Discussing our Mission with Others

For those of us in leadership positions in Catholic schools, I believe we must be intentional about layering over our schools with soaring, aspirational language that is explicit about who we are. If we can say things clearly and consistently, I believe this language begins to affect our communities' self-understanding, helping our faculty, students and families build a common purpose. 

Here's a few more resources to that end. The last piece is something I put together for the founding of St. Michael Catholic High School.

1) From Archbishop Michael Millar, "Five Essential Marks of Catholic Schools" (2006):

(One essential mark of a Catholic school is that it is) "inspired by a supernatural vision. The Church sees education as a process that, in light of man's transcendent destiny, forms the whole child and seeks to fix his or her eyes on heaven. The specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of this world, loving God and neighbor and enriching society with the leaven of the gospel, and who will also be citizens of the world to come, thus fulfilling their destiny to become saints." 

2) From Pope Francis: "Our generation will show that it can rise to the promise found in each young person when we know how to give them space. This means that we have to create the material and spiritual conditions for their full development; to give them a solid basis on which to build their lives; to guarantee their safety and their education to be everything they can be.."  

3) From Pope John Paul II: " Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom."

4) And from Pope John Paul II again: " The greatest challenge to Catholic education in the United States today...is to restore to that culture the conviction that human beings can grasp the truth of things, and in grasping that truth can know their duties to God, to themselves and their neighbors."

5) From the website of St. Michael Catholic High School (Fairhope, AL):  

Our motto is: "Great hearts and minds to do great things!"

Pope Francis, speaking recently to youth, encouraged them to strive for "magnanimity," which he defined as " having a great heart, having greatness of mind; and having great ideals; the wish to do great things in response to what God asks of us."

Pope Francis artfully summarizes our aspirations for students at St. Michael. We want them to develop great hearts and great minds, so that they may live joyful lives, and in so doing, do great things for others.

In his explanation of the virtue of magnanimity in the Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas reflects on its opposite, "pusillanimity," which means, literally, "small mindedness." The reason people are small minded, he says, is they don't believe they have the "qualifications" to do great things--that they are incapable, as if magnanimity were a virtue only possible for saints. And in fact, we live in a culture that too often thinks this way about teenagers, that tells them they are incapable of chastity (so we advocate for 'safe sex'), or true scholarship (so we inflate grades) or handling disappointment (so we give everyone a trophy). And the sad thing about this consistent messaging is that our children begin to believe these things about themselves.

That's not our view! We are children of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, and infused with the grace of Christ, "who strengthens us, and through whom we can do all things." (Philippians 4:13). We are called to holiness! We are called to be saints! We want students to "go for it," to extend themselves beyond their comfort zones, to delve deeper into their studies, to try out for teams (even if they're not selected), to join new clubs, to serve others in new ways, and to strive for excellence. In so doing, we believe students will grow into young men and women who are happy, confident in their futures, and ready to make a difference in this world.

We believe teens are hungry, deep down, to be challenged. They are utterly bored and uninspired by an accommodating, "lowest common denominator" approach to life. They want their lives to matter; they want to be challenged by the gospel, to believe that such a life is possible, and they are powerfully attracted to people who are living as if it is.

Infused with optimism, immersed in a culture of excellence, blessed by teachers who care about kids and lift them up when they stumble, and elevated by a dynamic faith, Catholic high schools can change students' lives!

May St. Michael truly be a place that calls students to greatness!