Catholic schools thrive during unique challenges

It seems like every day I remark about how I can’t wait until we get back to normal!  Yet, if I am honest, except for the first few months when we were locked down, life in the church has continued.  It is true that the way we may be doing things is not exactly the same but with each bit of knowledge of the coronavirus, with each surge, then no surge, then surge again we have adapted and continued to make it work.   

Another reminder of the way we keep moving forward is that we will once again celebrate Catholic Schools Week.  When I consider our Catholic schools, I think not of the burden of the coronavirus but rather of the success of our Catholic schools over the past two years. 

There is no doubt that some challenges still remain but as in the 2020-21 school year, we again opened with in-class learning for another year this past August.  With (Superintendent) Dr. (Melanie) Palmisano’s leadership and foresight, and because of the heroic and faithful efforts of our principals, teachers, aides, tutors, office staffs, cafeteria workers, maintenance employees, parents and the guidance of the nurses and doctors from Our Lady of the Lake Health System, all of our diocesan schools have been successful in maintaining in-class learning since August.  

Our dedicated administrators and educators used their creativity to overcome many obstacles along the way, bearing the burden of our sometimes impatience, taught under difficult circumstances and stayed in the classroom with our children in spite of the risk to their health.  They deserve our thanks and appreciation.

This resiliency in our Catholic schools is not something new but in fact is part of the historical success of our school system from when the first Catholic school in the United States opened in 1783.  With each generation Catholic schools have adapted to meet 

new challenges.  From schools taught and run by religious to almost total lay faculty, from chalkboard to computer technology and from small to large budgets are just a few ways Catholic schools have adapted to meet the needs of our students.

While we should be proud of the resiliency of our schools, their real strength and charism is found in the full meaning of “Catholic” in Catholic education, which has remained the same from the beginning.  I am not just talking about a better secular education in a safer environment but rather our Catholic theological and philosophical foundations of truth that shape and complete the learning of our children.

Catholic education is rooted in the Gospel because while a good quality education is important, it is not complete if it only imparts information to the mind and does not touch the heart.  A complete education must also impart the wisdom of our final destiny with God and reveal the evidence and the presence of God as revealed by Jesus’ words and actions.  Catholic schools teach timeless and unchanging truths and a morality founded on a call to holiness in imitation of Jesus Christ and his teachings handed down in the Spirit-inspired life of the church.   

This Catholic Schools Week I commend and thank our principals, teachers and school staff for all they do for our students every day.  I also express my pride in our dedicated students who have worked hard to learn in these difficult circumstances.  Yet while we have flexed, cohorted, quarantined and screamed at times, our Catholic schools have remained true to their mission and ministry by evangelizing the hearts, educating the minds and encouraging the talents of their students.  There are still challenges ahead for our Catholic schools, but I have every hope that we overcome these challenges to meet the needs of another generation of students.