South Jersey Catholic Schools did what many thought was impossible last year by completing a full school year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The foundation of their success was a commitment to taking extraordinary actions to protect one another. Sitting apart from one another, wearing a coat inside in the winter so that windows could be open, wearing masks, and many other actions were tangible examples of living Jesus’ call to love one another as we love ourselves.
At the end of the year, students, teachers, principals, staff and parents looked forward to a summer of rejuvenation and a return to activities that felt closer to normal under fewer restrictions. Unfortunately, the Delta variant of the coronavirus has driven an increase in U.S. COVID-19 cases and activated many of the protocols from which most people thought we were free at the end of last school year.
Even though there are good reasons for South Jersey Catholic Schools to start the 2021-2022 school year implementing the health and safety measures that were in place last year, the prospect of sustaining those behaviors is disappointing and perhaps even deflating. I don’t know of anyone who prefers this way of doing school over the approach in the pre-COVID days.
Our faith history is rich in stories that can sustain us and deepen our resolve as we face the reality that the beginning of this school year will look more like the beginning than the end of the last one. For example, the disciples of Jesus in the early Church hoped that the Second Coming of Jesus after his Resurrection would happen during their lifetimes. They undertook their evangelization efforts with high energy and excitement. Over time, it must have occurred to them that the Second Coming might not occur during their lifetimes. It isn’t hard to imagine that they might have become discouraged or even asked, “How are we going to keep doing this?”
If so, then the early disciples had a choice: believe in what they were preaching – that the Resurrection brought hope of eternal life through personal relationship with Jesus – or reason that it must not be true and give up. Thankfully, they did not give up, and their efforts inspired the growth of the Church. What’s more, the very act of persevering increased their faith such that they became even more convincing witnesses to it.
The early Church gives Catholic school communities an important example about redoubling our commitment to what we believe. If we truly believe in the commandment of Jesus to love one another as we love ourselves, then we should do it no matter the circumstances, not just when it is novel or easy. The discipline of returning to the COVID-19 measures of last year to begin this year can help us become even more committed to the commandment to love one another, and to grow closer to God in doing so.
In the end, we know that the hope that the disciples spread – the hope of eternal life and relationship with Jesus – is so much bigger than any desires we might have had to start the school year on more normal terms. And the long-term benefit of ensuring that our children can experience that hope and grow in relationship with Jesus in the Catholic communities of our schools is well worth the short-term cost.
Dr. Bill Watson is the diocesan superintendent of schools.
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