Education Update

St. Rita writers pal up with St. Agnes students

St. Rita of Cascia High School sophomores who took a creative writing elective last fall had a unique opportunity to share their gifts with a younger generation as they participated in a pen pal program with second graders at St. Agnes of Bohemia School in the Little Village neighborhood. The project was spearheaded by teachers Lauren Condon of St. Rita and Allie Nowak of St. Agnes.

Catholic schools pass on the faith

As we celebrate faith, scholarship and service in our schools every day and especially during Catholic Schools Week beginning on Jan. 25, one of the strongest needs forwarded by the pastors and principals has been that of marketing our schools. They are right, but I am discovering the vital importance of telling our story internally, as well as to the general public. Sometimes as Catholics we lose a sense of the power of our own schools.

Burnham’s plan used as way for students to learn city history

St. Bede the Venerable’s fifth graders are making no small plans. The students, whose school is located in Chicago’s Scottsdale neighborhood (83rd & Kostner), are learning as much as they can about the Lakeview community thanks to the Big Shoulders Fund’s Burnham Centennial Project and St. Andrew School, at Addison and Paulina streets.

NCEA president: Catholic schools must show their light

Karen Ristau, the president of the National Catholic Education Association, is going into this year’s Catholic Schools Week celebrating the service that Catholic schools provide to the United States.

The nation’s nearly 7,400 Catholic elementary and secondary schools offer a “gift” of $19.8 billion in savings each year by educating students not at taxpayer expense, according to a statement on its Web site.

Sr. Stephanie sends update

In late 2006, Resurrection Sister Stephanie Blaszczynski, former president of Resurrection High School, left the United States to start a school for girls in the town of Buturu, Tanzania, East Africa. Her mission is a major challenge due to the extreme remoteness of the area and its poor infrastructure; i.e. bad or non-existent roads, occasional electricity and lack of water.

Res teacher reports from Tanzania

Joe Miller, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, is awed by what Resurrection Sister Stephanie Blaszynski has accomplished in so short a time in Tanzania.

Miller, now a physics teacher at Resurrection High School, visited Sister Stephanie late last summer and taught some classes there. As a result of his Peace Corps work, he was familiar with what to expect.

Priests, religious call on Obama to help immigrants

About 30 priests and religious sisters and brothers gathered Jan. 12 in the chapel at Holy Name Cathedral to pledge nine days of prayer for renewed emphasis on human dignity and respect for human and civil rights.

Prayer and concern goes into every stitch they sew

Nimble fingers around the archdiocese are touching lives near and far: An infant in India hugs a Raggedy Ann doll, a sharing parish loads its van with blankets to fend off Chicago’s winter, veterans in Hines VA Hospital receive lap rugs, while children in Iraq and Afghanistan smile in newly knitted scarves.

Local Catholics prepare for march on Washington, D.C.

It all started with a deep concern and a feeling that something had to be done. In late October 1973, the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade was approaching.

A group of about 30 people devoted to the pro-life movement didn’t want the anniversary to pass without the world’s attention.

Pro-life rally to be held here on Jan. 18

Not everyone can go to Washington to help defend the sanctity of life. Not everyone who wants to be a part of the national March for Life has to go to Washington, D.C. in order to show their solidarity.

This year, for the fourth time, Chicago will have its own March for Life marking the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.

Young people share gang-life realities with Cardinal

On a chilly winter night, about 50 people — mostly men, mostly young — gathered in the upstairs gymnasium at the Boys and Girls Club in Logan Square.

They came from Englewood, from Humboldt Park and West Humboldt Park, from Little Village and other neighborhoods. They looked at one another and at Cardinal George, who came on a snowy night to pray with them for peace, and to listen to them talk about their lives.

Ten civil marriages become ‘sacramentalized’

We always wanted to do it.” That was the feeling of several of the 10 couples who had their marriages validated by the Catholic Church during Mass at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, 653 W. 37th St., on Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve and the vigil of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The New Year was a time of new beginnings in the sacrament of marriage as they stood before the congregation exchanged vows, had their rings blessed and received a nuptial blessing.

St. Rita student remembered

Senseless violence has to stop and we can help stop it by being peacemakers. That’s what Augustianian Father Thomas McCarthy said he told St. Rita of Cascia High School students at an all-school Mass Jan. 9, the day after student David Hresil, 18, was shot and killed on the street at 60th and Springfield on the Southwest Side.

Marriage hurts in ‘Not Easily Broken’

Couple struggles to stay together despite disappointment, expectations

The title of the new movie “Not Easily Broken” refers to the Scripture passage: “A cord of three strands is not easily broken” (Eccl 4:12). The passage is quoted in the movie by a pastor to a young couple on their wedding day.

The cord in this reference is husband, wife and God. The couple in this movie is calm demeanored David (Morris Chestnut, “Boyz in the Hood”) and fiery Clarice (Taraji P. Henson, “Benjamin Button”). Along with quoting Ecclesiastes, the pastor reminds them that marriage is very hard. But of course, young love never listens.