Roaming Catholic

In my previous blog, I wrote about attending daily Mass. I not only enjoy attending daily Mass, I also enjoy being a roaming Catholic. Simply put, I enjoy roaming around to attend different Masses. This blog is about my nine-day plan to attend Mass at nine different places, and it has been a short wonderful and spiritual journey.

I started on Thursday, November 20th by attending Mass at the chapel at Our Lady Queen of Peace Retreat Center. Fr. Carl Hood from St. Francis celebrated that Mass for the Catholic school leaders and members of the diocesan Catholic school board.

On Friday, I attended our weekly all-school Mass at St. Ann - Bartlett. Fr. Jacek Kowal celebrated that Mass for the student. It is heartwarming seeing our students serve the Mass as greeters, altar servers, lectors, gift bearers, and in the choir.

On Saturday, our Cursillo grouping attends Mass at Ave Maria with Fr. Mike Morgera. We usually have about six to nine Cursillistas attending that Mass before our weekly grouping. Fr. Mike is part of our grouping as well.

For Sunday Mass, my family attends St. Michael with Fr. Ben Bradshaw. We live about one mile from St. Michael and Fr. Ben is a good family friend. He married both my children and Baptized my granddaughter. His homilies really hit home for so many, and just what many of us need.

I attended Mass on Monday at St. Louis with Fr. Keith Stewart. Not sure there is a more active daily Mass in our diocese than daily Mass at St. Louis. Even though St. Louis is not my parish, I feel as if I know half the people there.

On Tuesday, I attended Mass at Holy Rosary. I've been to Mass at Holy Rosary on several occasions, but that was my first Mass with Fr. Jeo Poulose. I got to put a name with a face. I enjoyed his homily.

Nativity in Bartlett with Fr. José Cruz was my choice for Wednesday's Mass. Nativity is a beautiful and welcoming church.  I enjoy attending Mass there with Fr. José.

Thursday was Thanksgiving day. I attended Mass at Immaculate Conception with Bishop David Talley presiding. Fr. Kacper Wojcieszko was the homilist for that Mass. Like the Mass at St. Louis, I knew quite a few people there.

Now for the last Mass of my nine-day plan. I attended St. James with Fr. Gerald Azike. Not sure you are going to find a more welcoming priest in our diocese than Fr. Gerald. If you have never attended Mass at St. James, you are missing out. I like going there for the Spanish Mass. The Mass times on their website might not be accurate so check with masstimes.org before heading to St. James.

What did I gain from being a roaming Catholic and attending nine different Masses in nine days? The answer is great spiritual growth. I want to grow in my faith and grow closer to God. Receiving the Eucharist in different places helps me to stay more focused on the words and actions taking place in the Mass. The prayers are important and I don't want to daydream my way through Mass. Everything becomes more intentional. I don't just go through the motions. I participate in the Mass and not just being present for the Mass. For these nine Masses, what helped to make me more intentional was that I had to plan which Mass I would attend and at what time. It wasn't a last minute or automatic decision. I had to be intentional in my actions.

The Church offers so much goodness. For me, it would be a shame not to be a part of all the Church has to offer. I got to experience the grandeur of the Cathedral and St. Louis as well as the down to earth warmth of Nativity and St. James. I had the honor of praying with my Cursillo brothers at Ave Maria. I heard short yet powerful daily Mass homilies from many of the priest. I like the short daily Mass homilies that give us a better insight of the daily readings. I experienced the hospitality of Fr. Gerald, the faith-filled passion of Fr. Carl, the insight of Fr. Kacper, the inclusion of Fr. Jacek, the enthusiasm of Bishop Talley, the wisdom of Fr. Keith, the piety of Fr. Jeo, the humility of Fr. Jose, and the friendships of Fr. Mike and Fr. Ben.

These nine days happen to come together just right. Not sure when I'll have an opportunity like this again. It will probably have to wait until I retire. Until then, I will do my best to be a roaming Catholic. Being a part of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis brings me much joy. And, I want to experience all the Church has to offer.

Live Jesus in our hearts...Forever! Amen!

Daily Mass

St. Ann Altar

"Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book" - St. John Bosco

The one good Catholic book for me was Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly. This book helped catapult me on a quest to learn as much as I can about my Catholic faith. For years, reading Catholic books has been my norm.

One of the many books I read was The Supper of the Lamb by Scott Hahn. Hahn's book has taken me to an even higher level of faith in helping to create in me a desire to attend Mass as often as possible. It has helped me to understand the meaning of the Mass and all that is taking place at the Altar, which has given me a desire to become a daily communicant.

A daily communicant is a person who receives Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist every day or as often as possible. I have for some time now been a daily communicant; Monday through Friday at St. Ann-Bartlett, Saturday at Ave Maria, and Sunday at St. Michael.

Why do I go to daily Mass? I spend those 30-minutes each morning focusing on God. It feels good to hang out with Jesus at the foot of the Cross and receive the Eucharist. Plus, the church is the perfect place to pray for others and thank God for His many blessings.

I invite you to attend one morning Mass with me and bring your family with you. Once Mass ends at 6:45am, you have plenty of time to get some breakfast before getting to where you need to be. It is a great way to start your day.

“How happy is that guardian angel who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass!” – St. John Vianney

Morning Mass starts at 6:15am at St. Ann. It is usually held in the chapel but lately we have been in the big church.

Also, I have ten copies of Rediscovering Catholicism in my office. If you would like a copy, it is yours.

God bless you,

Didier Aur

School Pillars

This blog is a continuation of the work performed by the St. Ann Values Committee. This committee was tasked with not only developing our purpose, mission, and vision statements but also forming pillars to help define our values. The values will help define who we are as a Catholic school.

Our four pillars are Pray, Learn, Respect, and Serve.

1. Always lead with prayer.
2. Always learn.
3. Respect everyone.
4. Serve your Community

The next step for the Values Committee was to define each of the pillars. The defining statements are there to support each pillar according to what they mean for St. Ann. You can see on the slides the defining statements of each pillar.

The Values Committee then went two steps farther by designating a Bible quote and a saint to correspond with each pillar. The quote and saint are on the pillar slides as well. The committee also wanted to have Bible quotes from the Old and New Testament which they were able to achieve.

As for the saints representing each pillar, the committee wanted saints from the Americas to better represent who we are. St. Katharine Drexel was selected for serve because she is the patron saint of philanthropy. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the patron saint of Catholic Schools. St. Rose de Lima was known for her devotion to prayer. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas which goes hand-in-hand with our diversity at St. Ann. Also, Pope Francis said, "Guadalupe shows how faith is shared simply, with respect." Who better to teach us respect than the mother of God.

Next, we will be sharing our plan developed by our Behavior Committee. Have a great week.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

https://www.sascolts.org/

School Values

We have spent much time this past school year putting together our strategic plan, which we are incredibly pleased with the quality of work that has been produced. We developed four committees to start our strategic plan beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

The first committee is called our Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG - pronounce bee-hag) Committee. BHAG comes for the book Built to Last. These are the goals that are difficult to obtain but inspires everyone to give it their all to reach. From the work of this committee, we formed the Values, Behavior, and Advancement Committees.

I want to use today's blog to focus on part of the work of our Values Committee. Their work was to develop new purpose, mission, and vision statements for the school. These are important components of an organization's strategic framework that explain why the organization exists, how it will achieve its goals, and what it wants to achieve in the future.

The Values Committee met on December 11th at Our Lady Queen of Peace Retreat Center to spend a day brainstorming and developing these statements. Once these statements were written, they were presented to the BHAG Committee for review. Revisions were made and sent back to the Values Committee. The Values Committee reviewed these and did some more revising. Then, the statements were presented to the whole faculty and staff for review. Edits were made and final statements were completed. It was a lengthy process but well worth the time.

The Values Committee also developed a Student Mission Statement. They felt it is important for the students to have their own mission statement which focuses on student goals instead of school goals. The student mission statement is the one the students will recite every morning during morning announcements. 

It was a great process which took time and energy to develop. We are thankful for all those who contributed to developing the purpose, mission, and vision statements especially to our Values Committee.

The Values Committee was also responsible for developing the school pillars which will be presented next.

I do want to say that any planning is fantastic but of no use if there is not action behind the plans. These plans are not being put on a shelf somewhere as nice decorations. We are putting them into action. You will see this now and in the months to come. "Good thoughts are no better than good dreams if you don't follow through." - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

What Team is the Current Two-Time Reigning Champion of the WNBA?

If you answered or attempted to answer this question you must have been at St. Ann Trivia Night. The event was a sellout! Trinity Hall was packed. When we host the next trivia contest it will more than likely have to be in the school gym to accommodate all the folks wanting to participate.

We are thrilled so many people came out to enjoy a beautiful Saturday evening at St. Ann. It was truly a wonderful parish event. Lots of folks stepped up to make this night happen. I especially want to thank those who sponsored this event and made sure we had plenty of prizes to give to the winners of all the games we played, and there were many games and a multitude of winners.

I want to start off by thanking those who support just about every event we host. Thank you to Ryan Trimm of Sunrise Memphis, Diane Kauker of Folk's Folly, Claire Arrison (St. Ann parent) of Belltower Coffeehouse, Andy Ticer (St. Ann alum) of Hog and Hominy, and Michael Garibaldi of Garibaldi's Pizza for having supported this and many of our events by providing gift certificates for the event.

This year we had six new sponsors beginning with Janilee Mann (St. Ann parent) of Champalou Spa and Chuck Schaffler of Mortimer's Restaurant. Analy Badillo, the school receptionist and St. Ann parent, contacted several of her friends and was able to secure support from AlySweets Hispanic Homemade Sweets, Los Cabos Mexican Bar & Grill, Koco Loco Memphis Ice Cream, and Frida's Restaurante Mexicano.

Thank you once again to all our sponsors of trivia night. Special thanks to Ms. Badillo for going the extra mile in asking for support. Asking for support is not an easy thing to do.

Thank you also to the Knights of Columbus, Scouts, Youth Group, Jason Dyer (emcee), LaDonna Metaxas & Annmarie Ghio (scorers), Scott & Candace Campbell (registration), and all the folks who helped set up and clean up especially Kevin Temple. Libbyclaire Douglas (St. Ann alum) & Annmarie Ghio spent many hours putting together the trivia questions. Thank you ladies! 

It is fun getting together as a parish. So let's do it more often! Next up is St. Ann Bingo Night! Registration is open. Sign up by clicking on the Bingo picture on the left. Let's pack the house!

The answer to the title question is the Las Vegas Aces.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

What Was The First Capital of Egypt?

My Trivia Team

What was the first capital of Egypt?  That's one question you might be answering if you attend the St. Ann Trivia Night on Saturday, June 22nd. I love attending trivia night at all the different Catholic parishes throughout our diocese. It is a great way of keeping me humble by reminding me of how much I don't know especially in the pop culture category. What was Taylor Swift's first single? Answer: "Tim McGraw" The only reason I know that answer is that I just Googled Taylor Swift trivia questions and answers.

More importantly, trivia night is a great time for being in the company of great friends. For me, trivia night takes on a new meaning since one of my trivia partners, Mike Callahan, is now in heaven and not sharing crazy answers with our team.

My goal at trivia night besides having a great time, laughing (which has many health benefits), and breaking bread with friends is to not finish in the bottom half of the team standings. My team will never win, but we will have fun, and have yet to finish in last place, which will happen one day. Don't have Mike giving our team more than his fair share of correct answers.

If you are looking for an opportunity to have a good time with friends, family, and even some people you have never met before, join us for the St. Ann Trivia Night. You can sign up as a team of eight, as couples, or as an individual. It doesn't matter because if you don't have a full team, we will find you a team to be with for the evening. At $20 per person, it is definitely worth it and you will have a good time laughing at yourself and coming to the realization that you are actually smarter than you think. Maybe not as smart as a 5th grader.

The Knights of Columbus will be providing the adult beverages. The Scouts will provide the sodas and water. The Youth Group will provide the desserts. The Church and School are setting up everything else. This is a true parish event. So come on out and support the parish. To register for the event, click HERE or on the Trivia Night picture to the left. Contact the Church office (901-373-6011) or School office (901-386-3328) if you have any questions. 

What is Taylor Swift's favorite number? Don't worry about it because pop culture will not be a category.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Education Changes Every Hour!

Another school year has begun, which happens to be my 35th year in education. You would think that by now, I would have a handle on education with all this experience. There is something you should know about educating our children. NO ONE HAS A HANDLE ON EDUCATION! NO ONE! Yes, the all caps means I'm screaming this.

Education doesn't change every year or even every day. Education changes every hour! The complexity of the human brain in conjunction with the ever evolving human emotional make-up, especially that of a middle schooler, makes every single hour of educating children a mystery. Education is like the 142 staircases at Hogwarts. One minute you are going up, the next down, and the next the whole staircase disappears. But then again, that's why I LOVE being an educator. No two hours are ever close to being the same.

When thinking about all the hourly changes taking place with education, don't forget to factor in the social-emotional and educational problems caused by the COVID-19 shutdown. Most of the students coming to us the past few years who were not in the classroom have been testing between one to four years below grade level. Now, it is up to our school to fix the harm that's been done.

Guess what? I love that challenge. And, I know we will succeed. I know this because I have faith in our work. "Do good and evil will not come your way." (Tobit 12:7) We are doing good!

It will take years to overcome what was deprived the students during the shutdown. It will take time, hard work, long hours, cooperation between parents and educators, patience, grit, compassion, love, and faith. My job in this process is to let the teachers work their magic and be there to support everyone. 

Our enrollment is up once again and we have added more classes. So, I know what we are doing works. Our admissions team is working harder than ever to make certain we can assist the new students. Our team is already making improvements to the admissions process for the 2024-25 school year. God, I love the folks I work with.

As for the 2023-24 school year, let's kick this pig and git 'er done! With lots of kindness, love, and doing good ahead of us, let the work begin. Like the Skyy song, Let Love Shine. Great throwback to the 80s.

God bless you and love!