Cozies 4 Chemo - Our Lady of Good Counsel

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8 | The Good Counsel Courier Vol. 4 | Issue 3 | June 21, 2012www.olgcnj.org“The heart remembers all those special times your love made a difference.”Dear Parishioners,This year, the teachers of Jamaicaare so very grateful for your helpin our twining endeavor withSt. Francis Primary School through thefinancial contributions, literacy supplies, anddonations to St. Francis Primary School andthe educational pursuits of the children andteachers there.Hubert Moore, who is a teacher in Jamaica,has a moving story to tell. Left alone with twosmall children after his wife died, he decidedto pursue his Master’s and now his doctoratedegree. He is presently a sixth grade teacherand has the dream to become a principal, or inhis view, “ an education leader” in Jamaica tocombat the oppressiveness of the governmentwith regard to education. Building educationleaders is paramount in Jamaica.In meeting with the teachers this April, Idiscussed with them the fact that thousands ofprimary-school students were failing in Jamaicabecause of social and environmental factors.The front page news of their newspaper, TheSunday Gleaner during my most recent visitpublished these statistics. Close to 6000students in Grade 4 failed to pass the Grade4 Literacy Test. The pressure is on among theteachers to address not only academic factorsbut also emotional, social, and environmentalfactors affecting the children.Parental support is lacking; students havelow self-esteem but an abundance of creativeartistic talent. So keep those crayons coming!Educating teachers in psychological factors,special education and reading deficiencieshas become crucial in Jamaica’s teacherpreparation.Jamaica is celebrating this August 50 Yearsof their Independence from England and theyare in “High Gear” to create a Literate Nation.It has been discovered that 33% of studentsProclaim the Good News With Your Life!By Phyllis Schantz“Proclaim the Good News with your Life” were the words of the priest whocelebrated the Mass in the convent on the morning that we left Jamaica. What apowerful message for all of us! As I reflect on our trip these words keep whirlingaround in my head and I remember our time there and how “beautiful” it was.The “Good News” was all around us.The Missionaries of the Poor journey with the people they serve every day.They house them, clothe them, pray with them….love them. They have rescuedpeople who would otherwise have none and nothing. Everyday when the brothersstopped to pray, the people praised God joyfully. They know God because thebrothers, priests, and sisters love them and live the Good News.In turn, the people we helped were Good News for us. In every hug, flip ofthe frisbee , page colored, picture painted, song sung, letter spoken, meal shared,wound cleansed, and arm creamed we see the face of Jesus.A friend of mine makes tee shirts in recognition of miracles and the forcebehind them…God. The tee shirts state, “Give thanks to …The Man Upstairs,TMU.” A silhouette of an athlete pointing to heaven is on these shirts with thewords written above. I wore those shirts everyday on our trip because I love themessage.I realize now that everyday we were in Jamaica we witnessed a miracle. Amidstpoverty, pain, and loneliness, the miracle of love exits. The “Good News” is alive.Jesus is everywhere….blessings, grace…What a beautiful thing!need evaluation for hearing, dyslexia, autism,or other medical/ psychological problemswhile 60% of the students are sensing and /orkinesthetic learners.” (Gleaner, April ;8, 2012,Volume 73, No 16.) World Bank has assistedthem in building a new Early ChildhoodCenter and several teachers are beginning theirfamilies.There were two new “St. Francis Primary”babies to meet on this visit. In spite ofdifficulty, the teachers still have great hopesfor Jamaica. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt,“The future belongs to those who believe in thebeauty of their dreams.” Your help is still verymuch needed and appreciated to make thoseeducational dreams come true! Thank youagain for the fidelity of your commitment!The Franciscan Sisters are most gratefulas are the Jamaican teachers, students, andfamilies! Thanks to those parishioners andcatechists who also donated books andscholarship money in memory of Greg Dix, myhusband, and Frank and Angela McElroy, theparents of Father Damian. All that you havegiven is sincerely appreciated!Gratefully,Linda Dix, Mission Volunteer
June 21, 2012 | Issue 3 | Vol. 4www.olgcnj.orgTHE BIBLE: The Historical JesusBy Richard J. LohkampIf someone were to ask: What does Christianity present for belief? Themost direct response would be: Christianity presents the person Jesusand invites all to get to know him, love him, and follow him. All of thedoctrines and practices of the Church revolve around that person and thatinvitation.The natural question then would be: Who is this Jesus and what arewe to think of him? For most of us the spontaneous answer might be:Jesus is the Son of God. Or, as the Council of Chalcedon expressed it in451 AD: in this person we see the union of Divine Nature and humannature – two natures, one person.Each of these responses is faithful to Christian tradition. However, dowe fully appreciate the part of Christian doctrine that says that Jesus wasand is human – he is one of us – a fellow human being? In this person,Jesus, God became human. As St. John puts it: “and the Word becameflesh and dwelt among us.” The ‘Word’ is Divine Wisdom, the SecondPerson of the Trinity – of the same nature and essence as the Father.Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, professor of theology at Fordham University,in her book Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology, presents away that might help us 21st century people understand this theology. Shepresents a way of thinking about ‘Person,’ ‘Human Nature,’ and ‘DivineNature’ and a way of thinking about the union of those two natures in oneperson that can be helpful.Hail Mary, Full of GraceThe Good Counsel Courier | 9‘Person’Johnson says that the term “person” has two meanings:As we understand it today, a ‘person’ is an “individual center ofconsciousness and freedom.” We experience ourselves as a “center”in relationship to other centers of consciousness and freedom – other‘persons.’When the Council of Chalcedon said that Jesus is one person withtwo natures, the Greek word that we translate as “person” was hypostasiswhich means the ‘ground’ out of which an individual stands forth – whatmakes the individual what he/she is.‘Human Nature’Johnson uses our experience to explain ‘human nature.’ She notes thatwe ask questions; we’re always looking for answers. She follows thatobservation with the following:“What does asking a question reveal about ourselves? It shows first ofall that we do not know something and yet want to know it: we have adesire for truth…we have a hunch that something is there to be known.Asking a question reveals that we are in touch with a known unknown.”“The human spirit is revealed by this analysis as having an infinite thirstfor truth and an infinite capacity for truth… The only reality that will quenchthis thirst of ours is God’s own being which is infinite truth, Truth itself.”Human beings yearn for the infinite and will only be satisfied by theinfinite – by God himself.‘Divine Nature’Divine Nature is a deep mystery of self-giving truth and love. Godyearns to give himself. That self-giving truth and love (Divine Nature) isreally what human nature yearns for. We yearn for union with God.The Person JesusChristianity presents Jesus as the center of consciousness and freedomwhose human yearnings are fulfilled by the Divine – one person, twonatures. The Divine doesn’t absorb or overshadow the human. It fulfillsthe human. It brings into the human what humans most crave: truthand love. When the apostles saw the risen Jesus on the first Easter, theyencountered a transformed – a truly fulfilled – human being – one inwhom God truly reigned without limit. Through his life and finally onthe cross Jesus gave himself into his Father’s hands. As the Gospels andActs make clear, the Father’s response was resurrection: total fulfillmentof the deepest yearnings of the man Jesus. One person, fully human andfully divine.The person Jesus is the true image and likeness of God – what Godwants us to see about Himself and what God wants us to understandabout being human. (Genesis, chapter 1).Father Jim visited Kindergarten A to bless rosaries for theMay Procession.
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