4/21/25

Dear School Families,

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing early this morning of Pope Francis. 

A passage from Pope Francis’ introduction to his book. A Light in the Night: Meditations on Hope, follows. Please pray for Pope Francis and our church.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

A Passage from A Light in the Night: Meditations on Hope by Pope Francis:

“I invite every reader of this text to make a simple but concrete gesture: in the evening, before going to bed, as you’re thinking over the events you have lived through and the encounters you have had, go in search of a sign of hope in the day just gone by. A smile from someone you didn’t expect, an act of gratuitousness observed at school, a kind act encountered in the workplace, a gesture of help, even a small one: hope is indeed a “childlike virtue”, as Charles Péguy wrote. And we need to go back to being like children, with their sense of wonder, to encounter the world, to know it, and to appreciate it. Let us train ourselves to recognise hope. We will then be able to marvel at how much good exists in the world. And our hearts will light up with hope. We will then be able to be beacons of the future for those around us.” (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-11/pope-francis-hope-is-a-gift-and-duty-for-every-christian.html)

Yours in prayer,

Mrs. Olsen