"Dividends of a Catholic Education"

1) Ash Wednesday Masses at GW: 12 noon, 5 pm, 7:30 pm
Marvin Center, 3rd Floor, Continental Ballroom
800 21st St., NW DC

2) This week, the Dominican Sisters of Mary appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show". Good for Oprah for inviting the Sisters!! My hunch is that the Sisters did this primarily to evangelize on behalf of the Church; they don't need to recruit for more Sisters. I regularly receive letters from them saying that they have a different vocations crisis: too many Sisters! To view clips from the show, please click on today's title.
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Good friends from my last parish sent me the following essay which their 7th grade daughter wrote about the "Dividends of a Catholic Education". It's pretty incredible! I invite all bloggers to write a few dividends of their Catholic education whether it's been in a Catholic school, parish, Newman Center, blog site, etc.

I would echo the beautiful sentiments below by saying that the greatest dividend of a Catholic education is learning about the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. After 12+ years in Catholic schools, my Catholic education really started when a priest simply said, "'this is my body' means this is my body".


Christ’s Wonderful Gifts
Dividends of a Catholic Education

To me, the most important benefit that I receive from Catholic education is that every Sunday I witness an extraordinary miracle: the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It really opens my eyes, and makes me realize the amazing power of God. If you see this action, it can change your life. The phenomenal power of this deed gives me the chance of eternal life. It reminds me that God loves me so much that he gives up his body for my well-being.

Another benefit is that when I pray, I remember that every time I receive grace from Him. Also, in the sacraments, we tighten the strand of our friendship with God, and he loves us ever more. Any time we even give God thanks, he smiles, and the jagged nail is loosened.

So keep in mind that the littlest acts, whether it be praise to God or prayer, is pleasing in His eyes. He looks down on us with extreme care and love. With all of His great gifts, such as eternal life, we are given the chance to be with Him in Heaven. The Eucharist and grace are His presents to us, and are one of the greatest acts of love I know. So take time to just take time to thank Him for all of the benefits of being Catholic.