Christmas Greetings from the Headmaster

The peace and glory of Christ's birthday is with us all!  

Christmas is first of all a celebration of thanksgiving. We Catholics are a thanksgiving people, whose greatest prayer and glory is the Thanksgiving, the Eucharist. We are never more Catholic than when we are on our knees giving thanks and praise to God for His Real Presence among us. Christmas is the great feast of that Presence, of God, in His infinite love and mercy, deigning to come dwell with us. 

This year in particular, in addition to our gratitude for all our family blessings, for all the friends and sharing, and most of all for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us, we give thanks for the success of the first semester of the Chesterton Academy of Sacramento. God indeed is good. He has blessed our efforts and sacrifices, and blessed our children. May we all have the joy of gratitude for the great blessings our Father has bestowed on our efforts, and humbly pray that He continue to prosper the work of our hands to His glory. 

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the First Martyr. It is no accident that the Church puts the feast of the first martyr immediately after the feast of Christ's birth. St. Stephen testified to the glory of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" For testifying to the Truth, St. Stephen was stoned to death. 

We likewise are called to testify to the Truth, and to pass that Truth along to our children. That's the fervent hope and prayer behind all those whose efforts sustain and helped create our fine school. Few of us will be made to suffer as St. Stephen suffered, but all of us should expect trials if we, like Stephen, uphold the Truth. So let us continue to pray for ourselves and each other, that God may grant us the grace to persevere in doing His work. 

God Bless, and Merry Christmas! 

Joseph Moore
Headmaster