Dear Families,
One clear summer evening, I noticed a bright light in the sky. It was too bright to be a star, so I surmised it was most likely a planet. I own a spotting scope that has a strong enough lens for bird watching, but it is a poor imitation of a telescope. Hopeful and excited, I proceeded to retrieve the scope from the closet and set it up in the yard. After several adjustments, a bright light appeared in the eyepiece. I adjusted the focus but was unable to see the detailed features of the shining object.
My oldest son, Tim, was visiting at the time, so I called him to come and take a look. Surely, his much younger eyes and steadier hands would be beneficial. He arrived and unenthusiastically looked into the scope.
“I don’t see anything,” he commented.
Somewhat bewildered, I looked again and this time, I didn’t see anything either.
“I might have bumped it,” Tim added.
After fiddling with the scope, I found the bright object and encouraged him to take another look. “I kind of see something, Dad, but can’t tell what it is,” he said, making his way back towards the house.
Disappointed, yet undetered, I resumed my solo attempt to identify the object in the night sky. I worked hard at trying to center the object in my veiwfinder while moving the lens to focus on it as sharply as possible. The scope shook with each of my movements, causing my unidentified shining object to violently streak back and forth in my field of vision.
I decided to hold my breath and remain as still as possible, positioning myself just a hair’s breadth away from the eyepiece. The bright object finally came to a standstill. As it did, the image became clear and distinct. I saw a bright planet with several small moons in its orbit. Looking closer, I could discern a series of faint stripes across it. My bright object was none other than the planet Jupiter!
In the Gospel reading this past week, Luke 10:21, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for all although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike."
Through their childlike faith, the disciples had clearly seen Our Lord Christ and His ministry. They experienced the difference Christ makes in the lives of those who trust Him.
What will be our experience this Advent Season? Will we eagerly focus on our Lord and Savior with a still and quiet soul? Or will we be casual observers with other priorities? This past summer it required patience to bring the bright light in the sky into focus. I believe we need to have they same type of focused effort to see as the disciples did when Christ said, “For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Thank you for your support,
John Thornburg
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Monday, December 5
Day H
Tuesday, December 6
Day G
Wednesday, December 7
Day F
Praying of the Rosary - 7:25 AM
MC Parent Club: Wreath Decorating and Bow Making Get-Together - 6:00 PM
Thursday, December 8
Day E
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass - 1:15 PM
Friday, December 9
Day D
Weekly Mass - 7:20 AM
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MC Attendance Policy
Due to an increased number of absences and tardiness, MC Administrators ask that you review the Attendance Policy. We have included additional details regarding the policy and proper procedures for contacting the Main Office.
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We are providing the MC weekly dining menu in the President's Update to make it easier for students to plan lunch throughout the week. The menu is also available through the Malden Catholic Mobile App along with easy access to the online portal for adding money to student lunch accounts. Search for "Malden Catholic" in the app store on your phone. |
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School & College Couseling |
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Deadline to register: Friday, December 16
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are proud to award financial resources each year to high school seniors pursuing trade union programs or college/university study. Individual awards range from $500 to $16,000. To qualify, Seniors must take a Labor History exam. Information on the Scholarship and Exam can be found on the Learn Labor History website. The exam will be administered during the school day and during the week of February 6 at Malden Catholic.
Please register for the 2022 - 2023 MA AFL-CIO Scholarship and Labor Education Program Exam through this link. Resources for the exam can be found here:
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Junior Class College Planning Kick-off and College Admissions Panel - January 19 at 6:30 PM
The Junior Class Parent/Guardian College Admissions Panel and Kick-Off event will be held on Thursday, January 19 at 6:30 PM in the MC cafeteria. This event will include a question-and-answer session with a college admissions panel, provide the framework of the admissions landscape, an overview of the entire college application process, as well as other information that will make applying to college easier.
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College Acceptances
MC School and College Counseling would like to remind Grade 12 students to update Naviance with college acceptances. Please reach out to Ms. DelGenio with any questions at [email protected].
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Lancer Santa Toy Drive - through 12.16 |
Housing Families, Inc. is an organization that works in the Greater Boston area to provide housing and shelter for families and individuals experiencing homelessness, including emergency shelter and permanent, stable housing. We look forward to continuing our annual Santa Toy Drive thsi season! The 2022 Lancer Santa Toy Drive will run from Monday, November 28 to Friday, December 16.
Please drop off new, unwrapped toys at the MC Christmas tree in the foyer. The toys will be picked up by Housing Families, Inc. following the Christmas Prayer Service in December.
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MC Parent Club: Wreath Decorating and Bow Making Get-Together - 12.7 at 6:30 PM |
Come join the Christmas festivities on Wednesday, December 7 at 6 PM for a fun Wreath Decorating and Bow Making Get-Together hosted by Nurse Paquette. The group will decorate live evergreen wreaths and learn how to make spectacular bows. Please bring a potluck appetizer. You can register through this link to reserve a spot.
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Senior Yearbook Portraits - 12.10 |
All Seniors must arrange to have their yearbook photograph taken before December 10. Portraits will be taken by Prestige Photography facility in Woburn at 102 Cummings Park Drive.
For those who have had their portraits taken, please remember to select your yearbook portrait through the following directions:
Instructions to Select Senior Portrait Yearbook Image online:
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Go to shop.prestigeportraits.com and create an account, if you have not done so already.
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Enter your specific Session ID & Access Code numbers provided to you on the proof sheet of images, or on the receipt from the photographer. (Check for emails from Prestige as well and if you do not have that information, contact Mrs. Jeannine Reardon for your session ID/access code.
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Once on the home page, select View Portrait Proofs tab (under Get Started Here) to view images and select a yearbook choice. The "Select Your Yearbook Image" will be front and center at the top of the website above the images/proofs.
Please note, after the online pose selection deadline has passed, this option will NO LONGER be available.
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Posadas Navideñas Celebration - 12.13 at 3 PM |
Between December 16 and December 24, towns and villages across Mexico celebrate “Posadas Navidenas,” traditional Christmas parties, which recall the events leading to the nativity of Jesus. The MC Foreign Languages Department, supported by Campus Ministry and the Latinx Club, is hosting a MC Posada, on Tuesday, December 13, at 3:00 PM and all are welcome to attend.
“Posada” is Spanish for “inn.” The celebration enacts the journey that Joseph and Mary had to make to Bethlehem. Participants act as pilgrims journeying with Mary and Joseph as they look for lodging, and they are turned away at “the inn.” When they are finally given permission to stay in a stable, there is a celebration with singing, breaking a piñata, and eating (hot chocolate and snacks). Participants will assemble outside the chapel, process down the main corridor, with some singing of Spanish litany and make their way to the cafeteria for piñata and snacks.
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Christmas Concert - 12.15 at 7 PM |
On December 15 at 7 PM, the Malden Catholic Theater Department invites you to attend the annual MC Christmas Concert in the Performing Arts Center. You won't want to miss this exciting performance from the Malden Catholic Choir and the Malden Catholic Dance Company! Seats are limited, so please reserve your spot through this link.
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MC Parent Book Club Christmas Party - 12.15 at 6:30 PM |
The MC Parent Book Club Christmas Party will be held on Thursday, December 15 at 6:30 PM at MC in the Campus Ministry Center. The December MC Book Club will be discussing A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, a series of five short stories that capture the magical moments of the holidays. Parents are invited to write a paragraph about a Christmas memory of their own that they can share at the meeting if they wish.
Yankee Swap
For those who wish to participate, the theme for the Yankee Swap will be "angels." You may find a unique, angel-related gift for under $10.
Please R.S.V.P. to Vange Egizi at: [email protected] if you can attend, and/or would like to bring one of the following refreshments:
- Something savory
- Something sweet
- Bottle of red wine
- Bottle of white wine
- Sparkling water
- Disposable cups, plates, and napkins
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What's Happening Around MC? |
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Salute to Belguim with Waffles in the Cafeteria |
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St. Francis Xavier Feast Day Mass |
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SFX Presentation by Jack Hammond, Brigadier General USA Retired
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MC Christmas Tree Decorating |
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The first issue of the Crystal 99 is here! Editors-in-chief Emerson Tully '24 and Katelyn Cirame '24, as well as editors Jayden Crafts '23, Jared DeSimone '23, Lily McDonough '23, Orlando Putnam-Bagley '23, Isaac Toscano '23, and Johnathan Tran '23, worked extremely hard to edit and lay out student-written articles on school news, sports, the arts and opinions. Copies of the paper can be found in the main lobby and in the Boys and Girls Learning Commons and a digital version is available on the MC website.
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On the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, Elizabeth Foy '24, Rosario Turco '23, Sebastian Vasquez '23, Peter Walsh '25, and Monica O'Brien '25 completed their Marian Consecrations to grow and deepen their faith and relationship with Christ. |
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Hugh O'Brien Leadership Seminar Student Ambassadors |
Congratulations to Zachary Balandan '25, Noah Goodwin '25, Margo Medeiros '25, and Isabella Mejia '25 who were chosen to represent MC at the 2023 MA HOBY (Massachusetts Hugh O’Brien Leadership Seminar) which will be held at Bentley University in June. Way to go!
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The 36th Alumni Thanksgiving Fun Run 2-mile race on the Brother Myles track was a huge success. Thanks to all the runners for participating! |
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Feast of the Immaculate Conception |
Raise your hand if you think the Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrates the virgin birth of Jesus. If you raised your hand…. Wrong! It doesn’t. But with the word “conception,” and the timing just weeks before Christmas, and Luke’s Gospel for the day where the angel Gabriel tells Mary she is going to have a child, and she says, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man,” who could blame you, if you got it wrong! The Feast, established in 1854, is really about Mary herself having been conceived without sin: pure. It precedes her September 8th birthday by nine months.
Which of us, I wonder, can say that he or she is pure …. spotless ….stainless…. sinless…. unsoiled …. unsullied… . unblemished…. uncorrupted…. Immaculate! These are adjectives we commonly associate with Jesus' mother Mary. She alone, among all human beings, can truly claim them! This week on the December 8th Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate that Mary was born that way -- without sin!
In 1854, Pope Pius 9th clarified the long-held belief of the Church that Mary was conceived free from sin – either Original Sin (our inclination to assert self over God), or any other sin during her life. She was a new Eve! This privilege of Mary results from God's having chosen her as the Mother of Jesus. From the very moment of her conception, she was filled with sanctifying grace: as the angel said: "Hail, Mary! Full of grace!"
This great gift to Mary, an otherwise ordinary human being just like you and me, was appropriate because, after all, she was destined to be the Mother of God. The purity and holiness of the Blessed Virgin Mary points to a way for us. She is an exemplar for all Christians, for each of us, you and me! Moreover, on this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate not only that Mary is full of grace, but that she is empty of selfishness! We recognize that she gave herself completely, selflessly, for God's loving and mysterious use.
None of us know how or why or when God may call on us to follow his will. Sometimes we just may be too busy or taken up with ourselves even to hear God trying to speak with us. Mary, however, listened. She heard. And she responded to God's call by saying, "Yes, here I am.”
May we use this week’s occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception to pray for our families, for our friends, for those unknown to us who need our prayers, and for each of our personal intentions. Let's ask Mary to help us ….. to ask her Son to give us the grace to listen for God's call…… unique to each of us… to do His will.
Brother Thomas Puccio, CFX, Ed.D., H'18
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Winter Senior Athlete Photos
All winter athletes may take their senior athlete photo on Thursday, December 8 at 2:30 PM.
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Senior Banners may be purchased from Dracut Threads through this link. Photos will be sent to Dracut Threads two weeks after the photo date.
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Thanksgiving Football Game |
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November Lancer Athletes of the Month |
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A terrific multi-sport athlete and a great example of what it means to be "Plus Ultra", Thea Sanzone '24 is our Girls Division November Lancer Athlete of the month. Coach Tricia Argentina said, “Thea was amazing and determined this season. She made sectionals cuts in two relays, the 100 breaststroke and the 50 free and she quickly pushed herself to state cuts where she placed 6th at states in the 100 breaststroke. Coach Argentina went on to comment that “This season goes beyond winning for Thea. It was her drive, never give up attitude, and team spirit that led the way. As she proved, no matter how hard or long the road is, there is a way where there is a will.
This is a lesson every student and athlete can grow and learn from. Thea is a true role model.” Congratulations!
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As a student-athlete who excels both on the field and in the classroom, Ethan Tracy '23, the football team captain and a standout basketball player, has high expectations of himself and others. Coach Gaff said, “A true leader by example, Ethan is one of the hardest working players on the field and in the off-season.” The integrity and character of Ethan are something we want others to strive to emulate. Way to go!
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