34TH CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
'Catholic Schools Light the Way'

The nationwide celebration of Catholic Schools Week begins in our Diocese of Lansing on Monday, January 28th at the 10:00am Mass in St. Mary Cathedral. Teachers and students will represent each diocesan Secondary and Elementary School and each Catholic Private School in our diocese at the Mass.

This annual observance calls to mind a remarkable history of faith, sacrifice and courage. We remember humble beginnings in the 1800's. The FIRST Catholic School was established in Maryland by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1808. She is our first U.S. born saint, canonized by Pope John Paul II on September 14, 1975.

We recognize and value the spiritual, cultural, academic and social contribution of our Catholic Schools to Church and Country for TWO HUNDRED YEARS (1808-2008).

This observance also reminds us of WHO made these 200 years happen. An Irish adage says: "We warm ourselves by fires we did not build. We drink from wells we did not dig". Yes, we in these past 50 years and now build on what others did in the first 150 years of Catholic Schools. Who were these pioneers that laid the foundation and built it up for 150 years? Why did they then and why do we now?

They were Church leaders, School Administrators and Teachers, parents and parishioners who dedicated themselves with great sacrifice to establish and maintain Catholic Schools. For all we thank God. I offer special tribute to the Religious Orders and Congregations of Sisters and Brothers and priests who founded, administered and taught in Catholic Schools in the first 150 years in our time.

The Church in Michigan and elsewhere and especially our schools owe immense gratitude to this army of Religious Men and Women and priests and parents and parishioners. Our Diocese of Lansing Schools have been staffed by Sisters of various Religious Orders and Congregations. Many of our diocesan schools have been blessed by the Sisters of St. Dominic at Adrian in our diocese.

Now in 2008, I salute a very large number of lay women and men who with some Religious and priests administer and teach in our schools. Together with parents and parishioners the Catholic School family is here for our students.

Our schools excel with high spiritual and moral values, high academic rates, high student retention, high parent and student satisfaction, high graduation rates!

The reason for 200 years of commitment and sacrifice for Catholic Schools is 'CATHOLIC IDENTITY'! It is our greatest strength and the very heartbeat of Catholic Schools. It makes them different and makes all the difference between success or failure and survival and demise.

What we have always known and sadly at times we should have known is and will be the basis for the existence of Catholic Schools and their remarkable success - CATHOLIC IDENTITY.

The aims of education determines the identity and entire program of any school. What determines these aims? Education must serve the aims of life for human persons. This presupposes and involves a specific concept of the human person and the aims of life.

The Catholic School views students as citizens of this world and citizens of the Kingdom of God. They are two interdependent and essential aims. - TEMPORAL and ETERNAL. They are inseparable. Catholic Schools provide the means whereby these two aims may be realized.

Mother nature is our amazing and surprising teacher. Her lessons are always TRUE. Several summers ago she surprised me with an elementary lesson. While reading outdoors my left eye detected movement. It looked like a large bird. I watched motionless as it drew near. It was a Seagull walking toward the patio. How odd - a gull only ten feet away. After feeding on sunflower seeds, the gull turned and began walking back.

Then I saw the broken wing. The gull entered the woods and never returned. With one wing, the gull could never fly. The poor creature was earthbound, helpless and doomed.

To achieve the TWO aims of the Catholic School - students need reason and faith! They are like TWO WINGS on which a human spirit rises to the fullness of truth and life. Faith and Reason need each other and work together. With Faith and Reason students can be open to all the knowledge, skills and experiences that will enable them to be effective and happy citizens of this world and the Kingdom of God.

Another way of stating these TWO AIMS of the Catholic Schools is: Prepare students for WHO they can become and Prepare students for WHAT they will do. Both require Faith and Reason. Who we become and What we do are profoundly linked.

Formation of the human person is the primary aim of education in the Catholic School. To open students to WHO they can become is an act of love for them and the door to fulfillment and happiness. Who we can become is a lifetime pursuit for all.

At the center of the Catholic School is Jesus who shows us who we are called to become. By his life, truth and grace we learn the way to become men and women of God.
Our theme is 'Catholic Schools Light the Way'. The WAY to be effective and happy citizens of this world and the Kingdom of God. The WAY is a person - JESUS. Catholic Schools shed light on the way. They teach, explain, show live and experience Jesus the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.

Speaking of the new century, John Paul II advised: "As we look to the future, how can we fail to think of the young? What is being held up to them? A society of things, not persons? The right to do as they will form their earliest years, without any constraint?"

We can fear that tomorrow these same young people who reach adulthood will demand an explanation from their parents and leaders for having deprived them of reason for living and tools for happiness because they failed to teach them.