Easter Message April 12, 2020
Two thousand years ago, after witnessing the suffering and death of their dear teacher and friend, Jesus, His followers huddled together in secret, gripped by fear and uncertainty. On the third day, as told in the Gospel of Luke, three women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, visited the tomb and found the tomb empty, with the stone rolled away. "He is not here; he has been raised..." Fear and uncertainty were replaced by hope and joy. Saint Pope John Paul II captured the message of that first Easter Sunday when he said, ""Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."
This Easter message is most especially meaningful on this Easter Sunday, 2020, as we are living through this pandemic, a time of great crisis and uncertainty. As you are aware, on Thursday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf closed school buildings across the Commonwealth for the rest of the school year. On a practical level, this means that we will continue following the virtual learning plan we began on March 13th. We are proud of all the hard work of teachers, staff, students, and families to make sure that teaching and learning continue when we are not together in the school building. We continue to work together, stand together, during this time of social distance.
On a personal level, we know that this latest announcement rips us from the halls of our beloved Nazareth Academy and separate us from dear friends, and all of the moments and milestones of a typical high school experience for the final weeks of the school year. While this affects all of us, for our seniors, our beloved Class of 2020, this latest development is most impactful. After Governor Wolf's announcement, the school shared a personal video message on Thursday to our seniors, reassuring them of our commitment that their prom and graduation will be held when it is safe and appropriate to do so. More details will be released about these plans during the days that follow. We will celebrate our seniors when we are back together for these milestones but we will celebrate them in many other special ways while we are apart. For our entire student body, we pledge to continue maintain connections and mark milestones and events virtually. While our school building is closed, school remains open as we need all that school provides, now more than ever.
Enclosed is a beautiful picture of a rainbow over our campus that was taken by one of our parents that we shared on social media on Wednesday during Holy Week. This rainbow encapsulated the Easter message of hope and joy after the darkness, especially during days of crisis and uncertainty. God is with us. Because God is with us, one day we will get through this crisis and return home to our beloved school, because we "love (our) school a million. It means the world to me. A world that's joyful. A world that's hopeful. A world that's holy and free."
On this Easter Sunday, we continue to remember all of our Nazareth Academy High School families in our prayers. In a special way, we pray for all victims of this pandemics, and the first responders who work tirelessly and selflessly in harm's way to protect us and treat and minister to the afflicted.
May the Holy Family of Nazareth bless you and keep you safe.
Happy Easter!
Denise LePera James Meredith President Principal
Weekly Schedule Week of April 13: Monday, April 13: Easter Monday, School Holiday, school closed Tuesday, April 14: Faculty Professional Development and Planning Day, no classes Wednesday, April 15: Flexible Instructional Day, A Schedule Thursday, April 16: Flexible Instructional Day, A Schedule Friday, April 17: Flexible Instructional Day, A Schedule
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