Happy Veterans Day

Dear HFCS Families and Friends,

Dear Lord, Today we honor our veterans, worthy men, and women who gave their best when they were called upon to serve and protect their country. We pray that you will bless them for their unselfish service in the continual struggle to preserve our freedoms, our safety, and our country’s heritage for all of us. Amen

I am so grateful for our families here at HFCS and our extended families through the many parishes here in Northern Idaho. We are truly blessed to be able to work and worship together. We hope that you will find time to join us tomorrow as we celebrate our Veterans at the Veterans’ Day Mass hosted by the 6th grade. It’s a busy week this week – and yet taking time to find rest and reflection in Christ is so important. Please feel free to stop in the chapel and spend a moment with Christ as you pick up or drop off your children. Your heart will truly find respite in God. On Tuesday mornings, Moms in Prayer meets in the Chapel from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. – join us if you have time.

As we end each school day, our students rush out to meet their families in the carline; there’s an outpouring of joy to reunite with family members and share their day. Sometimes, that rush can be a little overwhelming for the little ones, and in addition, safety precautions may not be being met as they should. To attend to that need, we would like your assistance.

  • Students will enter cars only from the curbside
  • Parents, please do NOT exit your vehicle
  • Students entering vehicles in front of the school will enter only with Staff supervision.
  • Parents – please be keenly aware of other vehicles and individuals. Vehicle speed in the parking lot should be less than 5 miles per hour

If you have other family members picking up your children, please provide them with the above information.

Father Len asked me to invite our HFCS community to listen to the Wrestling with God Podcast Episode 96, “We Are Our Culture.” In this episode, he invites us to grapple with the virtues and character we value, permit, model, and promote and their effect on us and those around us. https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions.

“When an entire community prizes certain things, these things just seep into our pores. Our emotions and values are very infectious. They move through a community faster than a virus. Change happens, for better or worse, when entire communities unite around the virtues and character they value. There’s undeniable proof that an individual’s character and values effect all of society. We take on the values of the communities to which we belong. Virtues and character that are valued by a community are inherited by the community’s children. If we want to change the world, we have to change our hearts. We are the culture. We are the system. What impedes us empowers us. Failure and struggle cause the hero in every hero story to become a hero. Grit is frequently a greater predictor of success than talent. Grit or fortitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit. You need grit to become a spiritual person. It takes grit to forgive when you’ve been wounded. It takes grit to become prudent and know how and when to hold your tongue. It takes grit to become patient. We can lose our grit when life is good. Grit is like a muscle. You’re not born with it. You train yourself into it. “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth “Democracy in America” by Alexis De Tocqueville Beatrice Webb Patrick Lencioni What virtues and character do you value, permit, model and promote and how do they match up with the values of the communities to which you belong and, importantly, what are you going to do if they don’t? We all have a big stake in our community’s culture and the effect it has on us and those around us.”

Have a great week!

Pax et bonum,

Sue Styren, M.Ed.

Principal