This was the chorus of our Eighth Class students as they ran through the Academy hallways this past Monday. Whistles blowing, horns blasting and shouts of glee rose to create a crescendo of JOY as students, faculty and staff became aware that, yes, this was the yearly surprise day of fun! Books, lessons, tests, essays, quizzes and projects were set aside, allowing the whole school to engage in a day filled with fun activities organized and orchestrated by our amazing Eighth Class leaders!
If you are new to Sacred Heart education, you may wonder why we do this. What is the educational point? St. Madeleine Sophie Barat’s hope was that on days such as Congé, our students would learn, through experience, about the bountiful nature of God’s love!
Helping our students come to know themselves as deeply, completely and unreservedly loved is the BIGGEST lesson of a Sacred Heart education. It is also the source of the courage and confidence which we talk about so often. I once observed a dramatic example of this kind of lesson when I was a young administrator. I walked into a religion class of an older RSCJ and, to my surprise, she was flinging M&Ms out into her classroom as if they were confetti. The children were squealing, shrieking, giggling and diving for them! At the end of a few moments of seeming chaos, this wise RSCJ gathered the children around her and, with twinkling eyes, explained that this is how God wants to love us—abundantly and extravagantly!
In our secular society, it is a particular challenge to figure out how one helps children understand that the CREATOR of the stars at night (and the Creator of everything in the material universe) yearns to love them and have them know themselves as Beloved! Well, CONGÉ is one of the many aspects of life at the Academy, all of which conspire to create an atmosphere and ambiance of love and acceptance, the goal of which is to do that very thing: educate to God’s Love.
A HUGE thank you goes out to the Eighth Class students for the work, time, energy, effort and LOVE they provided for the whole school community!
United in the Heart of the One Who yearns for us to know ourselves as deeply loved,
Maureen Glavin, rscj
