Dear Salesian Family,

The fall season is here! We turned our clocks one hour back this past Sunday and added an extra hour of daylight to our morning. Warmer clothes are now out of our closet, and we eagerly wrap our hands around a warm cup of coffee as the weather gets chilly. This, too, is a gift from the God who loves us so much and spices up our lives with various temperatures to fit different people’s likes.

When we were ever so young, our parents used to ask us, ‘What do you say?’ whenever someone gave us a gift or simply a glass of water. Of course, the response would be, Thank you!

The virtue of this month at Salesian is Gratitude! This is one of the most important virtues we can teach our children. It helps us to step back from what we are experiencing at the moment, take a look at the big picture, and appreciate God’s generosity toward us!

Our Student Council invited us to participate in Operation Christmas Child. The joy in the faces of your children as they came down the hallway in the morning was priceless! They popped into my office with their JOY box and eagerly opened it to show me what they had selected to send to a child their age who lived somewhere across the world. These children knew that the gift they brought was not for them, but their joy was nonetheless exuberantly expressed as they shared the content of their box with me and others around us! You, dear parents, have modeled for your children the joy of giving to someone less fortunate! When a child can freely give something they would like to have for themselves to someone else, you know you have successfully taught a life-long lesson of gratitude for all they have received.

“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

God bless,

Sr. Carmen, FMA