And Jesus said to her,
"Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come."

~ John 2

The Wedding at Cana, now one of the Luminous Mysteries (to help us meditate on the significant moments in Jesus' public ministry), gives great insight into Jesus' relationship with his mother. Jesus' comment to Mary after she mentioned that the wedding couple had run out of wine had always seemed rather rude to me: "Woman, how does your concern affect me?"

Watching this scene interpreted in the 2003 movie, "The Gospel of John," the director successfully showed his audience that Mary and Jesus had great love and respect for one another. The mother asks. She is rebuked (perhaps jokingly) by her son, yet she knows to ask the servants to prepare vats of water any way. How did she know to push her son when his "hour has not yet come"? And why does he perform the miracle anyway even after he says his "hour has not yet come"? The answer is simple: LOVE.

SAVE THE DATE: ST. CLARE FESTIVAL SET FOR JUNE 7, 8, 9

Our 2019 St. Clare Festival is now set for June 7, 8, 9 of 2019, the weekend immediately following the last day of school. We considered many options and listened to people's insights during this period of reassessing and trying to identify new dates for the FESTIVAL. We are hoping that this "new" weekend will allow our community to more fully enjoy FESTIVAL activities and alleviate stress for many school families during the very busy month of MAY.

To help in the transition, we are modifying our School Volunteering cycle to begin June 1 of each year and end May 31 of the subsequent year. Our hope is that this will allow families to plan ahead and complete the service hours we ask as a commitment from our families.

The Parent and Student Handbook states the following Family Commitment with regards to Serving St. Clare:

• Each family contributes 30 hours (15 hours for single-parent families) of service each school year
  
• Each school family serves two three (3) hour shifts per student (up to a maximum of three shifts per family) at the St. Clare Festival.

We understand that the change from a May festival to a June festival is difficult for some families. However, we assure you that the Festival Committee and I are working diligently to preserve this great tradition and make it an even more meaningful community-building event for St. Clare.

More communications will come in the next few weeks. We invite you to get involved in the planning. Please feel free to reach out to me or our school representatives on the Committee: Jasmine Vu, Lisa Reckis, Kristi Britt and Hazel Alabado. We welcome your input and your insights!

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED NEWS FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

A number of very important deadlines and due dates are coming up.

• OPEN HOUSE: January 27 from 9:30 A.M. to 1 P.M.
  
• SCHOOL TOURS: January 29 from 9 A.M. to 11:30 P.M.
  
• INTENT TO RETURN NOTICE for 2019-2020: February 1
  
• TUITION ASSISTANCE APPLICATIONS for 2019-2020: February 5
  
• SCREENING OF PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS TK-K, 1-8: February 9 from 9 A.M. to Noon
  

PROMOTING ST. CLARE SCHOOL

Thank you to a great suggestion from a parent, you will find a document attached to this post containing a few "Talking Points" you can use to help spread the good news about St. Clare School. Use a few of them to share with your family and friends through social media. You are our best ambassadors. A fully enrolled school not only helps lower tuition costs. It also enriches our school community and fulfills our mission to "joyfully embrace the Gospel mission entrusted by Christ to His Church" -- making Catholic education accessible to those who desire it. Thank you for your commitment to uphold our mission.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

To begin to celebrate our amazing community, please read the post from Miss Cherell inviting you to have your cars "painted" to promote the Pancake Breakfast and Open House on January 27. On Tuesday, January 22, park your cars in the parking slots directly outside the the Middle School classroom doors starting at 2:30 and our creative volunteers will decorate your car windows. Drive around town and surrounding areas to let everyone know how proud you are to represent St. Clare!

On Sunday, January 27, we will celebrate together (students in full uniform will receive a Free Dress Pass) at the 9 A.M. Sunday Mass. Following the mass, please join us for a Pancake Breakfast in the Hall. Speak to parishioners and guests about why you chose St. Clare and invite them to visit the school for our Open House starting at 9:30 A.M. Our faculty and staff will be there to answer questions about admissions.

We will honor our community, nation, vocations, families, faculty and staff and students each day of the week during Catholic Schools Week. More communications will come regarding events. For now, please save the date to join us for mass on Friday, February 1 to worship together in gratitude for our St. Clare School community. We hope to see as many of you there as will fill up our church!

This week, my hope is that you will be open to suggestion, open to persevere, open to work: all in the name of LOVE.

God's blessings to you and your families.

Mrs. Cecile Mantecón, Principal

The Annual Benefit "Jardin de Paris" will be Sat. Feb. 23rd. Tickets are on sale now charityauction.bid/stcs2019 and last I checked, the $10 "CHRISTMAS" discount was still available! Get your tickets soon, since the event will likely sell out. This year, the AB Committee is pleased to offer a full sit down meal, and unlimited beer and wine included in the ticket price!

We have the opportunity to sponsor the teachers in $10 increments. You can sponsor a teacher, even without purchasing a ticket using the link above. The AB Committee understands that classes would like to sponsor their own teacher, but we also need to be sensitive to make sure each and every staff member feels appreciated.

What a team we had this Saturday. Thank you to Mr. Fowler and son, Mr. Espinosa and daughter, Mr. Martinez, Mrs. Mizutani, The Adams family, Mrs. Tsang, Ms. Symons and our fearless leader, Mr. Wilson. We had a team sanitizing desks, chairs, door handles and shelves in an ongoing effort to keep those nasty flu/cold viruses at bay. Another team who braved the basement (also dubbed the "dungeon") and have begun to transform it into a usable, organized storage area and a team who moved furniture, adjusted desks and tables for students. There were many more items on the punch list and they knocked them all out of the park. THANK YOU!!

A big thank you to the Sandoval family who also came out on Saturday and spent the day touching-up painting the trim of the interior building. It looks so much cleaner and fresh. Over the next couple of weeks they will continue to freshen this 100 year old building.

Mr. DelGrosso is also working on replacing the vanity for the teacher's wash room. (Don't you think our teachers deserve a fresh new vanity and mirror?)

When you return from this long weekend, look up before you enter the main school building. Let us know what you notice!

Thank you, too, to Mr. Ian Abell, Mr. Matt Dutra and his helpers Kevin, Manuel and Larry for fixing our vestibule and installing new LED lighting throughout our campus. Our well-loved building is getting much needed TLC. Thanks to all of you kind and generous humans. It's not Cana; it's not water into wine; it's not Mary asking Jesus, but it is a miracle in our eyes! We are blessed and we feel loved.

We're currently looking for photos to be added to the yearbook. All grades are needed. Photos from school events, functions, school sports games, field trips, classroom activities, volunteer events, etc. All photos are welcome (i.e. silly or action shots) Please submit the photos via email or a usb drive to the School Office or Becky Allison (rb_allison@yahoo.com). Highest picture format/resolution is best.

This year, we will also be accepting photos taken by students. Photos submitted should only be of fellow St. Clare students. Please note, no malicious photos or photos in poor taste will be accepted.

For privacy purposes, none of the photos will appear on any social media platform. This is strictly for the yearbook.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Becky Allison at rb_allison@yahoo.com

• 1/18 NO SCHOOL: Teacher In-Service | CKZ CAMP Available for a Fee - See Registration
• 1/21 NO SCHOOL: MLKJr. Holiday Observed | NO CKZ Camp
• 1/25 Faith Family Group | Buddies Meet
• 1/25 8th Grade Graduation Photos
• 1/26 High School Placement Test for those applying to DSJ High Schools
• 1/27-2/2 Catholic Schools Week | NO FREE DRESS during this week
• 1/27 OPEN HOUSE | 9:30 P.M.-1 P.M. | Pancake Breakfast after 9 A.M. Mass
• 1/29 SCHOOL TOURS | Formal Uniform Please
• 1/31 NO FREE DRESS TODAY
• 2/1 School Mass Led by the 8th Grade
• 2/1 INTENT TO RETURN FORMS due to the Office
• 2/5 Registration Fees will be billed via FACTS
• 2/5 Tuition Assistance Applications due in FACTS
• 2/9 TK-K Screening; Prospective Student Screening for All Grades
• 2/13 Lunar New Year Celebrations: Stay Tuned for Details!
• 2/20 Registration Fees will be processed in FACTS
• 2/23 Annual Benefit: Jardin de Paris - INVITATIONS were sent home with your child

In this week’s Gospel, St. John recounts the well-known passage of the wedding Feast of Cana. Mary is mentioned in the first sentence, so she takes a central role in this narrative. Mary’s sensitivity to the embarrassment of the hosts that the wine has run out compels her, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to turn to Jesus. He does not refuse her. She knows He will obey. This first miracle begins Jesus’ public ministry; he reveals his divine origin and his invitation to enter the Kingdom of God. We would be wise to follow Mary's command, “ Do whatever he tells you.” Her words are poignant and are intended for us as well. They direct our attention to her Son. Sacred Scripture links the connection between water, wine, and the blood of Christ. Through this communion may we always follow in Christ’s footsteps and those of his faithful Mother.

“Lord Jesus, You turned water into wine by silently willing it. Your power and control are greater than we can ever grasp. We bow our heads in silent adoration and worship You, our omnipotent God. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gift of our Blessed Mother. Amen.”

Post this flyer in your place of business or gym.

FACEBOOK | @stclareschoolsantaclara

Go find us on Facebook! Make sure you LIKE the page and share the link with others.

Please share the ALUMNI GOOGLE FORM link https://goo.gl/forms/pEtJxf8h5OBlnMF93

with all the alumni you know so that we can continue to tell the story of St. Clare!

Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: drexel.dsj.org/stclareschool
Location: 725 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408-246-6797