The Patriot Report – October 25, 2019

Reflection

There is not a lot of reference to St. Jude Thaddeus in the gospels. He certainly does not have as much written about him as St. Peter for example. What might this mean for our school? How can we connect to a saint that we know little about? Here is what we can deduce:
– he was an apostle (Mt 10:3; Lk 6:12-16)
– he was at the last supper (Jn 14:22)
– he was part of the first community Jerusalem (Acts 1:13)
Little else is known about his life. But this does not mean that we cannot reflect on our patron saint. For St. Jude was an apostle and helped build a community of believers. 
 

We are charged with the task of building community at St. Jude School and the Apostles give us a powerful example of how to succeed in this endeavor. One of the most important lessons we can take from the Apostles is that they put their trust in God. They dedicated themselves to prayer as a community (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:42-47) and it was through trust in God and through praying together as one that the bonds of community were strengthened.

Let us then come together in prayer. Let us break bread together at mass. Let us trust in the ways of the Lord. In this way, our community here at St. Jude School and Parish will continue to grow and flourish. 

Updates

ST JUDE PARISH ANNIVERSARY MASS - OCTOBER 28 AT 4:00 PM

All students and families are encouraged to attend the 75th Anniversary Mass hosted Monday at 4pm at St. Jude Church. Those children who sing with the choir on Sunday Mass are also invited to sing with the choirs. However, parents must attend with their children as the school is unable to provide supervision for students.  

*****FUNDRAISING ALERT*****

Are you looking to plan for birthdays? For the approaching Christmas season to avoid the crazy last-minute shopping? Our Gift Card Fundraiser can get you started.

The Fundraising Team has partnered with Indigo. You can purchase e-gift cards of all sizes on line within minutes. And 15% of the proceeds will go to our school to improve the building infrastructure and upgrade technology. 

Begin Ordering: Friday, November 1, 2019
Order deadline: Saturday, November 30, 2019
Delivery: Instant delivery by email. Printable & accessible online

Support the students of St. Jude’s school by clicking the link below. Please share this link with your family and friends to join in the support of your child’s school.
https://indigofundraising.flipgive.com/f/1112739

3 Simple Steps to Purchase Your e-Gift card:
Click the link above to see the St. Jude fundraising page, 
Choose “Shop Online Give Cash Back” 
Click “Buy an Indigo e-gift card”.  
Signing in is not required. You can purchase anonymously as a guest or you can log in instantly with your Facebook account, which makes it easy to invite others to join our fundraising too. 

Thank you so much for your support!

Please contact Rachelle Moshfeghi, Fundraising Sub-committee Chairperson with any questions or concerns at: fundraising@stjude.ca

HALLOWEEN BAKE SALE OCTOBER 31

Fundraising Parents are running a Halloween Themed Bake Sale on October 31 from 2:30-3:30 pm. All proceeds will go to support the beautification of the school and technology upgrades. 

HALLOWEEN COSTUME GUIDELINES OCTOBER 31

This year Halloween falls on a Thursday. This presents an opportunity for students to be creative and have fun wearing costumes. As a Catholic school, there are certain precautions we need to take to ensure that wearing costumes is something enjoyable for everyone. Costumes are not allowed to scare children. 

1. Nothing grotesque or horrifying. If in doubt, do not wear it. Examples would include: zombies, vampires, ghoulish characters, etc.
2. No masks. If your costume comes with a mask (i.e., Darth Vader, Ironman, etc.) then the mask must stay at home. This also means that makeup must be minimal. For safety reasons we must be able to identify all students. 
3. No weapons. If your costume has an accessory such as a light saber, a hammer, a gun, a sword, or any other weapon then it must stay home as well. It does not matter if it does not look real. 
4. No costumes promoting anything related to Satan. This means no devil costumes or anything similar. 
5. Nothing sexually provocative. It goes without saying but there are a lot of inappropriate costumes on the market.  

What is allowed? There are lots of opportunities to wear costumes that are suitable. Here are a few creative and fun ideas:

1. Super heroes – there are many superhero costumes out there that can be worn (Costco and Value Village has a selection)
2. Movie characters – dress up as one of your favorite characters (one of the coolest costumes I saw was a student who made their own Bumblebee Transformer costume in which they could actually transform into a car costume)
3. Book characters – have a favorite book? Make the character come to life through your costume
4. Saints – a lot of saints lived in interesting times and would have cool costumes – do some research and you just might be surprised by how cool and inspiring our Saints are
5. Community – dress up like someone from the community – policeman, fireman, doctor, scientist, construction, soldier, etc. 
6. Sports – dress up like your favorite athlete or wear your sports outfit 
7. Religious – dress up like a pastor, a nun, a monk, etc. just remember to keep it respectful and reverent
8. Object – looking for challenge? Invent a costume that looks like an object. (Examples I have seen in the past are: phone booth, dice, umbrella)
9. Imaginative – be creative and invent your own custom handmade costume
10. Group costumes – having trouble thinking of what to be, then group up with your classmates. You could dress up as all characters from a book or movie where each takes on a different character. You could dress up as twins. Be creative!

Any student who is deemed to be wearing something inappropriate will be immediately asked to change into their PE clothes or uniform. If there is no change of clothes, parents will be called to come and pick up their child. 

HALLOWEEN CANDIES NEEDED

In 1996, Agape Street Ministries, a Catholic street ministry started reaching out to the women of the street who live in the downtown eastside area of Hastings and Cordova in Vancouver.  Since that time, they have given out approximately 45,000 candy bags a year, each with a simple message card to “Tell them God loves them…” 
 
As part of our ongoing community outreach program, we are encouraging students to be generous again this year by sharing their Halloween treats (wrapped candies only, please).   The candy will be donated to the “Agape Street Ministry” where it will be distributed with a prayer and contact card, to reach out to these women in need.  Your generosity is most appreciated.  Please give candy donations to your child’s teacher by Thursday, November 7th.

ST JUDE CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

We are kicking off the Christmas Raffle.  Tickets are $2 each / $20 per book.  If you would like to pick up your raffle tickets, tickets will be available after all masses this weekend. Friday 7pm, Saturday 5pm, Sunday 9am, 11am, 5pm, and 7pm, and Monday 4pm.  Please continue to help and support our school fundraising efforts!  Grand Prize $3000, 2nd Prize $1000, and 3rd Prize $500.  Draw date: December 14, 2019.  Contact fundraising@stjude.ca and/or pec@stjude.ca for more information.

GR 7 FUNDRAISER PURDYS CHOCOLATE SALES

St. Jude Grade 7 Class 2020 is fundraising with Purdys Chocolatier!
An easy way to do Christmas shopping – Avoid those line-ups and busy malls!

If you’d like to support us through purchasing some very sweet Christmas gifts for friends, family and yourself, please click the link below:
 
https://fundraising.purdys.com/1033040-68657

After you’ve signed in you can buy our amazing chocolates or invite others to join and support our Fundraising Campaign.

Paper orders can be submitted to the school office with cash (exact change only) or cheque (made out to Anthonette Imperial)

Last day to order: Monday, November 25th
Picked up orders from St. Jude school cafeteria on Monday, December 9th

Thank you for supporting the Grade 7 class in celebrating their graduation!

ST. JUDE PARISH CELEBRATES 75 YEARS ON OCTOBER 28

St. Jude Parish will be celebrating their 75th Anniversary this month. For this important occasion, there will be a Mass on October 28th at 4pm. Following the mass, there will be a formal reception at 6pm hosted at the Hilton Metrotown. Tickets are $125 each. The parish is looking for door prizes, sponsorship, and donations. Please contact Richelle Akol or the Parish Office if you have questions or are able to assist in any way. Tickets can be purchased through Richelle Akol

REMINDERS

Oct 28 – Patron Saint Assembly at 2:15 pm 
– St. Jude Parish 75th Anniversary – Mass at 4pm with Dinner and Reception to follow. 
Oct 29 – Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut
Oct 31 – Halloween Bake Sale / Hot Lunch – Jiro
Nov 1 – INDIGO GIFT CARD SALE begins.  Patriots Spirit Day
Nov 5 – Hot Lunch – Edo
Nov 7 – Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut
Nov 8 – Remembrance Day Assembly
Nov 11 – Remembrance Day – NO SCHOOL
Nov 12 – Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut
Nov 14 – Hot Lunch – Subway
Nov 19 – Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut
Nov 21- Hot Lunch – Edo Sushi
Nov 26- Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut
Nov 28- Hot Lunch – Jiro