FIRST ANNUAL SPRING PICNIC!
SCHOOL FUNDRAISER & SPEAKER SERIES
EVENT DETAILS:
Sunday, May 2nd at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church Spiritual Gardens
Special outdoor Mass beginning at 12pm
Lunch beginning at ~1pm (after Mass)
Special guest talk at 2pm, raffle winners announced after
Outdoor games & fun after event
Individual lunch ticket price: $25
For families of 4+ living in same house: $100 price cap
Dessert raffle ticket: $10
Themed basket raffle ticket: $5
All proceeds will go towards helping cover essential operating costs for
St. John Paul II High School. Thank you!
DESCRIPTION:
St. John Paul II High School proudly hosts its first annual Spring Picnic on May 2, 2021. Before lunch, we invite you to join us for a special outdoor Mass at 12pm in the spiritual gardens of Our Lady of the Valley.
Picnic lunch will begin after Mass, around 1pm. Lunch will include pulled-pork sandwiches with a variety of delicious sides kindly provided by the Knights of Columbus and Our Lady of the Valley’s Women’s Group.
To purchase tickets, please visit www.chestertonjpii.org/events/spring-picnic. Knights will be selling tickets after Mass at parishes as well, if you’d like to buy tickets in-person.
Tickets are $25 each, with a capped family price of $100 for families of four or more that live in the same household. We will have a dessert raffle and themed basket raffle at the event. You are able to purchase raffle tickets before or at the event. All proceeds go towards covering essential school operating costs for next year. Thank you for your support!
At the picnic, we are also pleased to welcome our guest speakers Dr. Scott and Annie Powell, founders of Camp Wojtyla.
Please bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket if you are able!
THE ST. JOHN PAUL THE GREAT SCHOLARSHIP
Our community has risen to new heights of generosity as several people have come together to create the St. John Paul the Great Scholarship Fund! This large scholarship opportunity has been created with the express purpose to help families who are seeking tuition assistance attend St. John Paul II High School.
We are grateful that this fund will give the ability for students to attend Catholic high school this coming year, and pray that it will for years to come.
If you or someone you know is interested in applying for the St. John Paul the Great Scholarship, please visithttps://chestertonjpii.org/admissions#tuition-and-aidfor more information and the link to the scholarship application
CATHOLIC FOUNDATION PORTAL: Go to “Gift Designation” and then select “Chesterton Academy of St. John Paul II Scholarship Fund” from the dropdown menu!
If you are interested in contributing to the St. John Paul the Great Scholarship Fund to help keep scholarships available for our families, you are able to do so through The Catholic Foundation (online donation portal here). Just direct your gift to “The Chesterton Academy of St. John Paul II Scholarship Fund.” Thank you for your continued support and prayers!
ACCEPTING STUDENT APPLICATIONS!
A reminder that we have opened up our new student applications for the 2021-2022 academic year! If you know of any students or families that might be interested, please direct them to our website www.chestertonjpii.org/admissions to apply.
The early application deadline is April 23rd, and the late application deadline is May 28th. All applications after that date will be moved to our waitlist for first-come, first-serve opportunities.
If you have any questions, or would like to shadow a day, please contact our headmaster, Mr. Hockel, at BHockel@chestertonjpii.org
House Competition: Snowlympics!
At the end of the day on Fridays, we always have an end-of-week activity. The only common thing about these activities from week-to-week is that they usually have something to do with the student houses (mentorship, competition, conversation, etc.) and that they always end in with entire school coming together for prayer and reflection.
One of our end-of-week competitions in March was a competition between the houses. Only in Colorado can you have a beautiful day with snow on the ground– hence, Snowlympics.
From throwing snowballs at a target, to throwing snowballs for distance, to timed snowman building, the students we had a grand old time playing in the snow and sun. And ending with some ice cream sandwiches to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph!
Also, if you look closely, you will see one of the snowmen is actually a chicken…
From the Headmaster’s Desk
Blaise A. Hockel
Jesus Christ was, dare I say, a saucy fellow.
I start here because I attended a funeral today, and it struck me that, when one attends a funeral, we spend our time reflecting upon the way in which the person lived, not dwelling upon the way in which the person died. Jesus Christ is the lone exception, and I think that is precisely in accord with His nature—one that is deeply contrary to the way in which we typically try to see the world. He forces us to look at things differently not because He was different, but because we need to take a look at things as closely as He does.
I say Christ was saucy glibly, but I say it because it is both, I think, rightly-ordered praise and accurate to the way in which He lived. He spent a great deal of time telling grand stories, He had a deep love of camaraderie, and He had a healthy disrespect of the laws of men such that we could even call Him a rapscallion.
Consider the way that He encouraged picking grain on the Sabbath, or the way in which demanded purity of heart instead of ritual purity—here he was contrary to His Jewish upbringing. It also bears noting that Christ was the first person to lead a rebellion of civil disobedience—indeed, half of the Sermon on the Mount is Christ showing ways in which the laws of men should be circumvented through subservience rather than the conflict they expected their Messiah to conquer through. In example, His saying, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go two miles” (Mt 5:41). This, simply put, is Christ showing how to follow the law such that you break it, bringing legal action against the Roman who forced an unjust law upon you such that they would be acting illegally without you ever having to raise a fist against him.
And, of course, this is what Christ did throughout the entire Passion—He asserted the Truth in an unwavering way, neither being combative nor cowardly (“You have said it”); He told Judas to hurry up with it all, He embraced the cross willingly, and He begged His Father to forgive the ignorant.
I think that is the spirit we need to adopt this Eastertide—do not succumb to evil or bow before it in any fashion, especially not wrathful anger at those who persecute you—but do find a way to rebel against wickedness first in your heart, and then through right subservience. Perhaps this is what it is to “be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect”… That we might embrace the good in all men, and point out through charitable wit the absurdity men so often elevate as the way to rightly order society.