Beginning on Sunday January 29th, we will celebrate Catholic Schools Week. This is a week where we honor our Catholic schools. Our Catholic schools do so much for our students and families. It is during this week that we are called to give thanks to God for the gift that are Catholic schools are.
In this vein I want to begin with the word of gratitude. I want to thank all of our wonderful teachers and staff of our Catholic schools. Their selfless dedication to the work of a Catholic school education helps our students to get to know God better. Second, I want to thank all of those who support our Catholic school system. Without your prayers and financial support, we would not have Catholic schools to turn to for the formation of young hearts and minds. Your prayers and financial support make it possible to offer a faith filled education in the Catholic tradition. Thank you for all you do.
The purpose of our Catholic schools is to help our students to have a deep and lasting relationship with Almighty God. Our readings for this weekend’s mass also give us an indication of the role our Catholic education plays. The first thing our Catholic schools do is to help us to consider our vocation. In our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he tells us: “Consider your own calling brothers and sisters not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong.” These words remind us that God’s standards are different than ours. God chose the weak and made them strong. As our students go through their Catholic education, they will be helped in considering God’s call in their lives. Our Catholic education also helps us to do is our first reading calls us. “Seek the Lord all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility.” Our Catholic schools teach us how to do what is just and right. This is what we should all be doing.
God wants to remind us that we are all blessed. The blessing of our Catholic education system also reminds us of where blessings come from. Our blessings come from God alone. This is why in Matthew’s gospel we hear the beginning of chapter 5 the Sermon on the Mount. God tells us we are always blessed. Yet, it is in the difficult times of our lives that we are reminded of our blessings. Blessings don’t always mean things are going well or that they’re going to be easy. Whatever blessings do tell us is that God is at our side. So as we celebrate this Catholic schools week let us thank God for the blessing of our Catholic schools. Let us remember that everything we have is a blessing from God our father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you all. A happy and blessed Catholic Schools Week to each of you.
Sincerely,
Fr. Todd