A New Year - Seton Home Study School

Seton Home
Study School
Volume XXVII, Number 9  “under the Magisterium of the Catholic Church”  September 2010
Mother Most Faithful
On September 8, we celebrate the
birthday of Mary, the Blessed Virgin
Mother, who was given the special
gift of choosing to be the mother of
the Son of God. The Church teaches
that she herself was conceived without
Original Sin so that she would be the
perfect sinless Mother of Jesus.
Though born without any kind of
sin, she nevertheless had free will. She
was asked by the Angel at the time of
the Annunciation if she would agree
to be the Mother of God, and she
responded: “Behold the handmaid of
the Lord. Be it done to me according
to thy word.”
Mary proclaimed that she
recognized herself as a “handmaid,”
a serving lady, a maid who serves
another. Therefore, in her capacity as
a loving handmaid of God, she says
that in whatever way God wishes for
her to serve Him, she wants it to be
“done to her.” Mary was Faithful to her
role, the role we all have in relation to
our Creator, which is to serve Him in
whatever way He asks.
Before the angel Gabriel appeared
to her, Mary had different plans for
her life. She intended to serve at the
Temple, where she had lived for several
years. But when Gabriel appeared, she
realized that God was calling her to
be faithful to His will, not to her own
will, as holy and admirable as that was.
Instead of her own choice to serve in
the Temple, she now obeyed the request
of her Master and Creator, to be the
Mother of the Son of God.
Mary was faithful not only to God
but also to man. She trusted St. Joseph,
her betrothed, though he momentarily
doubted her. She was faithful to him
as he made the decision to make
the difficult trip to Bethlehem. She
followed St. Joseph faithfully when
he made the decision, guided by an
angel, to flee to Egypt when Herod
was seeking the Christ Child.
The Blessed Mother was faithful
in teaching her Son as St. Anne had
taught her years before. Mary knew,
of course, that she need not teach
Him, rather that He could teach her.
However, Jesus wanted her to fulfill
the role of a mother to give good
example to those who would follow.
God the Father willed that His Son
be an example to all mankind of how
to live. The Bible and the Church
teach that Jesus grew in experiential
knowledge and wisdom and grace,
before God and man.
When Jesus grew to adulthood and
left her home, the Blessed Mother was
no less faithful. As she had followed
him about when he was a little boy
just beginning to walk, now the
Blessed Mother followed his footsteps
to Calvary. The Blessed Mother was
faithful by standing at the foot of the
Cross, faithful to the sufferings she was
asked to bear as a mother at the foot of
the Cross.
After the crucifixion, the Blessed
Mother was faithful to the apostles
and disciples, remaining with them
in prayer as they waited for the Holy
Spirit to appear on Pentecost Sunday.
The Blessed Mother continued to
remain faithful to them as she resided in
a house near the location of the upper
room where the Holy Spirit came upon
them.
For two thousand years, Mary has
remained faithful, appearing many
times to children and adults, priests and
laypeople, monks and nuns, soldiers
and mothers.
Blessed Mother Most Faithful,
help us to be faithful to Jesus and
to the graces we received from the
Sacrament of Matrimony. Help us to
be faithful to our duty to teach our
children the Catholic Faith. Help us
to be faithful to the teachings of the
Catholic Church.
We know from the Bible that God
is faithful to His promises. At the end
of our journey, let us and our children
hear His words, “Well done, good and
faithful servant, because you have been
faithful over a few things, I will place
you over many things. Enter thou into
the joy of the Lord.”
Virgin and Mother Most Faithful,
pray for us.
- MKC
Inside . . .
Questions............................ 2
Your My Seton Page........... 4
A New Year.......................... 6
Receiving Email.................. 7
Visit to Sulmona, Italy........ 8
2 - Seton Home Study School
September 2010
Questions We Are Asked
by Dr. Mary Kay Clark
Director, Seton Home Study School
I am not sure in which grade level
my son should be enrolled for the
reading class.
You might want to contact one of
our elementary counselors and discuss
your concerns. Sometimes students hit
a plateau and need to spend more time
reviewing phonics concepts.
However, sometimes it is a maturity
issue; about fourth grade level, some
students are not quite mature enough to
go into the fifth grade level. It is better
for these students to repeat fourth grade
level material, though not necessarily
using the same textbooks. Some students
can move ahead in math, but should
be using different readers at the fourth
grade level. Different textbooks at
the same level could also be used in
history and science. Consider choosing
biographies or good fiction at the lower
level.
Don’t worry too much about your
child not progressing as rapidly as you
would like. Children can and do learn
to read and to understand what they are
reading. If your child is not progressing
after a second year at the same level,
phone our Special Services Department
and talk with our certified special needs
counselor. Frequently-asked questions
for this department can be found on our
website at www.setonhome.org. Click on
Curriculum and scroll down to Special
Services.
Any time you’re not sure which
book is right, you can print out a sample
page from one of our reading books and
see how your student does with it. To
do this, go on the Seton website, click on
Curriculum, then click on Grade School
Booklist. Scroll down to the grade level
you want to see a list of all the books.
When you click on a book, you will be
able to see the Table of Contents and
several pages inside.
How long is my child enrolled in
the course? Can he go through next
summer if he does not finish up?
Students are enrolled for one full
calendar year. In practice, the time
allowed is often longer than this. For
any student who enrolls in June through
August each year, we set the start date
as September 1. That way, families can
order the books early without worrying
about running out of time.
We do charge extension fees if a
student goes more than a month or two
beyond the enrollment year.
How do I find out which tests are
available online for my student? How
do I find out which courses have
lectures?
You can find out all the tests,
lectures, supplements, and other
resources by simply going to your My
Seton page.
Notice the box in the upper
right-hand corner. That is where your
current student’s name is listed, along
with any other children enrolled from
your family. Click on the down arrow
to find the name of the student you
want. Then click on Courses. All the
courses for the current student will
be listed. Notice the several icons
on the right; as you run your cursor
over the icons, a message will pop up
telling you what that icon is. You can
find Upload Work, Take Online Tests,
View Electronically-submitted work,
Resources (such as Chapter Notes,
Answer Keys, Practice Sheets), View
Online Course, and Listen to Audio
Lectures.
To get to the online test area,
click on the course name. This will
take you to another page listing all the
assignments for that course. To the right
of each assignment that can be done
online, you wll find this icon:
Before you leave the site, take the
opportunity to click on everything you
see on the two bars. You might find
something else useful!
Some parents in my area start their
school day rather late, such as 10
o’clock. Is that a good idea?
Home schooling can be adjusted
to meet the needs and lifestyle of the
individual family. However, from my
experience, most families find it best
to start early. The morning seems to
be the optimal learning time for many
If you’re not sure
which book is right,
you can print out a
sample page from one
of our reading books
and see how your
student does with it.
children. As the day goes on, most
people tend to drag a bit.
The important thing is finding a
schedule that works for your family,
and sticking to it. Almost any schedule
is better than no schedule.
May my son omit the history course
in Grade 6? He seems to have enough
to do.
Although history is not as
important as religion, math, English,
and reading, it is still an important
course, especially in our current society
when many schools are not teaching
history. Could your husband help
your son maybe two evenings a week
and on Saturday or Sunday afternoon?
Your husband might take your son to
the library and find picture books of
Egypt or whatever is the subject of
the chapter. There is an abundance of
historical information on the internet;
September 2010
your husband might check images and
help your son find relevant pictures and
even print them out.
If your husband is not available,
perhaps someone else in the family, a
college-age older brother or an uncle
or grandfather or an interested college
student might visit a couple of times a
week to discuss the chapter.
My son likes reading, but he does not
like writing book reports. Can’t he
skip those this year?
Wr i t i n g b o o k r e p o r t s i s a s
important as math, reading, and
English. Writing develops thinking
skills and analytical skills. When a
child writes a paragraph, with a topic
Students who spend
years with Seton
Home Study School
develop higher level
thinking and writing
skills.
sentence, logical middle sentences,
and a concluding sentence, especially
one expressing his own opinion of the
topic, that child has reached a level
of thinking that surpasses even many
adults in our society.
Students who spend years at Seton
and develop higher level thinking and
writing skills can, if they wish, go on
to graduate school, become professors
or doctors or lawyers, hopefully good
Catholic pro-life professionals. Those
who don’t wish to be professionals
can, nevertheless, exert influence in
their community by writing letters
to the editor, being a good baseball
coach where values can be taught
on the field, opening a thriving
business on Main Street, running for
town council, and/or influencing the
community in so many different ways.
Reading is fundamental, but so is
writing!
Seton Home Study School - 3
Is there any advantage to submitting
the tests online? I have always mailed
in the paper tests.
The biggest advantage of online
grading is the time saved. The online test
arrives almost immediately, and is graded
immediately by the computer, or within
a few days by a human grader.
Graders who work with paper copies
need to come in once or twice a week
and pick up the paper copies. The papers
need to be checked in on the computer;
they need to be processed, put in folders,
and put in the graders’ pick-up boxes.
The graders take a stack of test papers
with them, so the papers are out for a
few days. When the graded papers come
back, the grades need to be recorded on
the computer, then sent down to the mail
room. Our mail department needs to get
the mail in envelopes and run it through
a postage machine. The mail then waits
until the mail truck arrives. As you can
see, no one part of the process takes
very long, but with several processes
necessary, tests could be more quickly
graded and sent back to parents if the
internet is used.
Another advantage, especially
for high school work, is that work
submitted online is easily available
for future reference. When a student
phones and asks an English or History
or Math counselor about a previouslysubmitted test, the counselor can find
the test on our computer and easily and
quickly discuss it with the student. If
there is ever a question about a grade,
the tests and assignments can quickly
be retrieved.
Is it required that my children take
the standardized test?
S e t o n d o e s n o t re q u i re t h e
standardized test, but many states
require them as a way to make sure that
educational progress is being made and
that students are meeting certain levels
of achievement. Some school districts
like to include the home schoolers’
achievement scores in their district
averages!
We l i k e t o h a v e i n c o m i n g
students take the standardized test.
(We sometimes also ask sutdents to
take subject-specific tests, such as an
Algebra I Placement test.) This gives
our enrollment counselors and parents
confidence in the ability of a student to
be successful in a certain grade level.
Other schools and colleges want to
see standardized test scores. Colleges
consider standardized tests more reliable
than report cards because they are totally
objective.
Does it cost more to add an extra
course for my high school student?
The answer is: maybe. It depends
on the total number of courses and total
number of credits. In general, you may
take up to six credits before incurring
any further cost.
If you would like to add an extra
course for a student, it is best to phone
an academic counselor first to discuss
the advantages and disadvantages for a
student to take an extra course.
Some high school students do like
to take courses over the summer to get a
head-start on the school year. Also, some
high school students like to graduate
with more than the usual courses. Some
high school students take only two
courses at a time, and find they can do
them more quickly. These students often
add a third year foreign language, or an
economics or Shakespeare course.
My student is taking an art course
locally. Can he obtain a Seton grade
if I send in some samples?
If your student is in high school,
you should contact Gene McGuirk, our
high school academic counselor. If your
student is in 12th grade, please contact
Bob Weisner, our senior academic
counselor. If your student is in an
elementary grade, ask the art teacher
to give your student a “report card”
and send it in with the grade recorded
on the quarter report form. For high
school, there will be more requirements
to receive course credit.
If you go on our website and click
on About Us, then scroll down to Staff,
you can find the staff members and their
extension numbers.
4 - Seton Home Study School
September 2010
Using Your My Seton Page
My Seton is a part of the Seton
Home Study School website which is
customized for your family. A wide range
of information and services are available
online. Almost any information you
could receive by calling Seton—grades,
papers received, payments, etc.—can be
found on your My Seton page. Many
services, such as audio pronunciation
guides and lectures, are available only
on My Seton.
Logging in to My Seton
In order to log in to My Seton, you first
need to go to the My Seton web address of
www.setonhome.org/myseton. You can
either type this address in your browser
or use the link from Seton’s home page.
The first time you log in to My Seton,
you will be asked to supply your family
number and password. The password and
family number are found in bold print
at the top right on the packing list that
you received with your books.
After your first visit, you may not ever
have to log in again. There is a check
mark on the login page that says “Keep
me logged in on this computer”. If you
check “Keep me logged in” then you will
not have to login with your password on
subsequent visits. If you are accessing
My Seton from your home computer, you
probably will want to have that checked.
If you are accessing My Seton from a
public computer, such as a library, you
should be sure not to have that checked.
If you do not know your password
or family number, click on the link that
says “Retrieve Password”. If Seton
has your email address on file, you can
receive login information immediately.
You enter your email address, and if the
address you enter matches, the login
information will be emailed to you. If
we don’t have your email address, then
you will need to either fill out the help
form online or call Seton.
Course Resources
One of the most important features of
your My Seton page is the supplemental
course resources that are offered. The
New Resources tab will show you the
new resources that have been uploaded
for a student in the last month, based
upon the courses in which the current
student is enrolled. The All Resources
tab will show you all resources that
are available for the courses in which
the current student is enrolled. Click
on the underlined link to view any of
the items. Items which are in Acrobat
Reader format have the designation
“pdf” after them. (PDF stands for
“portable document format”.)
Grades Tab
Your children’s grades are always
available for review online. The Grades
tab displays the courses and grades for
your children in a grid. The left side shows
the courses, the grades are in the middle,
and a series of icons is on the right. The
icons relate to different actions that are
available for a particular course.
You will notice that each of the grades
and courses listed is actually a link. If
you click on one of these links, it will
take you to a more detailed page for that
course. Each course has specific items for
each quarter that are either required or
optional in order to receive a grade for
the course. The items are grouped first
by quarter, and then by whether they are
parent-graded or Seton-graded items.
The parent-graded items are shown
first for each quarter, and have either a
yellow background or a box around them.
You can record your parent grades for
assignments here. To enter parent grades,
click the button at the top of the page that
says “Enter Parent Grades”. The grades
you enter here are grades that you give
for assignments, and you can determine
those grades in whatever way you wish.
After you enter parent grades, click the
button that says “Submit Parent Grades”.
Clicking this button saves the grades you
have entered.
Online Tests
Online tests are tests that you can
take through your My Seton site, rather
than on paper. Online tests are available
for many of the tests from high school
down through the fourth grade. Almost
all tests that are fill-in-the-blank, short
answer, etc., are available online. Some
tests, which are either entirely or almost
entirely essay questions, are not available
online. These items would need to be
uploaded (see next section).
When a test consists entirely of
objective questions, the computer can
check all answers and give an immediate
grade. When a test contains both objective
and subjective parts, the computer will
check the parts that are objective, and a
human grader will grade the subjective
parts. This means that a grade for the
test is not immediately available, but may
take a few days.
Uploading Work to Seton
“Uploading” is the process of
sending assignments or tests from
your computer to Seton. Work that
is uploaded to Seton is generally one
September 2010
Seton Home Study School - 5
of two things. It is either a file created
in a word processor, such as Microsoft
Word, or it is a workbook page or
other non-computer file that has been
scanned into an image. Uploading
work to Seton will generally result in
your student receiving a grade more
quickly than if the same work were
sent by mail.
Printing Lesson Plans
Your My Seton page includes a fullfeatured web application that lets you
customize and print lesson plans for
your children. The Lesson Plan Creator
comes in two somewhat different
versions—the Weekly Creator and the
Daily Creator. The Weekly Creator
creates a week’s worth of lesson plans,
while the Daily Creator creates lesson
plans for one day at a time.
The Weekly Creator will print out
weeks as listed in the Lesson Plans.
You can pick a different week for
each subject, but the weeks are fixed
according to what is printed in the
lesson plans. This is great if you are
keeping up pretty well on the weekly
schedule.
The Daily Creator offers more
flexibility because you can choose exact
days (or lessons) that you want. You
can choose a different week and day for
each course.
After you create your lesson plans, you
can load them into your word processor,
and modify them as you like. Some
families like to turn the daily lesson plans
into a comprehensive daily calendar by
adding such things as chores or outside
classes.
Checking Your Account
You can use your My Seton page to
check your account with Seton. If you
are on the payment plan, you can check
to see if payments were received, or make
credit card payments online.
If you move to another address,
change your email, get a new cell phone,
etc., you can enter the new information
here. This information is then checked
at Seton for consistency and imported
into our master list. When our master
list has been updated, you will receive
an email confirmation.
Message Boards
Seton maintains a large number
of online message boards that can be
used by students and parents alike. As
of this writing, the available message
boards are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parents
Elementary Subject Counseling
Special Services
Spanish, Latin, French
Science
High School Math
High School History
High School English
American Government
Biology
Computer Courses Each of the subject message boards is
moderated either by a Seton counselor
or by an expert in the subject who can
help with answers to questions posted.
In addition, students and parents can
post messages to each other.
Weekly Lectures
For many high school courses,
such as English, history, and foreign
languages, Seton offers weekly audio
lectures online. The lectures are offered
in several different audio formats.
These lectures are great supplements
to the course, giving more information
on concepts studied, or touching on
topics of interest not covered in the text.
For Spanish and Latin, we offer audio
pronunciation guides online.
For complete information about
the services available on your
My Seton page, please consult
the Parent Home School
Handbook, which comes with all new
family enrollments.
6 - Seton Home Study School
A New Year
by John Clark
As I sat down to write this article,
I kept wondering what I should write
about to inspire home schooling
fathers for yet another school year.
Let’s face it, I don’t care how much
you believe in home schooling,
you never look forward to Labor
Day. When trips to the beach or to
amusement parks give way to math
books, pencil sharpeners, writing
tablets, and flash cards, there’s a
note of sadness. So whenever I’m
tempted to dread the thought of
home schooling, I try to remember
why I’m doing it in the first place and
what I like about it.
I like that on work days when I
go home for lunch, all my children
have lunch with me. I like watching
Demetrius help Dominica with
her reading. I like following the
ups and downs of the continuing
saga of Lisa helping Veronica with
her math. I like giving Athanasius
articles from Sports Illustrated to
correct stylistically. I like watching
Bonaventure trying to trace the
letters A, B, and C for the first time
with those enormous children’s
pencils.
I like the fact that home schooling
makes me want to be a better man.
When you are a home schooling
father, you are a significant influence
on your children’s lives. If you react
well to that fact, it influences the
words you use, the movies you watch,
and the music you hear.
When Lisa announced that she
was pregnant with our first baby, I
put away The Beatles, Journey, and
the rest of the rock groups that I’d
rather not mention in print. I didn’t
want my children to listen to rock
music, and I knew that if I did, they
would too. I wanted them to like
classical music, so I trained myself
to like classical music. Now I go to
classical music concerts, and I love
them. (I still listen to jazz, one of
America’s two great contributions to
the arts—the other being baseball.)
But music is only one area of
our lives. There are many areas that
have been quietly affected. After
having children, I go to confession
more, I say the Rosary more, I
think I have grown closer in my
relationships with Jesus, Mary, and
St. Joseph. Don’t get me wrong—I’m
not delusional. I know I’m a sinner
like everyone else. In fact, I have
recently considered designing an
“examination of conscience” app for
the iPhone as a way of expediting my
penitential process.
But the desire to be better is
there, and my children, along with
the choice to home school them,
are largely responsible. A story may
illustrate my point. We Byzantine
Catholics have always been fond of
icons. These little representations of
Jesus and the saints adorn our homes
as constant reminders of heaven. We
believe that the icons on the walls
help us to fight temptation because
we don’t want to commit sins which
these icons will “see.” At the liturgy,
the parishioners are blessed with
incense along with the icons, because
we Catholics should be icons to the
world, and should be a witness to
others.
Lisa and I are fortunate, because
we have nine little icons running
around the house all the time.
I also like home schooling
because it seems to slow down the
“growing-up” process. It seems like
students at brick and mortar schools
are always coming or going. I don’t
know about other fathers, but I feel
like someone keeps pressing the Fast
Forward button on my life. I guess
it’s better than pressing Stop. And
just to continue the “my life can be
summed up with a VCR” analogy,
September
August 2010
2007
what I really want is Pause. I’m
almost forty, which either seems
really old (if you’re a teenager of
mine), or really young (if your name
and face has been superimposed
lately on a Smuckers Jar on the Today
Show).
This morning, after saying a
Spiritual Communion with my
children, I walked over to make the
sign of the cross on Mary Katherine’s
little forehead, and she looked up at
me and giggled. I remember how
much she looked like Veronica, now
15, at that age. It’s been fourteen
years but it seems like last week.
Time has moved quickly, but the
consolation is that I’ve been a big
part of her life, and a big part of
all the children’s lives, not just in
quality of time, but in quantity of
time—an underestimated factor in
child-raising.
I believe that time matters, and I
think it has made me a better father.
It is said that if a parent does his job
properly, he becomes obsolete. As
time goes by, I think the opposite is
true. As a parent does his job better,
he becomes more needed, and the
more the children recognize the value
of friendship with a parent who loves
them.
What would my relationship be
like with my parents if I had never
home schooled? I can’t imagine we
would be closer. It is said that no one,
on his deathbed, regrets not spending
more time at the office. Does any
child regret not spending more time
in the classroom? I doubt it. Home
schooling may be defined in many
ways, but the simplest definition
might be this: home schooling is time
spent with parents.
So instead of looking at this as
just another year of home schooling,
let’s look at it as a “new year.” Let’s
recognize the opportunity of the
prayers, works, joys, and sufferings
that this year will bring. And embrace
it.
March 2008
September
2010
Seton Home Study School - 7
Be Sure You Receive Email From Seton
Several families have reported lately that they did not receive email notifications from Seton after they enrolled, or uploaded
work to be graded, etc. If you don’t receive
these emails, chances are they are being sent automatically to your junk mail
or spam folders and being deleted without ever being seen.
You can tell your email program to send items from Seton directly to your inbox rather than to your junk mail. The way to
do this varies from program to program, but basically you need to list Seton as a trusted sender of mail. To receive email
notifications, you need to list “setonhome.org” as a trusted sender. To receive notices of discounts from Seton Educational
Media, you need to list “setonbooks.com” as a trusted sender.
Instructions for Hotmail and GMail are shown below. Other services should have similar functions.
Hotmail
1. Go to your inbox.
2. Click the Options button, which is on the far right toward the
top.
3. Under options, click More Options.
4. Click on Safe and Blocked Senders.
5. Click on Safe Senders.
6. In the box “Sender or Domain to mark as safe”, type
setonhome.org and then click the button Add to List.
7. If you want to receive email from Seton Educational Media,
repeat step 6 with the entry setonbooks.com.
GMail
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Seton Home
Study Newsletter
is published monthly by
Seton Home Study School
1350 Progress Dr.
Front Royal, VA 22630
Phone: (540) 636-9990
Fax Machine: (540) 636-1602
Internet: www.setonhome.org
E-Mail: info@setonhome.org
Subscription price for non-enrolled
families is $15 per year. Free online at
www.setonhome.org/archive
Executive Editor:
Dr. Mary Kay Clark
Editor: Kevin Clark
Go to your inbox.
Click Settings, which is toward the top right.
Click on Filters, then on Create New Filter.
In the From box, type setonhome.org and click Next Step.
Click the checkbox “Never Send it to Spam”.
If you want to receive email from Seton Educational Media,
repeat steps 4 and 5 with setonbooks.com.
Seton Phone Numbers
(Seton main line: 540-636-9990,
all numbers 540 area code)
Admissions, Enrollment, Re-Enrollment: 636-2039
Elementary Counselors: 636-1429
Grading: Rhonda Way, 622-5525
High School Course Approval: Gene McGuirk, 635-4728
High School English: Walker Solis, 636-1755; Christine
Collins, 636-1633
High School Math: Tom Herlihy, 636-1846
High School Math/Science: Don Valaike, 636-1396
History: Bruce Clark, 636-1199
Homeschooling Father: Gene McGuirk , 635-4728
Independent Studies : Bob Wiesner, 636-2238
Religion/Sacraments: Fr. Constantine, 636-1527
Senior Guidance & Enrollment: Bob Wiesner, 636-2238
Special Needs: Stephen Costanzo, 622-5546 or
Sharon Hines, 622-5542
Testing (CAT): Clare Schmitt, 636-1324
Seton Email
Addresses
www.setonhome.org
counselors@setonhome.org
admissions@setonhome.org
grading@setonhome.org
info@setonhome.org
enrolled@setonhome.org
myseton@setonhome.org
shipping@setonhome.org
testing@setonhome.org
SSDept@setonhome.org
conferences@setonhome.org
Seton Home Study School
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
1350 Progress Drive
Front Royal, VA 22630
Paid
Permit No. 19
Elizabethtown, PA
Change Service Requested
Benedict XVI, Pastoral Visit to Sulmona, Italy
July 4, 2010
Dear Friends, faith and prayer do not solve problems but rather enable us to face them with fresh
enlightenment and strength, in a way that is worthy of the human being and also more serenely and
effectively. If we look at the history of the Church we see that it is peopled by a wealth of Saints and
Blesseds who, precisely by starting from an intense and constant dialogue with God, illumined by faith,
were able to find creative, ever new solutions to respond to practical human needs in all the centuries:
health, education, work, etc. Their entrepreneurial character was motivated by the Holy Spirit and by a
strong and generous love for their brethren, especially for the weakest and most underprivileged. Dear
young people, let yourselves be totally won over by Christ! And start out with determination yourselves
too, on the path to holiness, that is by being in contact, in conformity with God a path that is open to
all because this will also enable you to become more creative in seeking solutions to the problems you
encounter, and in seeking them together! Here is another badge (distinctive sign) of the Christian: he is
never an individualist. Perhaps you will say to me: but if we look, for example, at St Peter Celestine, in his
choice of the heremitical life might there not have been individualism or an escape from responsibility?
This temptation does of course exist. But in the experiences approved by the Church, the solitary life of
prayer and penance is always at the service of the community, open to others, it is never in opposition
to the community’s needs. Hermits and monasteries are oases and sources of spiritual life from which all
may draw. The monk does not live for himself but for others and it is for the good of the Church and of
society that he cultivates the contemplative life, so that the Church and society may always be irrigated by
new energies, by the Lord’s action. Dear young people, love our Christian communities, do not be afraid
to commit yourselves to live together the experience of faith! Love the Church: she has given you faith,
she has introduced you to Christ! And love your Bishop and your priests: in spite of all our weaknesses,
priests are precious presences in your life!