Welcome to Oblate Academy!

Introducing our children to stories and experiences that model the virtues are important for their development in cultivating a virtuous and purposeful life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us:
A virtue is a firm attitude to do what is right. Its direct opposite is a vice. A vice is a habit to do what is wrong. Prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance are called the human or cardinal virtues because they forge our human character. These four habits assist us in developing a pure heart that is open to God’s will.

“The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace (God’s special help that strengthens us) purifies and elevates the virtues in our lives.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1839

I hope you will enjoy the straightforward and easily understandable explanations and resources we have prepared to help you teach and model the virtues.

Fr. David P. Uribe, OMI

This Month’s Virtue is: Friendship

Friendship is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. It is so important to teach our children how to be a good friend so they may form deep and meaningful friendships. Use these teaching tips to help your children learn the virtue of friendship.

Teaching Tips:

• Express to your child the importance of being a good friend.
• Read Philippians 2:3 together: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vain glory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.”
• Give them examples of how to be a good friend to everyone. What does this look like? Saying hi to everyone, sharing your toys or crayons with others, taking the feelings of others into consideration, and making sure you are lifting others up, not discouraging them.
• Organize a play date with other parents, neighbors, or members of your church to encourage making friends, practice saying hello, sharing and taking turns.
• Explain to your child the importance of choosing good friends. Help them understand that they should choose friends that are nice to others. Friends should never ask you to do things that will hurt someone’s feelings. Friends should never ask you to break rules.
• Explain that God wants us to treat others as we would want to be treated. If you want people to treat you fairly, be kind to you, include you in games, and to share things with you, then you should do the same.
• Explain that true friends are supportive and reliable. Good friends make sacrifices for you. Ask your child to think of a time that he or she was a good friend? How did it make him or her feel?
• Have your child make a list of their friends on the printable handout, then place it by their bed. Each night have them choose two friends from their list and pray for them each night until they have prayed for all their friends. My Friendship Prayer List
  Review with your child the Qualities of Friendship checklist. Each day discuss some of the ways they practiced these qualities at school or at church.
  Reminder: Volunteering at church, school, or for a charity is a great way to promote building friendships!Extensions for 3rd -5th grades – If your child is in grades 3rd-5th the following handouts and exercises might be more suited for them:
  • SKILLSHEET #1 – Traits and Qualities of Friendship
  • SKILLSHEET #2 – Friendship Word Scramble
  • SKILLSHEET #3 – Friendship Fill in the Blank
• ACTIVITY SHEET – YOUNGER CHILDRENMY FRIENDSHIP PRAYER LIST
  Pray for a different friend or loved one every night for 30 days to celebrate Friendship.

Welcome to Oblate Academy!

Exposing our children to stories of the Saints is important for their faith development. The Saints are heroes of the faith! We are called to be like them and to live for Jesus.I hope you will enjoy the story of St. Benedict of Nursia and be inspired to live close to Christ like him!Much like St. Benedict, my brother Missionary Oblates spend their lives working hard for our Lord Jesus Christ, ministering to the poor and most abandoned throughout the world.

Saint of the Month for October:
St. Benedict

St. Benedict or St. Benedict of Nursia was born around 480 A.D. in Nursia, Italy. He was born into a good family and was sent to a Roman school. During his time at school, Benedict did not like the way his friends treated others or how they disrespected each other. He also did not agree with the Roman leaders, or government and how they treated the people of Rome. Soon after finishing school, he joined a group of priests and moved to Affile, Italy near Rome.He performed his first miracle in his new home of Affile, mending a broken sieve with prayer. This drew unwanted attention from the people of the town. Uncomfortable with his newfound fame, Benedict withdrew from the public and went to live in a cave. He lived a very solitary and lonely life—his only contact with the outside world was a monk named Romanus whose monastery was nearby.Romanus befriended him, gave him a monk’s habit and provided for his spiritual and material needs. Benedict lived this way for three years. During this time, he met a group of shepherds who became his friend and began to follow his teachings. This is how the Benedictine Order began and where St. Benedict’s pastoral and apostolic teachings started.After three years of a solitary life, Benedict left his cave to become an abbot or leader of one of the nearby monasteries. He noticed things that could be improved, and so and he began to try to change things. Unfortunately, this caused others not to like him very much, and he faced many hardships during this time for speaking out. Once, another monk even tried to poison him for his teachings. Benedict then decided to leave and went back to his solitary life.When he finally returned to the outside world, he started a community of monasteries and wrote The Rule. The Rule was centered on a life of prayer, study, and community. The Rule became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe.

St. Benedict devoted himself to evangelizing the local towns. At the end of his life, he predicted his death and shared this with his friends. One day, after taking his holy communion he died supported by his monks on March 21, 547 A.D.

St. Benedict Prayer for Students (Prayer by St. Benedict)

Holy and Gracious Father,
give us the wisdom to discover You,
the intelligence to understand You,
the knowledge to seek after You,
the patience to wait for You,
eyes to behold You,
a heart to mediate upon You,
and a life to proclaim You, always
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus our Lord. Amen

Download the activity sheet and please send me your prayer requests and petitions in the form below!