Rest

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

-Matthew 11:28-30

Rest. Easy. Light. 

Most of us, myself included, feel tired, burdened, and heavy. 

Whereas I know that I have so many ways in which I can grow in my relationship with Christ, I consider myself one of His disciples. 

But, this rest of which Christ speaks? This ease? This light?

I have so much I still need to learn, and so much growth that still needs to occur.

Ancora imparo...

About 7 years ago, in my sixth year as a principal, I adopted a motto at the beginning of the school year that I hoped would motivate my efforts at the school: all in. I would be all in for Incarnation Catholic School. If we needed a sub, I would step in. A duty to cover? All in. School representation on a committee? Count me in. 

I foolishly thought that the way that I could help push the school to new levels of excellence was through more of me. 

I lasted about 6 weeks before I burnt out. 

Tired. Burdened. Heavy. 

Frustrated and confused, I argued with God, "Why won't you help me carry this? I've poured my entire self into this ministry. Why won't you bless this?"

He replied, "Take my yoke upon you." 

I responded, "I have a yoke, why won't you just help me with mine?"

Christ repeated, "Take my yoke upon you." 

"I don't want that one, I have this one! Help me!" I cried out. 

"That's not for you. Take mine," He lovingly encouraged.

Pridefully, my grip tightened and I turned away.

"Take me. I never asked you to be all in for this school. I need you to be all in for me."

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Wooden_ox_yoke_at_St_Kew_church.jpg)

It was in this moment that I recognized, through the wise counsel of a trusted friend, that I had idolized my ministry. Instead of putting Christ above all else, I put my work as a Catholic school principal ahead of my relationship with Him as well as my primary vocation to my wife and kids. 

Tears streamed down my face. Grateful for this newfound clarity, I begged for the next steps. I was used to my yoke, and for however much I couldn't handle it, it had become comfortable. I didn't know another way. 

"Be all in for Me," Christ commanded. "If that entails, which at times it will, that you devote time and energy and expend yourself for this school, then do it. But, do it for Me. Be all in for Me."

Humbly, I consented. Relieved, I experienced a lightness and ease I hadn't experienced in quite some time. The Sacrament of Reconciliation offered healing, a new beginning, and efficacious grace.  

As a result, my mind raced for ways that I needed to preference my relationship with Jesus and in turn my wife and children. Your vocation is as a husband and father; therefore, stop working in the evenings so that you can be more present to your family. Keep holy the sabbath: stop working all day on Sunday and devote time for your faith and your family. Tithe: give your time, talent, and treasure to your God, and let Him allocate it to your ministry and elsewhere. Recommit to the Eucharist, Reconciliation, and other distinctly Catholic practices, including the Rosary. Bring others into a deeper relationship with Christ through your interactions and your position as a principal. 

Incarnation Catholic School didn't need more of me. Clearly. It needed more of Christ.  

And, much like how Christ gave the beloved disciple - and in turn His Church - His Mother to guide us, protect us, and to bring us into a deeper relationship with her Son, Mother Mary came to me during this same season of my life to help ensure I didn't go running back to my old yoke and so that I could - finally - experience rest... 

It Is Well

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my father's sudden passing into eternal life. Unexpected and somewhat mysterious, his death shook me like no other event in my life ever had.

I can't believe he has been gone for 10 years. I have so much that I wish that I could say to him, so much that I wish that I would have done, so many regrets, missed opportunities, and mistakes...

Yet, despite the deep and lasting hole left by my father's passing, I have come to an even deeper understanding of and appreciation for life, my family, and most importantly, my faith. 

It is not, in any way, what I would have chosen. Yet, because of Christ, it is well.   

A few years after his passing, I stumbled across this rendition of the song "It Is Well With My Soul". I knew it as a traditional Christian hymn, yet for as many times as I had heard or even sung it, I never knew its inception. It's incredible to me that in the midst of such tragedy, someone could be so secure in the Lord. 

Horatio Spafford composed the lyrics in the wake of a series of tragic events in his life. He and his wife lost their son to Scarlet Fever in 1870. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 ruined him financially. Then, he lost his other four children out at sea on a voyage that he was initially supposed to also be on. He learned of their passing from his wife, Anna, who survived the shipwreck and sent Horatio this telegram, "Saved alone. What shall I do?" It was during his journey to reunite with his wife that Spafford wrote the words of this hymn.

Around the same time as my discovery of the origins of the song above, I also heard the testimony of Angie Smith. She retold the story of the birth and death (within two hours of each other) of her daughter Audrey. Her story and her message cut right to my core and I found myself in tears. 

Angie recounted the importance of meeting Jesus in the deep waters of His love as opposed to the safety of the sands on the shore. In her deepest, darkest moments, Angie cried out to Jesus for Him to walk with her, hold her and carry her through these times. 

Jesus, she says, is in the deep. It is only there that we can come to know Him. As you may be able to assume, Angie and her husband, Todd Smith (lead singer of the Christian band, Selah), were advised to abort Audrey as she was incompatible with life. Even if Audrey was able to make it full-term, she would not survive delivery or much beyond. 

Angie and Todd put out into the deep and carried Audrey the full length of the pregnancy. Audrey only lived two hours and the pain surrounding this tragic event shook Angie and Todd and forced them to latch onto the Lord as they had never done before. Todd and Angie had the courage to tell Audrey, "We will carry you," even though her death was imminent and their grief unavoidable. Jesus, in response, had the love to "carry them" through the most difficult thing that anyone could endure - death.

Jesus is not on the shore. He is in the beautiful, powerful, dangerous waters of the deep. When we find ourselves outside of our comfort zones, afraid, hurt, alone, where our feet can't touch the bottom, Jesus is there. He lives in the deep. We can't fall in love with Him on the seashore, because He's not there. We have to move away from what's safe to truly see, meet, and love Jesus. 

By no means does this mean you seek out pain and hurt and despair. Instead, it is an invitation to face life's storms when they come - because they will - with the confidence and courage that we have a Savior who carries us through them all. 

Continue to venture into the deep. It's where, if you're open to it, you can encounter God.

It's where, because of Him, it is well.

It's Not a Career, It's a Calling

Fr. Pedro Ribadeneira, a Jesuit priest, declared to King Phillip II of Spain, "All the well-being of Christianity and of the whole world depends upon the proper education of youth" (O'Malley, 1993, p. 209). I believe that God has called me to strengthen, sustain, and transform Catholic schools to advance Christ’s mission for the Church and upon which the “whole world depends.”  

I believe that God has called me to learn how to make the work of Catholic education and leadership more sustainable, while also discovering ways for our Catholic schools to flourish in their earthly and heavenly goals. 

I believe that God has called me to discover ways in which we can remove boundaries that prevent access to Catholic education to any child or family who desires it: Catholic education should be available to as many children as possible. 

I believe that God has called me to use my zeal to bring others to fullness of life in Jesus Christ through the ministry of Catholic education to more firmly establish His kingdom here on earth and, more importantly, advance it in heaven.  

Because it's not really a career, it's a calling (paraphrased from Tim Ross).

I have devoted my entire professional calling to Catholic education serving as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal, principal, professor, and associate superintendent. I believe that Catholic schools can change the world. According to the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (SCCE), “The Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church, especially for education in the faith” (1977, para. 9). I passionately desire to advance this mission and the curriculum of our schools plays an integral part in doing so. 

The Congregation for Catholic Education (CCE) states, “The Catholic school finds its true justification in the mission of the Church; it is based on an educational philosophy in which faith, culture and life are brought into harmony” (1988, para. 34). This integration of faith, culture, and life occurs through the curriculum, especially religion and/or theology, and other school programs such as retreats, liturgies, service opportunities, and extracurricular activities. Pope Pius XI argued that in order to be worthy of the title Catholic, religion classes should act as the center of Catholic schools and that

it is necessary that all the teaching and the whole organization of the school, and its teachers, syllabus and text-books in every branch, be regulated by the Christian spirit, under the direction and maternal supervision of the Church; so that Religion may be in very truth the foundation and crown of the youth's entire training. (1929, para. 80) 

The Catholic school’s curriculum cannot merely be secular with the addition of religion and/or theology. Instead, the entire educational enterprise within Catholic schools must point to and depend upon Christ, “the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school” (SCCE, 1977, para. 34). 

Catholic schools’ curriculum must promote a distinctly Catholic worldview that acknowledges God’s active presence in our world, and unabashedly Christian anthropology that sees the human person as endowed with inherent dignity and goodness. Our academic and extra-curricular programs must strive toward the "gradual development of every capability of every student" (CCE, 1988, para. 99). Catholic schools imbued with the spirit of Christ must inspire a generation of disciples “who will be ready to take their place in society, preparing them in such a way that they will make the kind of social commitment which will enable them to work for the improvement of social structures, making these structures more conformed to the principles of the Gospel" (SCCE, 1982, para. 19). 

For this to occur, our methods must match the content of the curriculum. Equitable and just grading policies must focus on knowledge and skills; disciplinary systems must be formative and relational. Voice must be given to historically marginalized groups; schools must provide windows and mirrors in both programming and personnel in order for students to value other cultures while also seeing themselves represented in the school. 

Because in the end, we are preparing students for their calling, which might require them to thrive in many various tasks. 

May our Catholic schools bring students wisdom to recognize the voice of God, courage to say yes to it, and strength to faithfully fulfill the requirements of this call. 

May we prepare our students for college, career, and calling readiness. 

References

Congregation for Catholic Education. (1988). The Religious Dimension of Education in a 

Catholic School: Guidelines for Reflection and Renewal. https://bit.ly/2NKgCyL 

O'Malley, J. (1993). The First Jesuits. Harvard University Press.  

Pope Pius XI. (1929, December 31). Divini Illius Magistri. 

https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_31121929_divini-illius-magistri.html

Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education. (1977). The Catholic School.

https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_19770319_catholic-school_en.html

Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education. (1982). Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to 

faith.

https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_19821015_lay-catholics_en.html