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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This
week, for the fourteenth time, St. Maria Goretti Catholic School opens its doors
to begin another school year. As we do so, and as we know that our school is
one of the primary ministries of this Parish community, we all pray together for
the success of our School during this academic year. We pray not just for
academic success though, we pray even more that our School continues to produce
young men and women who will lead in our Church for years to come. Catholic
schools are incredibly expensive. And yet we firmly believe that our investment
is worth it, for our Faith and our Church.
Catholic schools are different. We seek the highest academic standards for all
our students. I’m happy to say, that competing with some of the best schools in
the state, private and public, here in Hamilton Country, St. Maria Goretti
Catholic School has continued to rank with the very best. Our School offers a
great education, and the successes of our graduates at several different local
high schools confirm it. St. Maria Goretti Catholic School demands a rigorous
discipline and strong ethics from all of its students. Our students learn how
to be good, young Christian gentlemen and gentlewomen, with the highest ethical
values. To be honest, this is very demanding. Many people don’t want to be
their best. The mediocre have truly taken over the world. But if we don’t hold
ourselves to the highest values possible, we know that nobody else will. And
most importantly, the very heart of what makes St. Maria Goretti Catholic School
different is our Faith and the incorporation of our Faith into every aspect of
daily life in our school. Our students get to go to Mass twice a week as a
school community. Our students get to pray, and go to Adoration, and learn the
devotions of the Catholic Church together. Our students learn daily what it
means to be a young Catholic Christian. Seeds are planted every day in our
school, that we so look forward to seeing what blooms down the road, as our
young people take these gifts and become what God needs them to be. This Faith
aspect of Catholic education is priceless! In a time when others can’t even
mention the name of Jesus in the classroom, we have a whole school and
curriculum that is based on Him and His teachings! We have so much to be proud
of in our Parish school. All of us do, even if we don’t send our own kids to
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School. The truth is that our School makes our
entire Parish better, and in a particular way, demands that our Parish Religious
Education program (P.R.E.) be the best that it can be also.
If
you are sending, or are thinking about sending, your children to our School for
a “private” education, St. Maria Goretti is not the place for you. If you’re
looking for a “country club” atmosphere where your son or daughter will be
coddled, and just get by, St. Maria Goretti is not the place for you. If you
are sending or thinking about sending your children to St. Maria Goretti
Catholic school solely for social reasons, for certain friends or so they can be
together with a certain kind of person, our School is not the place for you.
But if you really love our Faith, and want to pass it on to your children, and
want to work with us, reinforcing what’s going on in your home, St. Maria
Goretti may very well be the Catholic school for you! Our School, just like the
other three Catholic grade schools/Jr. High’s in Hamilton County, have more
openings this Fall than we’ve had in a long time. That’s perfectly fine with
me. It’s much more important to me that we are all on the same page, with same
expectations, of what we’re trying to do here. And when we are all on the same
page, isn’t that exactly when the greatest things happen for our students?
Pray
for our school. Pray for our awesome Principal, Mrs. Rebecca Hammel. Pray for
our extraordinary faculty and staff who sacrifice every day to make our School
happen. And most of all, pray for all of our students, both at our School and
at all of our community schools, that this year would be a year of Grace and
Hope for them, as they grow in God’s wisdom and love! Our community must take
seriously our responsibility to raise up young men and women outstanding in
holiness. I think that we do. And I am most certain that in the future, we’ll
be very glad that we did!
Have
a great week! Don’t forget RCIA begins tomorrow night, August 10th,
at 7:00 PM in the Parish Narthex.
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
Not forgiving
is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die. |
