Reading, Writing and Religion

Appreciating our Catholic school education

03/08/2020

Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

I read in the newspaper last week that Pope Francis received a phone call from heaven. Did you hear that? God called up the Pope and said, "I've got some good news, and some bad news." The pope asked: “Okay, what’s the good news?” God answered, "I've decided that there should be only one church, and one religion. No more confusion." The Pope said, "That's wonderful news." God continued: "But the bad news is: I'm calling from Salt Lake City." Well, that would be good news for the Mormons! Still, wouldn’t it be “good news” indeed if God decided to have only one church and somehow eliminate all the others? And that one church being the Catholic Church, of course.

The reality, however, is that we live in a world – and it’s especially true in this country – where there is not just a plurality of religions, but a veritable smorgasbord of spiritualities that you can select from. As a result what happens, more and more young people are turning away from the Church, and turning to atheism or agnosticism for guidance in this life and in the next. Some folks are sick of dueling denominations, so they prefer to attend non-denominational churches. You see them all over Fort Smith. Islam is on the rise, even in America. In 2015, the Pew Research Center predicted that by the end of the century (by the year 2,100) Muslims would outnumber Christians in the world. Even by the year 2050 (only 30 years away), both Christianity and Islam would claim about 30% of the world’s population as their practioners, each with about 2.9 billion faithful. I would be willing to bet every family here today either has a family member or close friend who grew up Catholic but has since left the Church.

It is in this context of competing religions that I want to talk about the value of education in a Catholic school, and attending Trinity Junior High and Immaculate Conception School. I am convinced the greatest value we possess is religious education, also called “faith formation.” Roman Catholicism is actually a “subject” we study five days a week in Catholic schools, along with the so-called “three R’s” of reading, writing and arithmetic. In other words, Catholic schools present religion as a “truth” that the mind can know, just like math and microbiology, science and social studies are true. But religion is even truer than other subjects. How so?

Well, people of faith know that religion really is not a “what” but a “Who,” not a “something” but a “Someone,” not an “object” to observe with our eyes but a “Subject” to whom we surrender our souls. Ultimately, at the root of our religion lies a relationship – indeed, the greatest love story ever told! – that we pray penetrates deep into every student’s heart and transforms their lives. That relationship with the Lord should be more real than any other subject they study.

Today’s gospel presents the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mt. Tabor before the amazed eyes of Peter, James and John. Every Catholic school teacher’s ultimate goal is to present the Transfigured Christ before the eyes of his or her students, so that they declare like Peter did in the gospel, “Lord it is good that we are here!” We want our students to exclaim: “Lord, it is good we are at Trinity!” “Lord, it is good we are at Immaculate Conception!” We want to graduate not only scholars but saints. Why? Because only a saint can confront the cacophony of religions running all over the world today and not feel intimidated or indifferent or intolerant.

They can take the best of other religions and know that Catholicism offers them better. One theologian described the difference between religions with this stark image. Imagine all whole world in a swimming competition on open water. Everyone is swimming as hard as they can, but the Catholics are in a speedboat. I hope you don’t hear that as a point of pride, but rather of profound humility. Faith has little to do with us and a lot to do with God. Faith should not be a cause of pride.

May I share with you some of the exciting things happening at Trinity Junior High recently besides religion? Dr. Karen Hollenbeck, our principal, announced that tuition rates for the upcoming school year will remain the same as last year. I really commend her for that. Not raising tuition is very hard to do when we see expenses climbing higher every year. But we want to make Trinity as affordable as possible to everyone. We are also very happy to announce that Coach Ronnie Williams will be re-joining the Trinity staff to be the head boys’ basketball coach for 7th-9th grades. Coach Williams was instrumental in beginning the athletics programs at Trinity and we are very pleased to have him back! Many of our adult parishioners were athletes trained by Coach Williams, and so I hope you send your kids to Trinity to get the same treatment.

In more sports news, Mr. Manuel Ordonez will be expanding our 7th and 8th grade soccer program to include games with local schools and clubs. Did you know that Trinity is the only junior high with a soccer program? And Fr. Martin will be the assistant coach – Messi from Barcelona was not available. As the priest-administrator of Trinity, I am especially happy to share that during the season of Lent, the students and faculty will all be on a journey of faith. We will be abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and also on Fridays. Our Religion Department will lead Stations of the Cross in various formats and we will also participate in a penitential service. All the students go to confession, and some non-Catholics even come for a blessing. I love seeing the Catholic faith woven seamlessly into the fabric of student life. I just pray that fabric of faith is not torn to shreds when the winds of the world begin to blow.

It was during my Catholic school years that the seeds of my priestly vocation were planted and nurtured in my heart. The priests and nuns who taught me were instruments in God’s hands helping me to see there’s more to life than what meets the eyes. They taught me that religion is a relationship, a love story more powerful and priceless than the movie “The Princess Bride.” Now, I want to do the same for others. Let me invite you to support Immaculate Conception and Trinity by sending your children to school there. Our goal is to graduate not only little scholars, but also little saints, who won’t lose sleep worrying about God calling them from Salt Lake City.

Praised be Jesus Christ!