Blessings in Challenges
Dear Mater Dei Community,
Blessings to you this Christmas season and new year! As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we also commemorate the conception of our apostolate two years ago this month on the Solemnity of the Mother of God. Only through the grace of God and the intercession of His Mother could we have survived the launch of our program through the infamous year of 2020.
In this month's newsletter we will recap our short month of December and then reflect on the blessings of the past year. Looking back on our challenging times, it is easy to count our blessings. Hindsight is 2020. We look forward to continuing our journey with you in this new year. May God bless you.
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Ad Jesum Per Mariam
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Day-to-Day at Mater Dei
December was a short academic month for us, as we allowed a full two weeks in our schedule for the anticipation and celebration of the birth of our Savior. After the much-needed Christmas break, students and instructors are back at it, preparing for finals to finish off the first semester at the end of the month.
Our tenth graders were given a lesson on self-defense. Despite the best prevention strategies, there is a real chance they will face a conflict at some point in their life. It's important to be prepared. They were taught multiple defense strategies and were able to practice newly learned kicking and punching techniques on a free-standing punching bag.
The ninth graders in our Life Skills course spent time baking Christmas cookies for the Mater Dei and Holy Family staff. Mr. Lemke is better at cooking than baking but despite this, he and the students were able to produce some tasty, "interesting-looking" treats for us to enjoy.
Service Project
For our December service project, we had the privilege to assist St. Benedict's Church in assembling care packages to send to fifty of their home-bound parishioners. After attending Holy Mass as a group to start the day, the students had an opportunity for Confession. We then began our work assembling and wrapping the packages which included books, popcorn, calendars and homemade Christmas ornaments. A group of the students also spent time in the church to pray the rosary, offered for the parishioners who were to receive the packages. It was a blessed opportunity to be able to offer our prayers and service to some of the most vulnerable in our community during these tough times.
2020 Hindsight
As we begin a new year, we take a moment to reflect on the blessings of 2020. To better appreciate the blessings we must first consider the many challenges we have faced.
The initial challenge was our bold attempt to launch the first Catholic high school education program in Duluth in over forty years. This was done with an unconventional hybrid model, an unconventional classical curriculum, and an unconventional vision for a truly affordable Catholic high school option outside the standard tuition-model. All new concepts that we knew would take faith and time to gain confidence and support.
We were faced with construction challenges and code requirements for our education center, causing us to improvise with temporary classroom spaces throughout the year as we raised funds to get the work done. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and we suffered along with the rest of the world in adapting to a new reality. Our major fundraising benefit was canceled and our efforts greatly hindered at a critical time in our development. Despite the challenges, we were able to add a second grade with full staff and head, gratefully, into our second school year.
In a short year and a half, with all of the above challenges, we have been blessed to raise over a quarter of a million dollars in support of our program and vision. We currently have a total of 95 separate supporters, over half of whom have generously given multiple donations. We have two grades and 21 students who are receiving high quality, individualized, in-person, Catholic education. We have 14 instructors who are passionate, talented, Catholic educators, dedicated to our mission.
What we are witnessing here is a grassroots movement and building up of a Catholic community that will, by the grace of God, continue to grow and bear fruit. Thank you sincerely to all who have offered their time, talent and treasure on behalf of Mater Dei Apostolate. We are filled with gratitude for the blessings of 2020. With confidence in the providence of our Lord and the intercession of our Lady, we are ready to face the challenges of 2021.