Even teachers remain students! As part of our institutional commitment to modeling the life of a disciple (from the Latin discipulus, learner), we teachers prioritize enriching our own minds and hearts with a good book! We are students of Jesus Christ.
One teacher recently asked a rather poignant question: How can we ever instill a culture of reading in the lives of young people in today’s secular and superficial society? It is a hard question. In my experience, hard questions usually do not require complex solutions.
“How do we help our children get to heaven?,” we ask ourselves: we...
Read MoreMount Royal Academy Announces 2nd Quarter Academic Honors
Grade 6
Headmaster’s list: Liliana Chimienti, Maria Gik, Angela Moorehouse,
High Honors: Joseph Flaig, Claudia Gannon, Evangeline Nadeau, Callan Ouellette
Honors: Jaylin Greenhalgh, August Graham-Snyder
Grade 7
Headmaster’s list: Haley Elkind, Emma LeBlanc, Lucy Treece
High Honors: Jubilee Tremblay, Juliana Yost
Grade 8
Headmaster’s list: Allison Cass, Charles Lee, Kathryn McLaughlin, Liam Swegart
High Honors: Isabella Acevedo, Anela Jenkins
Honors: Kolbe Dowsett, Ella Gifford, Marissa Ouellette
Grade 9
Hea...
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Why are we here?
The Baltimore Catechism gives us an answer to this age-old existential conundrum.
“God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.” So, that answers that.
As we prepare to celebrate Catholic Schools Week next week, it might be a good idea to refocus that question. Why are we here? At a Catholic school, in particular?
Historically, Catholic schools are renowned for providing rigorous academic programs in an environment that promotes virtue, respect, and traditional values. Educating the whole child is no...
Read More"He made for them discretion with a tongue and eyes and ears, he gave them a mind for thinking, and filled them with the discipline of discernment.
He created them in the knowledge of the spirit; he filled their hearts with understanding, and showed them good and evil." (Sirach 17:6-7)
Here we are: 2024. Thirty years of existence.
The other day I was commenting to my wife a kind of strange realization: for all of my adult life, I have only known Mount Royal Academy. This is the only location I have been getting up to drive to everyday for the last fifteen years. I vividly recall making t...
Read MoreHappy New Year! The first Sunday of Advent, which we celebrated this past Sunday, marks the beginning of the liturgical year. Advent is a time of preparation, as we ready our hearts to welcome Christ, born to us as Messiah and Savior. Advent can also be considered a time for a new beginning, or fresh start. We ask ourselves what we need to change in our lives to become more faithful followers of Christ. This type of self-reflection is necessary if we are to grow in our spiritual life, and Advent is the perfect time to begin anew!
There is a saying, “Begin with the end in mind.” Knowing ...
Read MoreMount Royal Academy has announced academic awards for the 1st Quarter of the 2023-2024 school year. (Headmaster's List - Summa Cum Laude: 3.9-4.00, High Honor roll - Magna Cum Laude: 3.7-3.89, Honor Roll - Cum Laude: 3.5-3.69)
Grade 6
Headmaster’s list: Liliana Chimienti, Joseph Flaig, Maria Gik, Jaylin Greenhalgh, Angela Moorehouse,
High Honors: David Breisch, Claudia Gannon, Berklee Laslie, Evangeline Nadeau, Callan Ouellette
Grade 7
Headmaster’s list: Haley Elkind, Emma LeBlanc, Lucy Treece, Jubilee Tremblay
High Honors: Juliana Yost
Honors: Clare Holliston, Emma Kelley
Grade ...
Read More“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” - Philippians 3:7
Someone commented to me today that there is a lot going on in my head right now, and none of it seems to be connected. We used to host a podcast entitled, “Ruminations of Formation.” Yea, it didn’t go that far in terms of grabbing an audience. My faint recollection regarding the word rumination emanates from a biblical connotation: to meditate on the word of God. Much like the first compartment ...
Read MoreIn the world of classical education, we frequently refer to the three transcendental values of truth, beauty, and goodness. We build curricula, lesson plans, and enrichment activities around them with the intention of filling our students’ hearts and minds with these universal attributes of being.
The Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, viewed these cosmic values of truth (that which defines reality), goodness (that which fulfills its purpose), and beauty (that which is lovely) as objective and knowable. Human beings experience fulfillment through these transcendental values beca...
“Train yourself for the life of piety,
for while physical training is to some extent valuable,
religion is incalculably more so,
with its promise of life here and hereafter.
You can depend on this as worthy of complete acceptance.” - Timothy 4:8
The older I get the more I have come to believe in the value of listening. Last Friday evening, after a rather unpleasant experience on the soccer pitch - it was foggy, misty, soggy, and our girls were the recipients of rude language from the opposing team - I was graced with an opportunity to listen.
Each morning I strive ...
Read MoreThe parable of the landowner at Mass last weekend put the figurative bow on my week. The message of human envy in opposition to the great mercy of God brought together in one package some of the themes I encountered on campus and off.
While the message is meant to highlight the generosity and mercy of God, it does so in an uncomfortable way. The landowner hires day laborers and agrees to pay them a just wage for a day’s work. He returns throughout the day to hire more laborers, even taking on more workers close to the end of the day. When the time comes to pay them their wages, all of the ...
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