Catholic Education
Recently, Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob described Advent as a season to wake up.
“Advent issues a spiritual wake-up call to each of us. Unless we are spiritually awake — we are only half living. To be awake spiritually means to be open and receptive — vigilant and active — conscious of what is really going on around you and me — and within us!” he said in a recent edition of his The Branches weekly email newsletter.
Just as Advent calls us to awaken spiritually, our secular culture is putting us to sleep to the real meaning of our lives.
The Christmas season can overstimulate any of us with commercial messages that distract us from spiritual meaning. If December is only about Christmas shopping, holiday parties and Santa Claus, then we can easily miss what Advent is calling us to do.
Thankfully, Catholic schools provide parents with the perfect partner to help Advent come alive within their families. Advent is a wonderful time to be in our Catholic schools. Classrooms are decorated with Advent wreaths and Nativity scenes. Morning prayers change to reflect the season, and school leaders establish donation drives collecting coats and hats to share with those in need.
This Advent is the first time in 15 years that my wife and I do not have a child in a Catholic elementary school. Last year, our youngest child graduated 8th grade at St. Francis Borgia Catholic School, Cedarburg, and I am missing out on the Advent rhythms that come with being a Catholic grade school parent. For over a decade, our family celebrated Advent through the programs and events that St. Francis Borgia offered. By participating in Living Nativity concerts and Advent prayer services, my children knew that this season was more than just making a list of Christmas presents.
Like many Catholic schools, St. Francis Borgia concludes its Advent celebrations with the annual Christmas concert. Parents and grandparents jammed the gym to see the kids perform. St. Francis Borgia’s pastor and priests were always present greeting families and supporting the children. The school’s principal would open the concert with a prayer centering students, teachers and families on the spiritual heart of the season. As parents, we gathered to see our kids, but we also came together as a faith community eagerly awaiting the birth of our Lord and Savior.
At St. Francis Borgia, the Christmas concert always ended with a flourish. Mrs. Sara Cervelli, the school’s outstanding music teacher, having already led each class in a performance of two or three songs, would welcome the entire student body back for an encore. Mrs. Cervelli closed each concert with a stirring rendition of the “Hallelujah” chorus from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” This annual showstopper always brought the crowd to its feet!
I can’t imagine how much time and commitment it takes for an entire grade school to take on the “Hallelujah” chorus, but Mrs. Cervellli’s effort was an exclamation point to a Catholic school’s celebration of Advent. The concert could have easily closed with “Jingle Bells” or “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” but it would not have been a uniquely Catholic celebration.
As a Catholic grade school parent, I had faith that my children’s teachers knew the true meaning of Christmas and that Advent was alive in our school. As you prepare for Christmas and you feel like you need the proper Advent reminder, check your bulletin for your Catholic school’s Christmas concert.
It might be the perfect wake-up call that we all need this Advent season.
Ed Foy, right, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and his family enjoy snow even in the season of Advent. (Submitted photo)
