2020/21 Spiritual Life Calendar
Daily Mass
| Event | Time |
|---|---|
| Day B (1) & Day G (2) | 7:50 AM |
School Wide Masses / Prayer Services
| Event | Date & Time |
|---|---|
| First Day Prayer Service | September 9, 10, & 11, 2020 |
| Opening Mass (Mass of the Holy Spirit) | September 17, 2020 |
| Respect Life Mass (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception) | October 29, 2020 |
| All Souls’ Day Mass | November 2, 2020 |
| Thanksgiving Prayer Service | November 24, 2020 |
| Immaculate Conception Mass | December 8, 2020 |
| Advent Penance Service | December 15, 2020 |
| Christmas Prayer Service | December 22, 2020 |
| Catholic Schools Week Mass | February 2, 2021 |
| Lenten Penance Service | March 2, 2021 |
| Stations of the Cross | March 12, 2021 |
| St. Joseph’s Day Mass | March 19, 2021 |
| Octave of Easter Mass | April 14, 2021 |
| May Crowning Prayer Service | May 7, 2021 |
| Ascension Thursday Mass | May 13, 2021 |
| Baccalaureate Mass (at St. Matthew’s Church, East Syracuse) | June 10, 2021 |
| Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament | Every first Friday from October through May |
Student & Faculty Retreats 2020-2021:
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Senior Retreat | October 30, 2020 |
| Junior Retreat | October 11, 2020 |
| Sophomore Retreat | October 16, 2020 |
| Freshmen Retreat | October 2, 2020 |
| 8th Grade Retreat | October 23, 2020 |
| 7th Grade Retreat | September 25, 2020 |
| Faculty Retreat (No School for Students) | November 3, 2020 |
Please note that all costs for retreats are included in the yearly Student Fee that each student pays. This fee covers the cost of the retreat, transportation, and lunch. All students are required to attend their class retreat.
Spiritual Life Team
The Spiritual Life Team was created to support the efforts of Bishop Grimes to encourage and support all students and their families in their spiritual journey. Spiritual formation is viewed from an educational and a personal perspective, taking seriously the questions and process of spiritual growth rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition. The Spiritual Life Team believes that spirituality is not the business of one person or department. Rather, that it is a responsibility that is held collectively by all staff, teachers, coaches, volunteers, administrators, and students at Bishop Grimes.
At the same time, the Spiritual Life Team creates and supports programs that encourage the faith formation of our students. To that end, the Spiritual Life Team aids and assists organizations and classes in preparation for monthly liturgies; provides students with the opportunity to participate in Eucharistic Adoration on the first Friday of each month; teaches students how to be readers, altar servers, and gift bearers; works closely with the Student Council in executing monthly service projects; and organizes yearly retreats for each class.
Peer Ministers
This group of students helps to enhance the Spiritual Life and Catholic identity of the school by setting up for school liturgies and prayer services, singing in the choir for Mass, facilitating retreats, and serving as Eucharistic ministers or altar servers.
Service Projects & Service Requirements
The school community continuously finds ways to be the “hands of Christ” by participating in school-wide service projects to help less fortunate members of our communities. Past school service projects have included food collections for the hungry, Toys for Tots Christmas collection for those in poverty, Francis House, Joseph’s House, and many more.
The heart of the Gospel, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” serves as the guiding principle of Bishop Grimes’ service requirement. Each Bishop Grimes student is required to complete service hours each school year. The school defines service as a task that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. Service often means stepping outside of one’s familiar environments and expanding one’s horizons. However, during our current situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, service performed for family is deemed needed and necessary more so than usual. Therefore, students are encouraged to perform service for family members in need. Bishop Grimes students are called to discern, plan, implement, and reflect on their community service in order to attain the highest quality and meaning of service learning. The aim of the service hour requirement is to expand a student’s perspective of the world, those in it, and connecting students with those people who are in true need, as well as those who seek to help others attain a better quality of life.
For more information, including necessary forms, on the Bishop Grimes’ Service Hours requirements, click here.
Check back here for current opportunities for Student Service Hours include:
Bishop Grimes Retreat Program
Every class takes a day of retreat to go off campus, or virtually if guidelines dictate, and share in a day together as a community along with time for personal reflection. Retreat days are set aside for a different kind of learning experience with God and one’s peers. It is a day that is purposefully very different from a normal school day. Students turn off their electronics (unless they are necessary for the retreat), put aside the worries of tests and classes, and are encouraged to focus on the activities and people they are with as they learn more about the God who loves them. Each class retreat has a theme that corresponds to the class curriculum and, when in person, includes Mass and Adoration. Retreat fees are included in the student activity fee for students, so there is no additional cost associated with student retreats. Every student is required to attend his/her class retreat.