February 5, 2025 National Catholic Schools Week began Sunday, January 26. This year’s theme is: Catholic Schools United in Faith and Community. As you know, on the Feast of the Holy Family, the Diocese launched the Jubilee Year of Hope. Our Catholic Schools are vital participants in our Church’s Jubilee pilgrimage. That beautiful Feast celebrated in the Christmas Season reminds us that God walks with us as members of a family of faith. This is a year where we commit to strengthening our relationships with Jesus who accompanies us through our life’s journey to the dwelling place prepared for us by the Father. Our Catholic schools are treasured communities of faith where students, united in faith and community, not only encounter Jesus, but they are also invited to walk with Him on their journeys. Yes, our Catholic schools are sacred places where students meet Christ. The environment and programs of every Catholic school is rooted in Christ. The ultimate message they deliver through instruction and the personal witness of teachers, administrators and staff is the good news that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to dwell among us and show us how to live in this life and become saints preparing for the next. Students in our Catholic schools are shown the way to live in relationship with Jesus and with their neighbors – the girls and boys they meet every day, their teachers, principals, and all those they encounter in their homes and beyond. They learn of their baptismal call to be disciples in mission who follow Jesus and share His Good News with others. Catholic Schools Week is a fitting time to express profound gratitude to our teachers, principals, and school staff as well as parents and parishioners who support such inspiring schools here in our North Country. The Diocese of Ogdensburg is truly blessed to have Sister Ellen Rose Coughlin, SSJ, as our Director of Catholic Education and Superintendent of our schools. She and her staff provide invaluable service to our schools. What an opportunity we have in our schools to teach and model the virtue of hope, the virtue that keeps our eyes on our eternal destiny where we will know true happiness. In his document, Spe Salvi (2007), Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that “People who have hope live differently.” In these challenging times marked by violence, poverty, lack of respect for the human person and so much that dampens our hope, I see in our Catholic schools real hints of hope where faith and love are practiced, where faith-filled people live differently, where the joy of the Gospel permeates the hallways! I enjoy my visits to our schools where I have the opportunity to agitate, I mean, bless the students who exude the Good News, united in faith and community. I pray that Pope Benedict’s words will inspire our Catholic school communities to continue to live differently as pilgrims of hope. Congratulations to all our Catholic school families as we celebrate National Catholic Schools Week! |
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