Through this generous grant our school has been able to enhance our Monthly Adoration program. We have purchased beautiful rosaries for each student which we handed out in October to be used at adoration and at our annual lighted rosary. We said over 414 rosaries in total that day to add to the Archbishop’s Rosary Campaign!

We have also purchased art supplies to create Monstrance art and hangars for our rosaries. Using art and music truly enhances the students’ encounter with Jesus through adoration.  They very much enjoy this time with Jesus together and then take the experience home to their families.

Thank you to the Catholic Futures for assisting my staff to experience a pilgrimage to Mound City, Kansas, home of the Pottawatomi reservation served by St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in 1842 and by her Sacred Heart sisters into the 1870s. I’ve attached photos of our day spent with the tribe’s arrival and Mass celebrated at the park as well as our visit to the shrine maintained in Mound City.

The past couple of years, we have striven to begin a Saint Family program in our school to help develop relationships between our students so that discussion of our faith and praying together become a routine part of who we are. We are so happy to say that we are beginning to see the fruits of our program. The relationships within our Saint Families are developing nicely, so much that we can see the ease at which they talk and work together. It is through these relationships that their relationships with Jesus will be fostered and deepened.

We used funds from the Catholic Futures Fund to support students who economically could not afford to attend the SEEK and Steubenville Conferences, to assist with the cost of chaperones’ fees, and to reduce the cost of transportation for all pilgrims. 

The return on your investment has been overflowing graces! The number of students who have committed to attending this summer has exploded so much that we have had to cut-off sign-ups!

We are so grateful for the generosity of the donors to these funds for the opportunity to send our team and some students to the Global Leadership Summit August 3-4, 2023. The entire program was enlightening, and we wanted to share a few key thoughts from the attendees and how GLS will help us in furthering our mission.

Howells Community Catholic School used the grant award to take a field trip to Trinity Heights in Sioux City, Iowa on September 22nd. There the students were able to learn about the Last Supper, Sacred Heart of Jesus, and our devotion to Mary. They also had the opportunity to attend and participate in the Mass. This trip was designed for our students to bring them closer to God and help them on their path towards heaven. It also provided the students an opportunity to reflect in prayer and listen to God.

The Catholic Futures Foundation (CFF) grant was utilized to help defray the cost for facilities rental for the freshman, sophomore, and junior class retreats. These retreats play a pivotal role in maintaining part of our mission:

Mount Michael Benedictine School is a Catholic college preparatory residential/day high school rooted in Benedictine values for young men committed to excellence. Students develop spiritually, intellectually, and socially through the comprehensive curriculum and communal experience to become future leaders.

Thank you for awarding Pope John XXIII Central & St. Boniface Schools of Elgin a grant for us to purchase An Introduction to Theology of the Body for our faculty to increase awareness of the basics of Theology of the Body and God’s plan for what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. This bible study will be used during our 2023-24 school year and was chosen for our small group faith sessions.

Attached are pictures from our senior retreat held early this school year. The grant we received makes this retreat possible, and we are so grateful. This retreat is something our students look forward to every year and is one of the longstanding traditions we have here at Scotus Central Catholic. It’s one of those things that makes going to a Catholic school special, as we can offer opportunities that focus on not just the student or athlete, but the whole person. Our seniors love the opportunity to start off their senior year with a fun, adventurous day where they get to grow closer in friendship as a class, and also experience their faith in a new environment. Every year this retreat makes an impact and is something students hold as a fond memory after graduation. Our sincerest thanks goes to you and all who make this grant possible!

St. Anthony Vacation Bible School has been a long-standing tradition for over 20 years. Stellar – Shine Jesus’ Light was the theme this year and was held the first week in June 5-9th. Over 100 students participated this year, which included 25 preschooler and 80 students in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. Helpers in 6-11th grade and 26 adult helpers ran an activity station or helped in other areas during the week.

We want to extend a thank you once again for the grant that we received. This grant helped us to fund our Totus Tuus program. We had 4 missionaries and almost 40 students. They had a wonderful time, we heard from parents that students would come home singing the songs, and at the end of the week our pastor joined our water fight! Parents reported that the following Sunday after Mass, the kids were demanding a rematch with Father!

Totus Tuus is a wonderful program that exposes our youth to young people in love with Jesus and provides an excellent alternative for the typical Vacation Bible Schools put on by churches during the summer.

Thank you for the grant.  With the money, we purchased 30 Catholic Children’s Bibles.  We use the Bibles for religious education classes and these Bibles will go to home to the children at their confirmations.  Again, thank you.  We pray these impact these children for their lifetimes.  God’s word never returns void!

Thank you for the grant money! Once again, St. Ludger’s Catholic Church used it for Totus Tuus. This is such a life-giving week for our youth and parish at large. The witness by the seminarians and young adults is so good! This year for the first time, grades 3-4 went to the nursing home and performed. And as usual, the week ended with a water fight. It is a tradition that the fire department provides a truck and the watering hole is massive!

The OAEF grant helped make it possible for us to host a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Level I part 1 training right here at St. Ludger’s in Creighton. Since having this training in July, which added 3 more catechesists to St. Ludger’s, the program has already grown! We were able to do a presentation of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) with our Confirmation students and teachers.  Wow what an experience for those Confirmation students! Also, with this grant and being able to train three more catechists our fully trained level 1 catechist was able to attend level 2 training and now we are working on a level 2 atrium as well.

This is truly a gift that will keep on giving as well as planting little mustard seeds. We can’t wait to see what this school year will bring with 4 level 1 catechesists and how many more children we can bring to the Good Shepherd! Thank you again for the grant!

We utilized our grant to supplement the registration fees for the 2023 Global Leadership Summit held on August 8-9.  We had a total of 11 participants, over half being under the age of 35. This was our 5th year hosting this event at St. Frances Cabrini, and we have found that it provides a golden opportunity to engage young professionals. This has led them to both connect and lead in our community here.

We want to thank you very much for the grant we received.  We used the grant to bring in a speaker to talk to our school families as well as parish members.  Our speaker was Keith Jiron from the Evangelium Institute.  He gave a speech on Eucharistic Miracles.  We also had the High School Youth Group and Confirmation students present a Thanksgiving Message to our school and PRE Youth as well as doing a Thanksgiving Activity.  Afterwards we held a fellowship with adults and student by serving cookies and juice.  It was a wonderful evening with people from the school and Parish getting together to learn about Christ in the Eucharist and spending time together learning and visiting.  Thank You again for your grant.  We greatly appreciate it.  Beth Wisnieski, Head Facilitator, St. Wenceslaus Catholic School.  Dodge, NE

This is truly a gift that will keep on giving as well as planting little mustard seeds. We can’t wait to see what this school year will bring with 4 level 1 catechesists and how many more children we can bring to the Good Shepherd! Thank you again for the grant!