By Father Michael Mullins
Where is an awesome place for evangelization? Where can you encounter joy, see faith in practice and experience love of neighbor? Catholic schools!
This week, we celebrate National Catholic Schools Week. We honor our Catholic school teachers who serve as frontline workers who maintain clean, safe environments and seek to help students maintain clean, peace-filled souls.
Our teachers live their vocations and as a result, our kids benefit. Actually, Catholic school students receive more. They receive the sacrificial love of their teachers and staff who dedicate themselves to enriching the children with God's love.
Catholic schools are a place of unity where students of all religious, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds can learn through prayer, studies, activities and example. Children discover the beauty and wonder of God in the curriculum and in their fellow classmates.
Jesus Christ, the Divine Teacher is welcomed in our Catholic schools where there are daily prayers, weekly Masses, confessions and other liturgies like Stations of the Cross, the Holy Rosary and May processions. Trained to be leaders, the students serve as lectors, choir members or altar servers.
The children are prepared to encounter God's love through the sacraments of Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Students serve as prayer partners to one another. Respect, discipline and the other virtues are cultivated such that the students can serve as faithful disciples of Christ Jesus, and productive members of society.
I encourage you to schedule a tour of your local Catholic school to see our faith lived and shared. Consider sending your child or grandchild to Catholic school.
Pray for our schools, our teachers, staff and students who are going through trying times during this pandemic, but who are persevering and shining forth Christ's light.
Finally, consider donating to your local Catholic school so that their mission of evangelization may continue for endless generations.
Last year, the faithful donors of St. John Vianney Regional School in Allentown raised over $14,000 during Catholic Schools Week, which was generously matched by an anonymous donor. Fortunately, our anonymous donor has agreed to match our donations raised during this week again.
Please visit https://www.stjohnvianneyschool.org/ or check out your local Catholic school and donate today.
Father Michael Mullins is pastor of St. Paul, Allentown.
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