SBCA Blog

I am not sure we can teach our children what it means to trust God by simply telling them. Trust is learned when your body, your mind, and your heart are pushed past what they can handle - and God has to take over. That is why missionary work matters. Not only because we serve the poor, but because of everything else we learn along the way. After nearly four days of traveling - long flights and sleeping upright on buses - a group of new friends and I from St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Millis arrived in Calcutta around [...]

As we return to St. Benedict Classical Academy this month, I find joy, hope, and comfort in our Catholic Liturgical Calendar. Opening a brand-new standard Gregorian calendar to January 2026 certainly leads many people to ponder the past year or to make resolutions for the twelve months ahead. As SBCA students and teachers, we returned to school immersed in the pure joy of the Christmas Season and at the beginning of a new Liturgical Year. The feasts of the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord bring such gifts to our liturgical journey throughout the Church year. In November, the Holy [...]

Over Christmas break this year, I had the great opportunity to celebrate the New Year with some of my closest friends in Quebec City. While Quebec is best known for its beautiful European architecture, it also holds many other treasures, including a saint! Before visiting Quebec for the first time in 2022, St. Francois de Laval was not a saint I knew well, apart from the role he plays in Willa Cather’s 1931 novel, Shadows on the Rock. In the book, we meet the “Old Bishop Laval” as a compassionate advocate for the poor of the newly established New France.  In [...]

The SBCA Drama Team recently wrapped up A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Every great production begins with prayer, and each SBCA rehearsal opens by asking St. Genesius, the patron saint of actors, to pray for us. St. Genesius has a quiet presence in every SBCA production. Genesius was an actor in ancient Rome in 303 A.D. He performed in comedies and theatrical works, often mocking Christianity on stage. During one performance, while parodying Christian baptism, something unexpected happened. In the middle of the act, Genesius experienced a conversion. He stopped the play, proclaimed his faith in Christ, and refused to deny it [...]

As my oldest daughter entered the SBCA Early Learning Program this year, it has been an unexpected but absolute joy to experience our school through new eyes: no longer just as a teacher, but now as a teacher and parent. As someone who has been immersed in Catholic classical education for many years, I wasn’t expecting this new perspective to impact my own spiritual and intellectual life as much as it has. But as I’ve experienced our school through the fresh eyes of my daughter, it has become abundantly clear to me that the education she’s receiving isn’t only for her, [...]

During the Advent season, I fondly recall sitting curled up on the sofa as a child next to the crackling fire while my mom or dad read us the story of the Nativity. After reading, I remember my sister and me excitedly waiting in anticipation of Jesus's birth. As a child, reading classical stories always filled me with joy and a sense of adventure. Now, as a teacher, I love storytelling and reading books to my students. Watching their eyes widen with awe and wonder as the story unfolds is a magical experience. Our little ones often have questions and thoughts [...]

On the first day of November, we celebrate All Saints' Day and remember all those in heaven and think about how we can be like them. All Saints’ Day is then followed by All Souls' Day. As part of a religion lesson on the remembrance of saints in November, there is one canonized saint’s feast day that is also on November 11th, Veteran’s Day: St Martin of Tours. St. Martin was a soldier. He eventually became a Bishop and served God as well. There are many stories of St. Martin. He became a catechumen at the age of 10. A catechumen [...]

The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome causes me to pause and reflect with gratitude on my Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome this past summer. I was blessed to be able to visit the Eternal City with some friends and had many wonderful experiences there. We visited dozens of incredible churches, marveled at countless artworks, and prayed over the bodies of many great saints. I even had my rosary blessed over the tomb of my confirmation patron, St. Cecilia.   Perhaps one of the most significant experiences I had in Rome was passing through the holy doors at all [...]

Every day before and after school at St. Benedict Classical Academy, a group of middle school students gathers in the chapel at an appointed time, and of their own free will. They gather to pray in common the Divine Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours. Saint Benedict first devised the Divine Office to give his monks a structured routine of prayer throughout the day, meditating on Holy Scripture and interceding for the entire Church. The Divine Office consists principally of the Psalms, recited or sung chorally in two groups, one calling out with the Word of God and [...]

When my 8th-grade son, Michael, was younger and was small enough that I could kiss the top of his head, he collected sports cards.  On any given afternoon, Michael and a group of his neighborhood pals could be found with cards scattered across the carpet, negotiating trades as if it were the floor of the NY Stock Exchange.  The most sought-after card among this gaggle of boys was a jersey card - a card that contained a genuine piece of a professional player’s jersey.  One afternoon, Michael traded two valuable cards to obtain one jersey card.  That afternoon rolled into the [...]