The Patriot Report – January 26, 2024

“There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.” – Henry Van Dyke

The month of February, which is quickly approaching, focusses on the virtue of cheerfulness. Children probably have more to teach adults about cheerfulness than adults can teach children. As children get older, we tend to see that their cheerful selves seem to fall away. 

Cheerful people are not naive about the cares of the world. Rather, cheerful people have learned to not let the cares of the world weigh them down. They may have learned that it is not worth stressing about things that they cannot control or change. They may have been taught to smile and to think more positively about themselves and others. They may have had examples to follow and their cheerful disposition was not discouraged. 

Some of the things we can do to encourage cheerfulness is to help children put their worries and stresses into perspective. Help them to see life as a gift. Help them to practice gratitude and show them your own cheerful disposition. Help them to do acts of kindness for others as that will build a sense of joy and accomplishment. 

Developing habits of character is not easy. Maintaining a cheerful disposition is hard for some of us (yes I include myself in that). But I do see its value and with Lent coming, perhaps it is an opportunity to practice smiling a bit more and working on a cheerful temperament. 

All families should have received their re-registration packages. Please be aware that demand for St. Jude School has risen sharply. This year we saw 40 applicants for Kindergarten and we continue to field inquiries and receive applications for other grades. Failure to submit a re-registration package could mean that your spot in our school is given to a family on a waitlist. 

Your cooperation in submitting re-registration packages in a timely fashion is appreciated. 

Thank you

The Gr. 6 Girls Basketball team performed mightedly at the St. Patrick’s Celtics Tournament. They defeated the host school, Corpus Christi School, and both of St. Augustine’s teams en route to the Championship. The team now gears up for league play. With the first game on January 30 at Holy Cross Elementary and then another game on Feb 1 at St. Mary’s. 

A reminder to parents that if you change your email, phone number, or address, you need to update our school office. It is imperative that we have accurate contact information. We need to have at least two contacts for children for emergency situations. 

We are now accepting new applications for the 2024-25 school year.  Please get an application form from here or email the school office for one.  

Our Gr. 7 Student Ambassadors are available to provide tours of our school to prospective families. If you know of someone who might be interested in attending St. Jude School, I encourage you to tell them to sign up for a tour. Any interested family can email registrar@stjude.ca to schedule a tour.

St. Jude Parish Mass Times
Monday – Saturday: 9 am morning Masses
Novena Mass on Wednesdays: 7:30 pm
Saturday anticipated Mass: 5 pm
Sunday Mass: 9 am, 11 am, 5 pm