Keynote Address
Friends of Catholic Education
Frederick, MD
October 5, 2021
Introduction
First, let me say how good it is to be together. COVID-19 has not yet passed into the history books but your support for Catholic Schools in Frederick County will not waver. I came this evening to express my heartfelt thanks!
I came also to congratulate our honorees – Pat Crowley our 2020 honoree, and the Chair of the Board of St. John Prep – thank you, Pat, for your service! We also honor Karen Smith, the recently retired Principal of St. John’s Regional – a veteran educators, highly skilled, deeply committed, and richly deserving of the Fr. John McElroy Award. Thank you for your service to the mission of Catholic education!
In thanking these veteran educators, I want to say a word of deep appreciation for all those who lead and serve our Catholic schools here and throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore. During the 2020-21 academic year, when most other schools were closed, our Catholic schools opened their doors and their doors remained open. This would not have happened without the far-seeing and determined leadership of Chancellor Jim Sellinger and Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens – Yet, they would be the first to say that the real heroes in this story are our educators, who had the courage to walk into the classroom, teach in a hybrid format, and accompany students and parents through a very challenging time. This year’s increased enrollment in our schools across the board is due in no small measure to their dedication, their spirit of service, their grit, skill, and faith! Dear friends, we owe these educational leaders our undying gratitude!
We had all hoped that this year things would be different, that COVID-19 would have gone the way of the Spanish flu – yet the Delta variant and confusion surrounding masks and vaccines persist. Thank you, dear Catholic educational leaders, for even now you are not taking your eye off the ball, off the mission of our schools to keep our children safe while providing them with an excellent Catholic education. We are grateful not only for what you did, but indeed for what you doing!
With you, I would like to thank my brother priests in the greater Frederick area. With your lively support, our Catholic schools have a bright future. It is impossible to overestimate “the power of the pulpit” – the credibility you have when you speak about the importance of Catholic education in the lives of our young people, their families, and the wider community, and when you encourage Catholics to send their children to our excellent schools. I would also like to say a word of welcome to Father John Williamson, the new pastor of St. John the Evangelist – St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Pastorate, and a proven champion of Catholic education – Fr. John, how glad we are you’re here! And let me welcome Father Patrick Carrion, the new pastor of St. Ignatius, one of the most dedicated and experienced priests in the Archdiocese.
My litany of thanks would not be complete without our grateful recognition of Michele Corr, Executive Director of Friends of Catholic Education and Bill Milani, President – as well as a dedicated Board of Trustees and Advisory Board. Thank you for your unstinting leadership and your priceless generosity.
The Value of Catholic Schools
Some years ago, Pope Francis hosted a conference on Catholic education. The organizers of this conference chose as their theme, “to educate is to transform” – They recognize what experience has taught us, namely, that a sound Catholic education, lovingly and engagingly provided, has the capacity to open the minds and hearts of students and families to new worlds of knowledge, to bonds of friendship and lives of service, and above all, to the one through whom everything was created, Jesus, the Word made flesh. We are here this evening to celebrate the transformative power of Catholic education!
Often, I hear Dr. Donna Hargens speak of the value of a Christ-centered education. To some, that might sound like a good and pious idea without practical effect, but after working with Donna these past few years, I know she means what she says. For Christ is not merely a figure of history, a person hailing to us from the distant past. No, our Redeemer lives and his redeeming touch reaches us through the Church, above in the Eucharist and the sacraments but in all the ministries of the Church, including and especially the ministry of Catholic education. As people with a living faith, we not merely read about or learn about Christ, but instead we encounter him who loves us like no other. In our Catholic schools, every opportunity is given to students and families to open their hearts to Christ who seeks fills our minds with the light of faith, ignites in our hearts the warmth of this love, and creates in our polarized world fraternal bonds of charity and service . . . something we so desperately need! Christ seeks to infiltrate our relationships, our thoughts, our decisions, our endeavors, and our Catholic schools is the perfect place for students and their families to learn this! To be sure, our schools are academically excellent, a great value for the money – but our schools offer so much, much more – gifts of grace that money cannot buy! When the lamp of faith is burning brightly, we can live amid present day realities not with a downcast spirit but with a radioactive, transforming joy!
The Task at Hand
As we look to the future of Catholic education, what are the tasks that confront us? Pope Francis provided answers to that question at the conference which I previously mentioned. He called on us to focus on 1) identity; 2) quality; and 3) the common good.
First, the mission and identity of our schools needs always to be clear. An old saying tells us that if you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there – but we are not wandering about confusedly! Rather, our Catholic schools are firmly rooted in the Person of Christ and in the Church’s deepest identity, her mission to evangelize, to spread the Gospel, and it is this identity and mission that shapes every aspect of our schools and creates an atmosphere of mutual respect and love where young people flourish. This goes a long way towards creating a brighter future!
Second, we must continually focus on quality, not only because the competition can be stiff, but above all because we love our students and their families. Our gifted educators want to engage our students and their families and from this engagement there emerges a high quality education, second to none, one that enables our students to matriculate well but also helps them to become the persons God meant them to be – people who are ethical and virtuous, and more than that, people of love, a new generation of “Good Samaritans”!
Third, we must continually focus on the common good. Often education is thought of simply as a commodity and the sending of a young person to a school is framed in solely transactional terms. Yet, in educating young people, in forming them in faith, knowledge, and virtue, we are raising up leaders for Church and society who will contribute to the well-being of the entire society, indeed, of the planet earth.
Thanks for listening and thanks for your support of Catholic education! God bless you!