Heart and Soul!

A while back I visited a large parish in our diocese that had just completed construction of a new sanctuary. It was midafternoon on a sunny day, and the light poured through the stained glass windows, creating a serene, prayerful worship space, breath-taking in its beauty.

Equally striking to me was how quiet things were. There was no one in the Church or chapel, just a few parish workers in the offices. It was midweek, and since the parish did not have a school, the gym was empty, as were the parish classrooms. There were no cars in the parking lot.

I drove back to my parish and school and was hit by the contrast.

School was just out. Kids were noisily playing outside on the playground. Cars were coming and going for late pickups. There was basketball practice starting in the gym and a faculty meeting next door in the cafeteria. Mothers were chatting in the parking lot, having just finished planning for the upcoming Gala. Our Christian Service Coordinator and custodians were loading donations into a car, the products of a successful effort involving about 150 volunteer students, parents and teachers a few nights earlier.

The whole place was pulsating with activity.

We often talk about Catholic schools as the FUTURE of our Church, and I think that’s true. But I’m not sure we appreciate how important they are for our PRESENT Church.

Our schools make our parishes the focal point of family life. Between pickups and drop-offs, ball practices, school masses, scout meetings, music and play rehearsals, classroom projects, after school club meetings, student performances and service projects, a parent might be at the school three, sometimes four times/day. Each time, that parent is being slowly drawn into our community, establishing friendships with other families similarly drawn, and becoming, perhaps without noticing, ever more part of the family of faith.

A healthy, vibrant Catholic school is the very heart and soul of its parish, its energizing force, its fire.

May we who lead tend this fire with grace and wisdom!