School is back in session! The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time, but I think there’s even a little extra excitement in the air this year. Of course we have the new vestibule expansion that will be ongoing throughout the school year. We are also very excited for our new Principal, Mrs. Jeffress, and our new Assistant Principal, Ms. Kearney. We’re also blessed with the highest enrollment that we’ve had in over a decade, which speaks volumes about the great reputation our school enjoys for education and faith formation. I hope all of our students, faculty and staff are looking forward to this new school year as much as I am.
As always, I ask that each one of you keep our school in your prayers regularly throughout the year. The school is the largest ministry of our parish. A school is a demanding ministry, and we devote considerable time, attention and resources to this ministry of Christian education precisely because it is so vitally important to our parish and the Church as a whole. While we take great pride in the high-quality education that we offer to our students, a Catholic education is about much, much more than that. As the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Blessed Basil Moreau, famously said, “We shall always place education side by side with instruction; the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart. While we prepare useful citizens for society, we shall likewise do our utmost to prepare citizens for heaven.” That sums it up nicely – our school is about getting our kids ready for heaven, and I can’t think of anything more important.
We’ve all heard the grim statistics about young people leaving the Church, and we know how important it is to help our parishioners develop an intimate and loving relationship with Christ through His Church from a very young age. That’s why we focus so much on our school, and that’s why I urge all of you to pray for our school regularly, even if you don’t have a direct connection to it. We know the good and the bad about the secular culture that influences our kids every day, and so I am always thankful that our students who are learning a better way, the way of Jesus Christ. With the Spirit’s blessing upon this ministry, it is my constant prayer that our school mission statement is manifested in every graduate of our school: “We, as the Christ the King Catholic School community, seek to further God’s kingdom by developing spiritual and scholarly Christians who know, understand, and live their faith.”