Happy First Week of Advent! Below you will find a simple prayer for the first week. As a school community, we will be praying the Examine daily during the next three weeks!
First Week of Advent Prayer
As we begin Advent, we light one candle in the midst of all the darkness in our lives and in the world. It symbolizes our longing, our desire, our hope. Three “advents” or “comings” shape our desire. We want to be renewed in a sense that Jesus came to save us from our sin and death. We want to experience his coming to us now, in our everyday lives, to help us live our lives with meaning and purpose. And we want to prepare for his coming to meet us at the end of our lives on this earth.
So, we begin with our longing, our desire and our hope.
When we wake up, each day this week, we could light that candle, just by taking a few moments to focus. We could pause for a minute at the side of our bed, or while putting on our slippers or our robe, and light an inner candle. Who among us doesn't have time to pause for a moment? We could each find our own way to pray something like this:
“Lord, the light I choose to let into my life today is based on my trust in you. It is a weak flame, but I so much desire that it dispel a bit more darkness today. Today, I just want to taste the longing I have for you as I go to the meeting this morning, carry out the responsibilities of my work, face the frustration of some difficult relationships. Let this candle be my reminder today of my hope in your coming.”Each morning this week, that momentary prayer might get more specific, as it prepares us for the day we will face. And as we head to work, walk to a meeting, rush through lunch, take care of errands, meet with people, pick up the phone to return some calls, answer e-mail, return home to prepare a meal, listen to the ups and downs of our loved ones' day, we can take brief moments to relate our desire for the three comings of the Lord to our life.
If our family has an Advent wreath, or even if it doesn't, we could pray together before our evening meal. As we light the first candle on the wreath, or as we simply pause to pray together our normal grace. Then, as we begin to eat, we can invite each other, including the children, to say something about what it means today to light this first candle.
And every night this week, we can pause briefly, perhaps as we sit for a minute at the edge of the bed. We can be aware of how that one, small candle's worth of desire brought light into this day. And we can give thanks. Going to bed each night this week with some gratitude is part of the preparation for growing anticipation and desire.
Come, Lord Jesus! Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.
- Tuesday, December 3rd - All School Mass @ 9:30 AM
- Wednesday, December 4th - Reconciliation for students in grades 4, 6, and 8 @ 8:30 AM
- Wednesday, December 11th - All School Mass @ 9:30
- Wednesday, December 18th - All School Mass @ 9:30 AM
- Friday, December 20th - 4th Grade Christmas Party in the morning
There will NOT be a spelling test this week. We will resume next week.
Reading - We will looking a Biography this week and the skill of Author's Purpose. There will be a reading quiz on Friday, December 6th.
Grammar - We will be looking at the skill of Pronouns. Students will have a "check-in" quiz next Tuesday, December 10th.
Writing - We will be working on a fun Persuasive Writing project, Elf for Hire. Students will be learning about ways to persuade Santa to hire them to work in his workshop.
Social Studies
We will be finishing our Navigating through Maps packet Monday and Tuesday. We will begin to work on creating our own digital map via Google Slides during our tech time. Lastly, we will be preparing for our Salt Dough Map Project, which will take place on Thursday, December 12th. We will need parent volunteers to help students mix the ingredients, so if you are available, please join us. We will be creating our maps the last hour of the school day, 1:45 to 2:45.
Math
We will continuing to multiply but using 3, 4-digit numbers by single digits. The students will use three strategies to solve the problem: the area model, partial model, and the standard algorithm. They will also complete two-step word problems.
We will also have a x4 graded test this Thursday. The students will take a pretest today.
Science
We are continuing Chemistry and Matter. In Investigation 2 we will be measuring matter using a triple beam balance. The students will have a vocabulary quiz on Friday, December 6th on words 6 through 10, which can be found on page 11 in the Lab Learner.
Religion
We are starting our Absolutely Advent workbook. This will be graded at the end of Advent. Students are required to fill them out daily. We will be working in class, and the students will file these in their Religion slot of their accordion file.
This coming Wednesday is Reconciliation. The students are practicing the Act of Contrition and we will do an Examination of Conscience.
No comments:
Post a Comment