and getting along.

Here are seven situations when you may need to say no to your kids and some suggestions for how to do it.

1) Say no when their actions might hurt someone or break something. Preventing harm is the number one reason to say no. Children may have trouble anticipating bad outcomes, so they need adult guidance to help them make sensible choices. This kind of no helps kids learn to think ahead. Offering an alternative can redirect kids toward safer activities. Example: “No, you can’t jump on the couch. Someone could get hurt on the sharp table, or the couch might break. If you want to jump around, please go outside.”

2) Say no when they could do it on their own. Sometimes kids ask parents to do things for them that they could do on their own. While there’s nothing wrong with an occasional favor from a parent, children need practice to become competent and to see themselves as contributing in positive ways to the family. This kind of no helps kids learn to be capable. Offer training or support, if needed, but encourage your child to own the responsibility. Example: “No, it’s your turn to set the table. Do you remember how to do it? I’ll do one place as an example that you can copy.”

3) Say no when it’s a want, not a need. We’re constantly bombarded with ads but buying everything that appeals isn’t healthy or wise. While an occasional just-because treat can be fun, you certainly shouldn’t feel obligated to buy everything that strikes your child’s fancy. This kind of no helps children learn to tolerate disappointment and recognize that they can like something without owning it. You can acknowledge your child’s wish while not giving in to buying an unneeded item. Example: “No, we’re not going to buy it, but I can see why you like it! It’s very shiny.”

4) Say no when plans change. Life happens. Even when we intend to do something our children want, sometimes circumstances get in the way. This kind of no helps children learn patience and flexibility. Making a specific new plan can help your child cope with the delay. Example: “No, we can’t do that tonight. I was hoping we could, but then Aunt Margaret came by, and now it’s too close to bedtime. Let’s make a plan to do it tomorrow. Do you want to do it in the morning or the afternoon?”

5) Say no when someone else’s needs (temporarily) matter more. Kids are naturally self-centered, but considering someone else’s needs enables them to move past that. This kind of no helps children learn generosity. Painting a vivid picture of the other person’s feelings makes it easier for kids to embrace kind choices. Example: “No, you can’t go with your friends on Saturday. It sounds fun, but we have Grandma’s birthday party. We love Grandma so we want to make sure she has a good time on her birthday. I know she’s looking forward to spending time with you. She would feel hurt if you didn’t come.”

6) Say no when you’ll resent doing something. Resentment is poison in any relationship. It’s usually better not to do something than to do it with bitterness and anger. This kind of no helps children learn about healthy boundaries or compromise. You may be able to suggest a more do-able alternative to make your no easier for your child to accept. Example: “No, you can’t sign up for travel soccer because I don’t want to spend all day Saturday driving to far-away games. Saturday is our family time. I’d be happy to sign you up for the local team, which is less of a commitment for parents.”

7) Say no when it’s against your values. We teach our children about our values through the choices we make. Sometimes you may feel—and your child may loudly protest—that you’re the only parent making a certain decision, but you need to be true to your cherished beliefs. This kind of no teaches children about priorities and integrity. It may help to explain to your child the rationale behind your (unpopular) choice, but don’t feel like you have to convince your child that you are right. You are, after all, the parent. Example: “No, you can’t get a cell phone. I don’t think they’re appropriate for children your age, and I don’t want it to interfere with your schoolwork or family time.”

Your child won’t thank you for saying no, but sometimes a no is the best thing you can do for your child. Mountains of research show that the parenting style that is most beneficial for children involves a combination of warmth and limits. As an adult, you have a breadth of knowledge and experience that your child just doesn’t. You can empathize, compromise, redirect, or explain to soften the no, but for your child’s sake, don’t be afraid to say no when necessary.  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/growing-friendships/201712/when-and-how-say-no-kids

God Bless, Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Sacred Heart School this Month~ Faith in Action

Dan, Josh and Randy Day

Friday, October 23^rd has been declared Dan, Josh and Randy Day at Sacred Heart School. As I am sure you are aware, these three young men are seminarians for the Diocese of Lansing. We have been fortunate enough to have them live in Hudson during their breaks from schooling. While they were in Hudson, each of them contributed to the betterment of the church and school in ways that are priceless to us. They helped with many tasks, but I want to highlight one in particular. Their service resulted in a complete renovation of the preschool and kindergarten rooms as well as painting the ceiling of the downstairs. Their attention to detail and pride in their work, gave the downstairs floor of the school an upgrade that is nothing short of breathtaking. In celebration of these fine men, we shared their impact on the school with the students on October 23^rd. Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsknecht donated candy for each student to help us celebrate! We will continue to pray for our seminarians through their journey to priesthood as we educate our students on the importance of vocations.

Saint Art Prize

The students in 5^th and 6^th grade spend the month of October researching a saint of their choosing, as they prepare to make a presentation to the school community. This is our annual Saint Art Prize tradition. It is a contest for Grand Champion, Best in Grade and Judges Award which is given to the most complete and interesting presentations. Each student chooses and researches a saint. Then, they create an art project that illustrates the saint’s life. The saint is presented to the school community and we all get to take a deep look into what makes the saint’s life so pleasing to God. The goal is to inspire us all to be saintly and to live by the teachings of the church. We present Saint Art prize right after All Saints Day on November 2^nd at 8:30 in the Church Hall. Feel free to join us!

Thank you for all of the continued prayers for our school. Together, we can persevere through anything!

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Why do leaves change color in the Autumn?

Most of the spectacular colors of autumn have actually been in the leaves all summer, however they were “covered up” by the dominant green of the chlorophyll. As weather cools, and shorter days settle in, the chlorophyll begins to break down, revealing new and varied color pigments. The brightest colors are seen when late summer is dry, and autumn has bright sunny days and cool nights.

This explanation of why the leaves turn colors was in answer to some of our students questions during our beautiful Michigan Fall. It really is breathtaking to see the drastic change from ordinary to magnificent. This transformation made me think about the development of our soul. When we are born we are brilliant and stunning. Our soul is already formed in the likeness of God and we are called to show our most brilliant self to the world. But we are also born with original sin that covers this beautiful light with camouflage (original sin), keeping each of us from bearing our true soul, our authentic self. It is so intriguing to think of every student in their red and navy uniform as a beautiful leaf. When we talk to them about kindness, hope, love, respect, courtesy and faith it is because we can see that each of them is full of so many gifts that they are meant to shared. Our purpose is to draw closer to God and to bare our colors for all to see, to be brilliant!

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, principal

Sugar Maple, White Birch, Swamp Chestnut Oak.  Chlorophyll is responsible for helping trees and plants turn sunlight into food. For most months, it is the dominant color seen in most leaves until it fades away. As many trees shut down their food production, they turn to stored sugars to survive the winter.

Unlike other leaf colors that always exist in the leaf, anthocyanins are produced as the chlorophyl is broken down. The anthocyanins are often seen in leaves named for their autumn splash of red including Red Maples, Scarlet Oaks, and Red Sumacs.

Sugar Maples may be one of the best examples of carotene in action. Their bright signature orange fills many hills and country roads throughout the northern US.

Sassafras leaves also turn a slightly more muted orange. As its name implies, Carotenes are also the chemical responsible for giving carrots their unique coloring. Xanthophyll can be seen throughout the fall in trees including beeches, ashes, birches, aspens, and some oaks. It also contributes its bright yellow color to autumn squash and corn.

Credit:  sciencebob.com

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

How to Break a Bad Habit

We all have bad habits. Maybe you talk too much, or drive too fast. Maybe you are always late or you interrupt people when they are talking. Maybe you chew your gum too loudly, or you think way too much about what someone said to you. Our children have them too. They struggle with keeping their hands to themselves, they talk when they are supposed to be listening. They hide unfinished work instead of keeping it to finish later. They pick their nose. They tip back in their chair. They spend too much time playing video games. They eat too much sugar or fast food. These daily practices become part of our routine. We do it, do it again, and again until it is part of our person. The bad habit becomes how other people see us. “She’s a gossip.” “He’s a little nose picker.” Ugh… no one wants to be known for their bad habits. And yet, that is exactly what happens.

A bad habit is very hard to break. Even if you are completely aware that you want to break it. Three or four days go by and you were on time to everything. Good Job! Then, the inevitable poor planning issue comes back and you are very late again. Back to square one. You justify the bad habit. “I am just so busy.” Except deep down you know that everyone is busy. Now what?

Virtue is the answer. We have to change our heart in order to change our behavior and we have to create a new pattern for our brain. So we pray for God to help us. And we know that He will help us. God knows your heart and He knows that you desire to be a person others can rely on to be solid as a rock. People who are working for God everyday can see how important it is to be a light in the darkness.

I love when I get to talk to our students about a bad habit that has been brought to my attention. Maybe, a student has not been doing their homework. This is a bad habit. We talk to God about how much He loves them. how much beauty He has put into their soul and how many gifts they have to spread. It is our duty to be our best for Him and His people. It isn’t good enough to let the Devil get at us where we are weak, in our bad habits. We are here to help and encourage. We will grow together. It is our job as a school community to show each student how easy it is to talk to God about EVERYTHING. To inspire each student to do their best. They do not need to be ashamed when they are pulled toward their weaknesses. It happens to everyone. That is why we have the Holy Spirit and our ability to pray. Together, we can move to the light and see our true purpose. Prayer is just, again and again, the answer.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Autumn Prayer

O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons. 

As we embrace these autumn months, May the earlier setting of the sun remind us to take time to rest. 

May the crunch of the leaves beneath our feet remind us of the brevity of this earthly life. 

May the steam of our breath in the cool air remind us that it is you who give us your breath of life. 

May the scurrying of the squirrels and the migration of the birds remind us that you call us to follow your will. 

We praise you for your goodness forever and ever.  Amen.

I want to thank our students and parents for donating food and money as sponsors of The Walk of Faith. Together we raised. $1,000 and a lot of food. Great Job!  On Wednesday, the students, staff and parents walked through Hudson and prayed for the community. It is nothing short of amazing to be able to pray together for our loving community that has always supported Sacred Heart School. We walked to show our students an appreciation for the food that they are given to eat every day. We teach our students that we need to support the people who do not have enough to eat by giving to the local food pantry. The older students will spend time cleaning the Hudson Food Pantry and stocking the shelves.

We also prayed the Autumn Prayer to help us appreciate the change of seasons and the beauty in the world. Each blessing brings our soul closer to God. The Walk of Faith gives us a chance to look at the wonderful town where our ancestors built a school 91 years ago. We stopped to pray at the police station, library, walking trail and Memorial Park to appreciate the blessings of our community and to pray for the people who live and serve here. It was a day that our children will remember as an important part of their time at Sacred Heart School. As young men and women, I hope they still take the time to appreciate all of their blessings and serve their community.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

You Are Never Alone

God knows! God knows everything! But what exactly does that mean? It means that God knows your heart and your soul. He knows you, truly. We teach our students to talk to God about everything. We ask for prayers for the people who struggle and need God to be with them. We talk to God about our sins and how we can get on the path back to a joyful heart. We practice seeing God in all things by appreciating all of our blessings: both big and small. We ask God to forgive us when we have been mean or made a mistake that hurt someone. We ask God to be with us when we are asked to do something hard or new. In short, we put God into all parts of our day, every day.

Sacred Heart is a wonderful place for children to be educated because we are able to teach the importance of prayer as the children are learning and developing. Our students are a gift and we can remind them how perfectly unique and special they are because God has a purpose for each of them. We teach our students to think about how much Jesus loves them and what it means to share that love with the world. The mission at Sacred Heart reflects our core belief that each child has unlimited potential to be amazing. They are taught by the teachers and staff that they can persevere with school work, friendships, competition, serving the community and all expectations because they have the power to talk to God about it. Our mission at Sacred Heart School is for our students to be balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic faith. As we begin another school year, it is this mission that guides us. The confidence in knowing that God is with you, through absolutely everything, is the best gift we can give our children.

Prayer is at the core of all that we do.  Matthew 19:26:  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Father Todd made a great, short video with ideas for prayer time at home entitled What does family prayer time look like?  https://youtu.be/EiZ5MjRJK5Q

You are never alone and you are blessed. If you need extra prayers, reach out to me at aatkin@sacredhearthudson.org and we will add your intentions to morning prayer and the 5^th/6^th grade Friday Rosary walks.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus.

Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Upcoming Events at Sacred Heart School

WALK OF FAITH

On September 30^th, the students at Sacred Heart will walk through Hudson and pray for the community. It is our annual Walk of Faith. Our students will walk for one to two hours to raise awareness for our local food pantry.  The Hudson Ministerial Association. Food Pantry serves the Hudson Community families with food and non-food items that they may need to care for their families during difficult times. As we walk, we stop to pray for our community, our families, our nation and to give gratitude to God.  We would love to add your intentions to our prayer list. Email aatkin@sacredhearthudson.org any intentions that you need.

PET BLESSING

In honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, Father Todd will be blessing our pets on Friday, October 2^nd at 2:00 in the Church Parking Lot. This is a favorite event for the students and we have a great time seeing the dogs, bunnies, cats, birds and even horses.

Market House Receipts

Bob’s Market House “Tools for School” receipt program is back!!

Points redeemed through this program allow us to purchase items needed for the school.

You can turn your Bob’s receipts, dated September 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021, into the school office or put in the canister by the elevator in church.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus. Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

Act of Love

Oh my God, I love you above all things,

With my whole heart and soul, because you are worthy of all my love.

I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.

I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all

Whom I have injured. Amen

“It is no small thing, when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.” Charles Dickens

We love our kids so much! It is hard to imagine loving anything more. They bring so much joy to our lives and they inspire us to mature, to stay positive, to achieve, to find patience and good judgement, to build a secure home and develop wisdom. The list of ways we strive to be better for our children is endless. They are so dependent on us for everything and the pressure to take care of them can feel like more than we can handle. It is a lot of responsibility. Love is HUGE. It is the virtue that makes us the most like our loving God. To love the way Jesus loves should be the goal of parenting. Love is self- sacrificing. Just ask any Mom or Dad who has been up all night with a sick child and then finds the strength to go to work the next day. We know in order to provide for our family we must soldier on. We find the energy and we persevere. How? Because we are made to love. Love is bigger than us. It is our connection to the divine.

As a theological virtue, love is an habitual and firm disposition to seek to become like the Lord in concrete situations, loving God and our neighbor, and giving us the spiritual freedom of the children of God (CCC 1803, 1822, 1828).  Further, one of the words for “love” in Latin is “caritas,” from which the word “charity” is derived, and so to love is also the self-sacrifice of giving yourself freely, willing and seeking the good of another (CCC 1766).

This week at school, we will begin to pray the Act of Love at morning prayer. It is one of the prayers each of us should memorize. To act in love, to live in love and to receive love is the best way to spend our days. Just maybe, if we love enough, we will find our way to sainthood. At the very least, loving our people, the way God loves, builds beautiful relationships and happy children of God.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, Principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus. Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.

The Courage It Takes to Be Kind the Way Mother Teresa was Kind

Kindness is a simple virtue and we love to start the school year talking about it. We fill the halls and classrooms with words that guide our minds to think about how we can be God’s light to people. Smile, share, help, listen, pray, cheer, etc. These action words give our children a way to think about their place in a school, at home and in the world. Simple words that are a reminder that the way we think determines the way we act. Be kind to each other and the kindness is bound to come back to you because it is contagious.

This week we celebrated the Feast Day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She is the perfect example of what true kindness looks like. Mother Teresa made every moment better because she was always kind. ALWAYS. The kindness in her heart made the work she did for the poor of Calcutta bearable and she was able to recruit many volunteers. For four decades, Mother Teresa worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor. Her love knew no bounds. Nor did her energy, as she crisscrossed the globe pleading for support and inviting others to see the face of Jesus in the poorest of the poor. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On September 5, 1997, God called her home. Blessed Teresa was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016 (Franciscan Press).

It is the kindness she gave to every person that gave her the energy to persist and persevere. Sometimes we think that we do not have enough energy to give all that we need to be the light of Christ. We tell ourselves that we do not have the ability to be kind and helpful to everyone. But kindness is a renewable resource. The more you give the more you have to give.

Kindness is simple but it is also what calls us to open ourselves up and be vulnerable. It can be very difficult to be kind. Sometimes being kind can lead you to people who are very hurt and struggling. This kindness requires courage and faith. This is the kindness that led Mother Teresa to the streets of Calcutta. This type of kindness is what will make you a saint. Let’s remember Mother Teresa and her call to serve everyone of God’s people. Let’s live each day with kindness.

Bob’s Market House “Tools for School” receipt program is back.   All Bobs receipts dated September 1 through March 31 can be turned into the school office or put in the canister by the elevator. 

Sacred Heart will be doing the Annual Walk of Faith Prayer Walk on Wednesday, September 30.   If you have a special request for prayers, please email to aatkin@sacredhearthudson.org an we will be sure to include it during our prayer walk.

God Bless,

Anne Atkin, principal

Sacred Heart School

Students are balanced: confident of mind, academics and Catholic Faith.

Serving the Community. Teaching our students to live and model the Catholic faith. Reflecting the unconditional love of Jesus. Remaining structured with the purpose of graduating students who are prepared to persevere.