Catholic schools a community growing in discipleship

I had the privilege of visiting five Catholic schools with Bishop Dennis Sullivan last week to open the 2023-2024 school year. Each visit reminded me of the outstanding people who make Catholic school work, a network of teachers, principals, parents, and others invested in the growth and development of each student.

Catholic schools are today, as they have always been, immediately recognizable by the rigor and discipline for which they are well known. Our visits last week reminded me of a way to look at discipline that gets to the heart of what makes a Catholic school so special.

Discipline is, at its most basic level, the practice of being a disciple. Catholic schools boldly adhere to a vision of all students – in fact, all humankind – as disciples of Jesus Christ. We exist to form disciples of Jesus Christ. To paraphrase Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive!” Catholic schools gently guide young people – from the hesitant, often-crying preschool students on the first day of class to the high school graduates on the precipice of adulthood – toward being fully alive.

We start with the unwavering belief that each person is made in the image and likeness of God and carry that to the logical conclusion that each of us has dignity, is worthy of respect, and is called by God to a specific purpose. The point of the rigorous academics for which Catholic schools are well known is to come to know that purpose by coming to know God and His creation. This means everything from understanding letter sounds and shapes in preschool to writing compelling, thoughtful, and well-researched theses as high school students. Each step in the process brings a student closer to being fully alive – and closer to knowing and living his or her God-given purpose in life.

This is serious work, which explains the intensity with which Catholic school students study both in and out of the classroom and the mutual respect that pervades their relationships with peers and teachers. This seriousness is freeing, not stifling. The excitement I saw on student faces as I visited schools with Bishop Sullivan testifies to the life-giving nature of our schools and what we teach. We saw smiles and hugs among friends as they walked into classrooms exquisitely prepared by kind, dedicated, and skillful teachers. These interactions and the setting in which they occurred reminded me that a Catholic school is a dynamic, Catholic community.

Of course, Catholic school students are still children and teens. They are not saints – yet! The average fifth-grader or high school sophomore, when asked what they like about their Catholic school, probably won’t be able to fully articulate that they are growing closer to Christ, over time, through their interactions in school and through extracurricular activities. Many adults don’t necessarily think of that first, either. But what they often tell you is that there’s something special about the school, or that they’ve never experienced a community like their school anywhere else. Seen through the eyes of faith, those sentiments describe a community growing in discipleship and experiencing its joy together.

No matter your connection to Catholic schools – whether you attended, are the parent of one or more current or former Catholic school students, or support the Church in its educational ministry – I invite you to learn more about our schools by visiting one, attending a school Mass, or talking with someone who sends their children to a Catholic school. I also invite you to pray for our students and their teachers and principals as we begin this new school year, journeying together as disciples.