Hello dear friends,

Welcome back to the "school season." How was your summer break? I hope everyone is "rejuvenated" and ready to start school. I know my youngest daughter can’t wait to go to school. She‘s been counting down the days until her Kindergarten class begins. Every day she would ask me: "Mom, how many more days until I can go to school?" Her enthusiasm and excitement rub-off on me as well. I’m actually looking forward this new beginning.

How about you? Do you ever feel excited when the new school year begins? When I was in high school, I usually got a little excited, a little eager to start school. Not because I couldn’t wait to "hit the book," but it’s because I was glad to be given a new chance to do better in school. I used to secretly make a pledge to myself that I will study harder and get better grades. I felt hopeful and I really believed that I could do better in school. This kind of enthusiasm motivated me to stay focussed and to try hard, and I did... but not all the time though. I usually started out well, working hard during the first half of the school year but by the 2^nd half of the year, I became less motivated. I began to kick back and took it easy on the schoolwork. After a while, there were just too many distractions in school and studying became too much of a boring routine for me. When school first started, studying was my priority, but as time passed, my priority got shifted. Hanging out and having fun with friends became more important to me than studying. The friends whom I hung out with had a big influence on my studying habit. We mostly liked to talk about make-up, fashions, and... guys.

Now, as I look back, I know why it was so easy for me to loose focus on my goals in school. Back then, I didn’t really understand the "higher purpose" for studying hard. I knew it was the right thing to do, that all "good" kids study hard in order to get good grades so that their parents can be proud of them. Back then, I was studying because that’s what my parents want me to do. I was not so much interested in learning to expand my knowledge but I learned because that’s what all students are supposed to do - I went to school, I learned. I tried to get good grades only because I have to, that’s the way it should be when you’re a student, a daughter. I wasn’t motivated to enjoy discovering new things simply for the sake of learning and so I went through high school like an empty boat, merely drifting along with the current of the river. I sure didn’t make the best use of my time and energy back then. Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t as bad as you think. Although I wasn’t very motivated in high school, I wasn’t a failure either. I did study and work hard (most of the time). I didn’t do too bad, I passed all the courses and graduated high school on time with my class and my GPA was around 3.4.

By now, you might be asking me: "So what’s your point in all of this?" Well, dear friends, my point is that if you’re going to have to go through and do something anyway, you might as well give it your best shot while you’re doing it and aim at becoming the best that you can be! It can only make you better, not worse! If there’s something I’ve learned throughout the year, it is this - in anything you do, you must find a higher purpose, a better reason for why you’re doing it; this higher purpose will motivate you to persevere and to accomplish your task the best way that you can.

My friends, may I humbly suggest that since right now, your main priority is schooling, why not focus your time and energy on learning and discovering the wonders of life through all the courses you take in school. Don’t study hard just for the sake of getting good grades. Good grades is usually a natural outcome that resulted from your studying hard. Find the higher purpose for why you want to study hard. Your higher purpose should be something that goes beyond the material/monetary realms because material rewards will only satisfy you for a limited time, material rewards do not have the capability of giving you inner strength and inner satisfaction in achieving your goal.

Different people have different reasons of setting their higher purpose. Some will choose their "parents" as being the ultimate reasons or their higher purpose for studying hard, because their parents sacrificed so much to care for their children and so, out of love and gratitude to the parents, the children wants to do good in school. This is a great motivation - love for your parents. It will be the driving force that strengthen and sustain you to do well in school. Another person might choose "thirst for knowledge" as his higher purpose for doing well in school. This is also a good motivation because it will continue to fuel your interest in learning. However, I don’t think this "thirst for knowledge" should be the ultimate purpose in learning because if a well-learned person doesn’t not put all his knowledge to good use, then what good is all his education?

Personally, based on my past experiences in life, I really think that the higherpurpose for doing whatever it is that we want to do, should be: "to comply with the will of God." That means, I’m going to study real hard in school because this is what God would want me to do at this time. That means, I’m going to be the best daddy, mommy, or brother, sister or friend to my loved ones because that is what God is calling me to do at this particular time in my life. That means, I’m going to run for Secretary of the Student Council because I believe it’s what God wants me to do in order to help my school this year.

Dear friends, we all know that God loves us so very much, He loves us to the best of what the word love could possible means. So in that Love, we should trust that whatever God wants for us, what ever He wills for us to do in each stage of our life is actually the best thing for us. So why not set our ultimate purpose on doing God’s will? It is from there that we will find everlasting fulfillment in all of our tasks.

I pray that you’ll have a most satisfying and enjoyable school year. In God, I know you will.

This month, I’m including a brief reading about the Archangels since their Feast Day is in September 29. Hope you enjoy it.

Take care and God bless,

Ps: God loves you and so do I!

_________________________________________________________________

Archangels generally mean "chief or leading angel." The archangels are mentioned frequently throughout the Bible. They have a unique role as God's messenger to the people at certain critical times in history and salvation (Tb 12:6,15; Jn 5:4; Rv 12:7-9) such as in The Annunciation and Apocalypse. A feast day celebrating the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael is celebrated throughout the Church on September 29. In the Byzantine Liturgy, there is even a special part - the Cherubic Hymn which celebrates these archangels and the guardian angels in particular.