	Merton Resources Click here to read Thomas Merton's "Prayer of Trust." Click here to read a brief biography of Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton

What Thomas Merton said about Christian service:

It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God's will when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about the rent. But if you want them to believe you - try to share some of their poverty and see if you can accept it as God's will yourself.
from New Seeds of Contemplation, 179.

In another writing, Thomas Merton linked all of God's people together as the mystical, and crucified, body of Christ:

As long as we are on earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones.
from New Seeds of Contemplation, 72.
All graduates of St. Catherine of Siena School will complete, as a requirement for graduation, a minimum of 20 hours of service to others in four levels of community:

1. Service to the family community (minimum 5 hrs)
2. Service to the school community (minimum 5 hrs)
3. Service to the parish community (minimum 5 hrs)
4. Service to the wider community (minimum 5 hrs)

The service hours will be recorded in the "blue book" given to all students at the start of the year, and must be verified and approved by an adult mentor or parent.

The minimum service requirement to the wider community (#4 above) will be met in an organized class field trip or activity.

Mrs. Phelps will provide parent and students with ideas for service opportunities in this website as the year progresses.

The Thomas Merton Service Award will be given to the student who accumulates the most final adjusted average hours, according to the formula below, by May 17, 2010:
AWARD FORMULA: average of 4 categories + number of hours in lowest category = final adjusted average hours.

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