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School sends letters to ‘God’s friends’
archived from: 2010-02-08
by: Chuck Moody

St. Margaret in Green Tree is committed to mailing monthly notes of praise to all priests in the diocese

Students at St. Margaret of Scotland School in Green Tree are taking part in a project to write letters to priests in the diocese during the Year for Priests, which was established by Pope Benedict XVI.

Each month, every priest in the diocese receives a letter of praise and encouragement from students at the school, said Cathy Militzer, principal.

“Each school year, I choose a theme that we work with all year,” Militzer said. “Father Bud Murhammer, our pastor, asked me in June how we could tie the Year for Priests in with our theme ‘God’s Friends’ this year, and so it began. Getting all of the addresses was the first step.”

The priests’ names have been split among the 16 homerooms, Militzer said.

“We have included Pope Benedict XVI to our list,” she said. “The students send letters to the priest, sending their prayers and sometimes just a picture to let them know they are thinking about them that month. We also include three priests’ names each day in our morning prayer to remember as we begin our day. The diocesan priest poster (containing photos and names of all the priests) is also on our prayer wall so that the students can identify the priests that they are writing to that month.

“The students write to a different list of priests each month so that they get to know that the diocese is served by many priests, and the priests can receive letters from the very small and the middle school children.”

Because of the various age groups, the teachers explained the Year for Priests to their class during religion classes, Militzer said. All of the students in third through eighth grade are participating in the project, or a total of 291 students, she said.

“At first, they were writing letters as they have been asked before, so they were OK with the first round of letters until the response from the priests was overwhelming,” Militzer said of the students. “So many heartfelt thank yous, calls and visits were received that the students got so excited.

“The letters, pictures, etc., are displayed on the classroom doors and special bulletin boards in the classrooms. Now each month, the students enjoy writing the letters, and it is part of the discussion in the school. The Year for Priests has taken a life of its own in our school with this letter-writing project.”

The teachers involved in the project look for new things to send each month, Militzer said.

“The teachers enjoy doing it,” she said. “Some of them have special prayers to send, etc. They have enjoyed letting the students know that there are more priests than just our pastor, and it has been fun to see the kids read the letters from the priests.

“This has been an exciting project. The feedback from everyone that I have met has been so positive. I think when the priests received a letter in September they thought ‘how nice,’ but then when the letters continued each month they called me or met Father Bud and commented on how happy they were about the letters.

“We have received several letters from the pope. We have received numerous responses. It has taken a life of its own that we did not expect. We really just planned to do this all year until June. But now, in addition to writing the letters each month through June, we are planning an open house in May to invite the priests to come and visit the students who have been writing them. Of course, our doors are always open for those who drop by and just visit.”

Father Bud has been very involved in the project, Militzer said.

“He is excited about it,” she said. “He has been supportive, including paying for the postage. We did have a jeans day one month and an anonymous donor for one month, but Father Bud has allowed us to send the letters and made the initial call to get all of the addresses. He also gets letters each month.”

The letter-writing project is far from the only religious aspect the students at the school take part in regularly.

“We have weekly Masses, Advent and Lenten journeys, (and) the second- and eighth-graders attend retreats in preparation for the sacraments (of first Communion and confirmation),” Militzer said. “Father Bud visits the classrooms and gives the students tours of the church.”

The Year for Priests, from June 2009 through June 2010, was established by Pope Benedict XVI as the centerpiece of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars. A parish priest in the rural town of Ars, France, St. Jean Marie Vianney is the patron saint of priests.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is sponsoring a pilgrimage June 6-18 to Rome and France to celebrate the worldwide Year for Priests, and the trip is open to all priests, deacons, religious and laity of the diocese.

Bishop David Zubik has called for parishes within the diocese to continue the practice of eucharistic adoration with an emphasis on prayers for priests and priestly vocations and to celebrate Forty Hours Devotion to which priests are to be given an invitation.

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