Crusader Chronicle

In the Gospel reading for today, we hear John the Baptist speak the words that the priest speaks at every Mass - "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." John the Baptist spoke those words when he saw Jesus walking toward him. The priest speaks those words at Mass when he holds up the Body of Christ.

When John the Baptist spoke those words, he was speaking them in the physical, earthly presence of Jesus. John the Baptist knew already that Jesus was the Messiah, and John the Baptist grew up knowing Jesus as his cousin. He also knew that he was called to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was called to be the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah, and that he was called to be the herald of God's message that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

Even though Jesus no longer walks the Earth, as He did in the time of John the Baptist, we can still know that Jesus is with us. At every Sunday Mass, and every time we go to Mass, we hear the priest speak the words of John the Baptist, reminding us that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and we are reminded that Jesus is with us in the Eucharist. We are reminded that Jesus wants to be near us, so near that He wants to "enter under our roof." We may not see Jesus walking toward us, but we see Him in His Body, and, even more, we can receive Him at Mass. Let us never forget that the Son of God, the Lamb of God, is as near to us as He was to John the Baptist.

Tomorrow is the holiday that commemorates Martin Luther King, Jr. On the sad occasion of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Pope Paul VI wrote that King was a "Christian prophet for racial integration" and a "unique apostle for the non-violent drive for justice." As we also remember Martin Luther King, Jr., let us pray this prayer for racial justice:

God of Heaven and Earth,

you created the one human family

and endowed each person with great dignity.

Aid us, we pray, in overcoming the sin of racism.

Fill our hearts with love for you and our neighbor

so that we may work with you

in healing racial divisions.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

(Adapted from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Please join us on February 3 for this year's Handbag Bingo. See the flyer below for more information.

We are already planning for registration and class numbers for the 2023-2024 school year.

If you are a current family and are planning to register a new child from your family for the

2023-2024 school year, please contact Mrs. Crozier at hcrozier@sischool.org as soon as possible.

St. Ignatius usually switches to the winter uniform on November 1st. If your child has not already begun wearing the winter uniform, please have your child switch to the winter uniform.

Our Family Directory is complete! Thank you for updating your information. You can view and print a copy of the Family Directory by clicking on the file below.

Thank you to all the families who have already participated in our SchoolStore fundraiser!

Many of our teachers have received generous gift certificates from their students. If your family has not registered, there is still time, prizes are still available. Click the link below if you want to participate:

https://www.schoolstore.net/cgi/SetSchool?secheck=1&SchoolID=0000120009

6th Grade Honors Math has once again been running the on-campus school store. They will sell items from 8:30 am to 8:45 am daily. Items are $1.00 or under. Please send change when possible. Last year's store raised over $70. The money was used to buy new materials for the math classrooms.

Thank you for following the procedures for car drop off and car pick up.

If you need to pick up your son or daughter prior to regular dismissal time, please be sure to pick up no later than 2:15 pm, in order to keep all of our dismissals flowing smoothly.

Car drop off begins at 8 am. If you do not see a school staff member in the drop off area, please do not drop off your child or children and leave them outside the doors under the blue canopy; please wait until a staff member comes out and opens the doors.

For car drop off, please stay in the drop off line and do not drive around the car in front of you. Wait until the car in front of you pulls forward before you pull forward.

For car drop off, please do your best to make sure your child is ready to exit the car when you pull up and stop. Especially if you are the first car in line, please drive away once your child is out of the car and your car door is closed. This will help with the flow of traffic in the car drop off line.

For car pick up, please wait until the school staff member gives the signal for your line of cars to pull out and drive out of the parking lot before starting to drive away.

For Pre-K drop off and pick up, please follow the procedures, leaving the lanes with cones at the ends empty for parents to drive out once they have walked their Pre-K students to the Pre-K building. Please take extra care as you are driving, parking, and leaving after Pre-K drop off and pick up.

If you have someone dropping off or picking up your child that has not dropped off or picked up at St. Ignatius before, please inform them of the procedures so that there will be no issues.

Home and School Weekly Update:

The Home and School Association is thankful for all the parent support for all our recent events. Please mark your calendars for our upcoming events!

Volunteer Clearances

As a friendly reminder, any parent or guardian who would like to volunteer at our school and church events, MUST have up-to-date clearances on file with Jayne Marcinowski, the Safe Environment Coordinator, at the church rectory. She can be reached at hr@stignatius.church. The following link will take you to the Church Safe Environment website where you can follow instructions to obtain clearances.

http://www.stignatius.church/safe.html#more

LUNCH DUTY - REQUESTING ASSISTANCE

We are still in need of some assistance on several dates for lunch duty. Please note that we need FOUR (4) parents to volunteer on each and every day in order to cover both lunch periods. There are several days where we only have 1 or 2 parents signed up. Please see the Sign-Up Genius below and add your name where you can help. You will need current clearances in order to assist with Lunch Duty. We appreciate any and all help you can give!

SIS parents: Lunch Duty Jan/Feb (signupgenius.com)

FAMILY DINNER

The Home and School Assocation cordially invites all current St. Ignatius School Families and staff to our Family Dinner taking place on Saturday, January 28. This event will be held in the Church Auditorium directly following 5:15 PM Mass. Please note that the 5:15 PM Mass will be St. Ignatius School's celebration of Catholic Schools Week led by Father Brownholtz, and all school families are encouraged to attend. Dinner will commence immediately following Mass and will be catered by Carlucci's Grill. Home and School will provide dessert as well as drinks including water and lemonade (all drinks other than water are BYO). The cost to attend is $10 per person, with a maximum of $40 per family. There is no cost for children under 3 years of age. Please keep in mind that this is for immediate family only, as we have limited space in the auditorium. As all food needs to be pre-ordered, we will be unable to take signups at the door; registration for this event will close on Friday, January 20 to ensure we have plenty of time to prepare. We look forward to gathering with you and your families for this wonderful tradition!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLVENeItw7YPdxhi7epw6O1dxIg9IR9I7WvmPYKGo5bQh6NA/viewform?usp=sf_link

WEEKLY PRETZEL SNACK

The Home and School Association is happy to offer the option to purchase a weekly pretzel snack for all interested students! For this order, the weekly pretzel snack will begin the week of February 6 and run through the week of May 29 (excluding Easter week), for a total of 16 weeks. Pretzels will be distributed on Thursday mornings of each week. Please note this is a fundraiser, with the money going back to support our children and St. Ignatius School! The cost of each pretzel is $1.00 for a total of $16.00 for the current offering.

ALL ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY January 30, 2023! We need to pre-order, so there will be no late orders accepted!

Please Note: pretzels will be purchased from Philadelphia Pretzel Factory in Langhorne.

2023 Soft Pretzel Orders (Round 2) (google.com)

Monday, January 16, is a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. There is no school on January 16.

Tuesday, January 17, is our next Class Mass. Grade 1B will join the St. Ignatius parishioners at the 9:00 am Mass.

Thursday, January 19, is also a Class Mass. Kindergarten will join the St. Ignatius parishioners at the 9:00 am Mass.

Thursday, January 26, is the 8th Grade Parent Meeting as we prepare for end-of-the-year activities for the Class of 2023! We ask all 8th Grade parents to join us at 6 pm.

Saturday, January 28, is the Catholic Schools Week Mass. Please come to the 5:15 Mass that evening to start Catholic Schools Week and pray for St. Ignatius of Antioch Elementary School.

Saturday, January 28, is this year's Family Dinner, which will start after the 5:15 Mass. Please see the information in the Home and School Section in this newsletter for more information.

Sunday, January 29, is our next Open House, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. Please tell your friends and anyone interested in sending their children to St. Ignatius to join us.

Sunday, January 29, through Friday, February 3, is Catholic Schools Week. A more detailed schedule of our events for that week will be coming soon.

Friday, February 3, is the date for this year's Handbag Bingo. Please see the information at the beginning of the School News Section of this newsletter for more information.

St. Ignatius of Antioch School has developed and maintains an Asbestos Inspection and Management Plan as required by the Asbestos Emergency Response Act of 1986 (AHERA). A copy of the plan is available for your inspection at the rectory office during regular office hours.

Inquiries regarding the plan should be directed to Acer Associates (856-809-1202), the

school's asbestos consultant.

If you have not already taken care of it, please check the school website for Medical Records and Immunizations, under the Parents Tab, for the new school year. The Pennsylvania State law requirements are explained there, and the medical forms are linked for those who may still need them. Please be sure to complete all immunizations and dental examinations required for your child's grade level.

For those of you who need to leave medications at school for your children, please complete the forms from the Health Office. Please bring the medication with the completed forms to the Health Office. See the Health Office Aide or the nurse (Wednesdays only) for more information.

Please check the school website (sischool.org) for updated documents (2022-2023 School Handbook, Responsible Use Policy for Technology, etc.) and for accompanying parent and student signature forms. Please return signed forms as soon as possible. Signature forms are attached here as well.

Save the Date!

Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm

Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa Brenninkmeyer

Join us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!

Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose

Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335

More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at Save the Date!

Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm

Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa BrenninkmeyerJoin us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!

Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose

Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335

More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at https://walkingwithpurpose.com/event/wwp-live-with-lisa-brenninkmeyer-2/

Please see the flyer below - St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish is looking for more adult volunteers to help with the Children's Liturgy of the Word on Sundays. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity and help the children of our parish learn about the readings at Mass each week.

The St. Ignatius of Antioch Boy Scout Troop 230 is recruiting new members. Please consider this great opportunity! See the flyer below for more information.

Please click on the link for information about the Cub Scouts and upcoming events.

https://pack230.org/