I am a product of Catholic education, seventeen years to be exact… well, plus three years of part-time graduate studies, too. I am a proud alumnus of Saint James School (‘03) and Saint Viator High School (‘07) in Arlington Heights, IL, the University of Notre Dame (BA ‘11) in Indiana, and Catholic Theological Union (MA ‘16) in Chicago, IL.
A thorough measure of gratitude goes to the many people who made it possible. First and foremost, my parents, raising three boys born across a span of six years, made great sacrifices of time and money to send us all through Catholic schools as a way of extending the faith we learned at home and in our parish. Their sacrifice was supplemented by benefactors, many of whom go unheralded, who supported the grants and scholarships I received in college and graduate school to help pay for my education and formation. And the many amazing teachers, as well as the priests and administrators, who shepherded me down right paths at each step along the way, helping me grow and realize the great potential God placed in me.
I was blessed with strong book-smarts, though I also worked hard with my teachers and family to earn good grades, grow in intelligence, and work my way forward through excellent schools. But the greater blessing came in the way that the distinctive environment and mission and impact of Catholic education made its deeper mark on me; the greatest gift that God and all these people gave me was the gift of lifelong and suffusive faith.
I think sometimes the appeal of Catholic schools is similar to that of many private schools - the uniform, the atmosphere and discipline, the usually excellent academic profile. I’d imagine that motivated my parents somewhat. But I think what was most important was their thorough sense of belonging to our parish and the fact that at our parish elementary and junior high school (and eventually at high school and college) I would be exposed to my faith consistently and thoroughly.1 From religion class to all-school Masses to classroom visits by the parish priests, from prayers over the PA to charity drives and service trips to Sacramental prep, I would see my faith around every corner of my world. In Catholic school, I would grow with my faith such that I’d find it organic and natural to include it in everything I did socially, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and across the board.
Catholic education taught me liturgy and gifted me with familiarity and comfort toward the Mass, prayers, and liturgical music. I still remember our Advent Mass in 3rd grade. Each grade level had to prepare one verse of the epic O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I will never forget the words to verse three. Ever. I grew up to sing in an amazing college choir for four years and at work I contribute to our choir and cantor at school Masses.
Catholic education prepared me for my Sacraments and gave me regular opportunities to practice them and understand them as I integrated them into the flow of my life.2 The regularity of the Eucharist as something that marks not just Sundays but also holy days and milestone moments is part of Catholic education. Monthly class Mass in elementary school? Junior high graduation? Junior ring ceremony? On retreat? Death in the school community? Sometimes, it can feel like we have Mass quite frequently, but the way Masses coincided with these important moments taught me that hearing the Word and receiving the Eucharist helps us contextualize life's milestones with grace and prayer.3
Catholic education made me a leader. Some students are Student Council reps, team captains, prom kings, club presidents. Not me. 4 I was a retreat leader, Student Ministry co-chair, Liturgy Team core member, Freshmen Retreat director,5 and self-proclaimed “retreat junkie.” I learned how to be a part of a team of peers, follow the direction of a benevolent adult,6 and execute tasks that the team entrusted to me. Seeking to lead as a response to the formative experiences of my faith and of God’s love in relationship that I found on retreats couched my attitude in servant-leadership and oriented me toward the ministry I continue now.
Catholic education made me a thinker. My schools challenged me with academic rigor and competitive environments. I strived to earn great grades, honor roll distinctions, and scholarships to make my teachers and parents proud and do well by the gifts it seemed God had given me in academics. As I continued to excel in high school and continued on to the University of Notre Dame, I discovered that education, especially in the liberal arts, is largely about learning how to think; then, the major you choose is the lens through which you prefer to think, through which you think most effectively, or through which you desire to learn how to think. For me, it was Theology, and my professors7 provided the framework by which my faith learned to seek understanding. On a wider scale, I became more thoroughly able to suffuse my faith through my analytical and intellectual processes.
Most importantly, Catholic education made me a person of faith. I struggle a lot with the perception that many of my students have of a Church and a faith that is rigid, strict, unfeeling, judgmental,8 and exclusive. I don’t know where they get that image from, but I theorize that they witness other people - perhaps family or friends - practicing their faith poorly. I have been blessed by family, friends, teachers, administrators, campus ministers, brothers, priests, and peers who set an excellent example for me by how they live out their faith. This is what I strive to pass on.
To my friends with whom I interact socially and personally, to my wife as we raise a family,9 to my co-workers who toil at my side and don’t seek for rest, and especially to my students who are so hungry for formation as they grow into adults, I try to model a person who lives his faith - confidently yet humbly, unabashedly yet respectfully, judgmentally yet compassionately, with conviction as well as with listening.
I strive for the Christian ideal of aligning my will totally with the will of God, of perfecting my freedom by following God entirely. To do that, I need to be a consistent person who invites the voice of God into all areas of my life, into all hours and minutes of each day, into all conversations and issues, into each relationship. My Catholic education has taught me to be this person, and I pray that I can continue growing as I strive to pass it on.
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| Happy Catholic Schools Week, y'all! |
1 Actually, I remember in 8th grade, my mom’s nudging me to go to Saint Viator High School. My best friend, a year older, had gone to our local public high school, and I had tested there as well as at Viator. My older brother was a senior at Viator, and my parents loved it. As we drove past the high school one day, my mom - in that way that moms do - looked toward the stone sign on the corner of campus and said, “You know, I’d really like you to go there.” Mom was right. She always was.↩
2 As previously mentioned on the blog, in high school, I became very opposed to Reconciliation for about a year. I had the “why do I have to tell my sins to a priest?” attitude, and I refused to go forward during our Reconciliation service. Eventually, I relented and went up during the next opportunity. I complained about how boring Mass was, and my confessor challenged me by pointing out that I’d only get out of it what I put into it. This was a turning point in my attitude toward Mass and Reconciliation. And it happened at Catholic high school.↩
3 Great tack-on from Rob: “The liturgy not only contextualizes our "secular" experiences, but elevates and transforms them to experiences of grace themselves.↩
4 Well, I mean I ran for Student Council president in 8th grade and lost. I played baseball for two years in high school but wasn’t that good. I never even sniffed Homecoming Court. Though, I did hold office in our improv/comedy club and became co-president senior year.↩
5 I’ll never forget reaching the end of our long Saturday Freshmen Retreat. As Student Director, I called the shots for the sophomore support staff and executed the timeline and directions for the whole day with 125 freshmen and 25 leaders. Near the end of the night, as Mass ended and the open-mic time for freshmen witness loomed, my campus minister - who was feeling sick all day - told me I needed to MC the forum. I was a bit scared, but something propelled me forward pretty fearlessly. I facilitated the forum time smoothly and effectively. I think I was born a Campus Minister that night.↩
6 So many of my role models in Catholic school were adults who were compassionate, patient, humble, and kind. They actually listened to student input and sought to follow it instead of imposing a facade of a template and filling it in nominally with help from students.↩
7 Without any intention of slighting anyone, I still think regularly about moments from the classes with Prof. John Cavadini and Fr. Paul Kollman CSC at Notre Dame and Bro. John Barker OFM at CTU.↩
8 A great delusion among teenagers is that judgment is bad. They are critical of judgment and sometimes want retreats and discussion settings to be “judge-free zones.” What they don’t yet realize is that judgment can be a good thing when done compassionately. True friends can judge one another compassionately, in a way that is gentle enough yet just and necessary.↩
9 My wife Katherine and I are expecting our first child, a girl, who is due on March 13.↩
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