Chaplaincy

The chaplaincy program at Notre Dame encompasses a wide variety of initiatives and activities. The essential mandate of our two part-time chaplains is to nurture the spiritual and faith life of the school community. This is accomplished by providing staff with guidance and resources, co-ordinating the liturgical life of the school through school masses, para-liturgies and prayer services, leading students in retreat and supporting staff and students in social justice initiatives.

Ask Father Pierre - a new feature on the Chaplaincy page...

Every week, Fr. Pierre will field questions from students or parents about our Catholic faith. If you have a question about a n element the mass, or a question about the reasons behind our rituals, drop us a line at: webmaster@ndchs.com. Make sure to indicate the question is for Fr. Pierre.

This week's question: Why do Catholics celebrate Mass on Sunday, while Muslims celebrate on Fridays and Jews on Saturday?

Answer: I cannot speak for the Muslim community, but our Catholic faith is deeply rooted within the Jewish Tradition, and is best understood from this perspective. In the book of Genesis, God creates the world in six days, and rests on the seventh. In honor of God, and the need for rest, traditional Jews take their Sabbath rest on Saturday (the seventh day). This is also one of the commandments ('honor the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.') Catholics, and all other Christians, honor Sunday in a special way, since this is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. It's not uncommon that Christians are referred to as 'an eighth day people', since the merits and salvation won for us through Christ's death and Resurrection, is seen as 'the new Creation.'

Cuernavaca Exposure Trip

Every year the students of Notre Dame are offered the opportunity to participate in the Cuernavaca Exposure Trip. The purpose of this trip is to provide students an opportunity to experience first hand the economic, social and political conditions experienced by individuals in a third world country. The trip is an educational hands on experience which challenges the participants to re-think their attitudes and their values. Students hear first hand, stories and life experiences vastly different from their own and return to share these stories and experiences with the school and larger community.