Saint Joseph's Catholic High School – An Advent Rush

Intermountain Catholic

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 St. Joseph Catholic High School students form a living Advent wreath.
Courtesy photo/Saint Joseph Catholic High School

OGDEN — The busiest part of the school year is just after the Thanksgiving holiday, when teachers are finishing their lessons in preparation for the Christmas break, coaches and drill leaders are ramping up basketball, cheerleader and pep squad activities; and students are studying for semester finals. And don’t forget, preparing for Advent.

So how do you expand an already overflowing students schedule with thoughts of the real meaning of Advent? Will the students rise to the task?

Bishop John C. Wester’s letter about the Advent season gave us the framework and direction.

First, we began with our daily prayer. Our prayers encouraged taking time to reflect on family, joy versus happiness, and preparing for coming of the Christ Child. We also talked about the key role of St. Joseph. During prayer, our Advent wreath was comprised of students holding the Advent candles.

Second we began by helping others. The National Honor Society collected coats and sweaters while our Christian Life class collected 1,000 items of food in a week, and knitted warm stocking caps for the poor. Our principal, Norm Allred, offered the students FREE DRESS if they achieved their goals and last Friday the campus was covered in jeans and Old Navy!

We also adopted three families from a local parish. The students, led by class advisors, provided each family a $100 gift card to Smith’s for food and bought and wrapped clothes and gifts for each child.

Our monthly liturgy focused on a Penance service. Our local parish priests and priests from the Monastery in Huntsville all participated. We had seven priests! Each priest had a line of at least 10 students. The transformation in our student body was beyond words. Two weeks later we had a guest speaker, Deacon Manuel Trujillo, who delivered a talk about Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s amazing how God uses Mary and the poor to change people’s hearts.

This year our decoration efforts shifted from Christmas trees to Advent trees. Each of the four classes decorated a class Advent tree with the theme "All Things Advent." The class advisors and theology teachers organized and explained the theme, decorating time and judging rules. Each faculty and staff member was given a box of cookies to be used as their vote for the best tree. The senior "Angel tree" won. Each class received several boxes of cookies, which were given to the students during break and the rest of the day was one big sugar rush.

It’s now Dec. 17 and several teachers are gathered in the break room, exhausted after all the lesson plans had been taught and the final exams taken, with practices completed and games played and concluded: We are truly blessed with great kids!