Senior Mission Trip in Reveiw - Sacred Heart SchoolSacred Heart School

From Tuesday, March 14th thru Saturday, March 18th, 21 seniors and 4 chaperones (Mrs Nau, Mrs Manning, Mr Gonzalez and Father Cesar) headed to southern Missouri for 5 days of mission work and fun. Each day started out with mass by Father Cesar and ended with faith filled reflection and daily recap by our Faith Formation Director, Mr. Gonzalez.

The mission work centered around supporting Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri. The students scraped and painted the exterior of a house in Nixa. Everyone worked diligently on the grounds of the LifeHouse Crisis Maternity Home in Springfield. Completing yard work which consisted of repairing fencing, raking leaves, weeding raised garden beds, sweeping and cleaning a gazebo and lawn furniture and chopping small pieces of lumber. After cleaning out a shed of old paint and supplies, two truck loads of unwanted items were taken to the dumpster. Finally, kitchen supplies, clothing, outwear, and household items were organized and stored for those in need.

Believe it or not there was plenty of down time to visit Silver Dollar City, shop at Tanger Outlet Mall, zipline and climb at Fritz’s, virtual flying at Beyond the Lense, mini golf and go karts. Everyone enjoyed three meals dining out together: Lamberts, IHop, and Fritz’s burgers and pizza. The house that everyone stayed in allowed for several home cooked meals of breakfast casserole, taco bar, grilled burgers and hotdogs. Thank you to APC for an amazing breakfast after Mass on the 14th to get us on the road with a hearty meal under our belts. and the senior parents and Mrs. Nau who donated plenty of snacks and other food and drink items for the week. It was definitely a week full of fond memories.

Faith Formation During the Senior Mission Trip.

First reflection:

We talked about the fact that people tend to take everything for granted and that we get used to everything. We talked about the saying that goes, “you only appreciate something when you lose it.” After that, I invited everybody to think about what they wanted for themselves regarding their life objectives. After that, they were supposed to think about what the Church has to offer for them to accomplish that goal. The idea was to make them understand we need Church, we need to keep our piety alive, or it dies away. And if that happens, we slowly get away from God, and our souls get numb. If we understand what life is about, we will have our goals clear, and we will understand the need for God. Especially when students go to college, their spiritual life reaches an important and difficult test, and most people abandon their faith.

– Second Reflection

The idea here was to meditate about everything they have received from God, from their families, and from Sacred Heart School, as a way to connect to the idea of “we only appreciate what we lose. Meditating on what they have received would help them understand what they are. be thankful, and better set their future goals. Being thankful helps them take ownership of what they are, children of God.

– Third Reflection

This day we prayed for fortitude as they will soon face the challenge of independent life at college. As it was mentioned before, this is a time when most students leave their faith behind, but we don’t want that to happen.