Systems Built by and for Love

"But its (the Catholic school's) proper function is to create for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students gradually acquire of the world, life and humanity is illumined by faith."

- Second Vatican Council, 1965, para. 8

Today, at the end of Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate the feast of one of my Catholic educational heroes: St. John Bosco. 

As an early career educator, I spent four years in two different Salesian schools. Salesian priests and brothers served at the first; the second school embraced a Salesian charism as a group of lay cooperators. 

This spirit has remained with me ever since. 

Minister with joy and presence.

Serve those impacted by poverty and marginalization. 

Empower others with opportunities to showcase self-discipline while also doing all that you can to proactively prevent potential problems. 

Love what students love so that they will love Who I love. 

Love forms the basis and method of St. John Bosco’s Preventive System of reason, religion, and loving kindness. Based on the belief that young people can grow in virtue through an approach built upon relational presence, clear expectations, and developmentally appropriate levels of autonomy, the Preventive System forms students not through punitive discipline but rather through relational love. 

A noteworthy detail of this pedagogy centers on the fact that this approach - love - entails a system. Far from both rigidity and complacency, the Preventive System balances autonomy with guidance, differentiation of roles with integration of responsibilities, and co-generative collaboration with orchestrated coordination. 

In order to navigate the narrow ridge between these differences, clear, consistent, and coherent systems lovingly lead others so that they, and our organizations and world, might flourish.

A trusted colleague of mine would often quip during issues with personnel that offering clear expectations and objective feedback are two of the most loving things leaders can do for others. The Letter to the Hebrews offers a similar message of encouragement: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges” (Hebrews 12:5-6). 

Navigating this ridgeline between freedom and fixedness provides those whom we lead and serve with guardrails within which they can safely fumble through experiences while also being set up for success. Like a compass, these systems point us to true north while also allowing for flexibility in the path taken to get there. 

Systems built by love and for love consider the dignity of the other and, in a spirit of subsidiarity, delegate responsibility appropriately between and among the institutional, local, and individual levels. Loving systems provide space for voices to be heard and tweaks to be made within a framework that provides stability, strength, and security. 

These systems of love possess enough strength to stand firm and sufficient space to move, adapt, and change as necessary. 

In the Salesian spirit, may we continue to build such systems within our Catholic schools, systems built by and for love. 

The Mission Has Schools

Yesterday's Gospel offered a striking synopsis of Christ's mission. Reading from the prophet Isaiah, Christ proclaimed His purpose:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1)

By Divine Providence, this mission-focused message provides inspiration and direction as we begin Catholic Schools Week 2025. 

A mission acts as marching orders. A mission provides purpose and pathways. A mission involves movement and/or effort: the word originates from the Latin word for "send." A mission completes the sentence for everyone to whom it has been given: Go "fill-in-the-blank with the mission".

Theories abound about the importance of a mission for an organization. Daniel Coyle (2018) posits that strong organizations establish a clear sense of purpose (mission) in addition to sharing vulnerability and building safety. Similarly, Lowney (2003) cites the work of researchers from both Harvard and Stanford that arrive at the same conclusion: strong organizations have a timeless reason for existing (mission) while also remaining open to new ways of accomplishing this goal. 

Roots and wings. Consistency and adaptability. Mission and vision. 

In 2006, on an application for acceptance into a program to discern whether or not I might want to become a Catholic school principal, I wrote the following about the mission of Catholic schools:

If given a similar prompt today, almost 20 years later, I would offer a slightly nuanced version of my thoughts about the mission of Catholic schools.

I would distill the mission of Catholic schools as follows: 

The mission of Catholic schools is to bring students to fullness of life through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Using strategies rooted in the Catholic faith and intellectual traditions, Catholic schools develop "every capability of every student, enabling each one to attain an integral formation within a context that includes the Christian religious dimension and recognizes the help of grace" (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1988, para. 99). 

Furthermore, this integral formation will

form men and women 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. Thus, they will form human beings who will make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian. (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1982, para. 19) 

You'll notice a few key differences between these iterations of my idea about the mission of Catholic schools. 

First, it is shorter. Almost 20 years of Catholic school leadership in some capacity has sharpened my focus. 

Second, the mission of Catholic education aligns with the mission of the Church. Thanks to the mentorship of Fr. Ron Nuzzi, I understand and embrace this pithy truth, "Catholic schools do not have missions; the mission has schools."

The mission - Christ's mission - has schools. More specifically, Christ's mission has Catholic schools. 

The specific ways in which Catholic schools carry out this mission - academic, social-emotional, moral, physical, and spiritual formation; academic, faith-based, co-curricular, and extra-curricular programming; Classical, STEM, Humanities, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement - provide particular schools with a specific identity and distinctness from other similar schools. 

The Church "establishes her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting the formation of the whole (person), since the school is a centre in which a specific concept of the world, of (humanity), and of history is developed and conveyed" (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977, para. 8). The Church does so to carry out its salvific mission: "proclaim the good news of salvation to all, generate new creatures in Christ through Baptism, and train them to live knowingly as children of God" (para. 7).

Advance the kingdom of God in heaven and establish it here on earth. 

Be filled with the Spirit of the Lord. Bring glad tidings to the poor. Proclaim liberty to captives. Recovery of sight to the blind. Let the oppressed go free.

This is our mission. These are our marching orders. 

Let us go. We have been sent.

United We Stand

The expected posture during the Communion Rite in the Diocese of Cleveland - and our entire Church - invites mass participants to stand after the Great Amen, and remain standing during the Lamb of God, through the celebrant’s reception of Holy Communion, and during the distribution and reception of Holy Communion for the singing of the Communion Hymn.

Once the distribution of Holy Communion and the Communion Hymn have concluded, the faithful may sit or kneel for a period of sacred silence.

Surprisingly, this expectation of our Church has stood since 1969.

In 2004, our diocese doubled-down on this practice when then-Bishop Pilla issued a policy reinforcing the Church’s expected Communion Rite posture. Archbishop Perez, during his tenure as the Shepherd of Cleveland from 2017 - 2020, reaffirmed this stance.

Why? To “both follow the instructions of the Church and unify the postures of the faithful during Mass” (https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/offices/worship/faqs).

Whereas I have only been back in the Diocese of Cleveland for a little over two years, I have gone to enough masses at enough different churches to know that we are far from unified in this practice.

Despite the rationale that this posture allows the faithful to pray corporately, or in unison, with others, I often find myself feeling most disconnected with other worshippers at precisely the time that I should experience the deepest connectedness with both Christ and all gathered in His Holy Name.

“Do people think that I’m standing because I think I’m better than them?” I’m not - better than them or standing because that’s what I think.

“Am I being more divisive by standing when so many people are kneeling?" Perhaps. I totally understand local customs, or cultural practices, and how those might supersede the Church’s universal expectations. Only one of the many churches in which I’ve celebrated has publicly declared that kneeling is the local custom.

“Why are we so divided in this practice?” This is typically where my mind lingers.

Should we reiterate and clarify the expectation? We’ve lived five years and survived a global pandemic since the last update about this. Given the lack of clarity about what to do, a refresh might prove effective. For one such refresher, check out this podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-of-faith/id1605830248?i=1000558061927.

Do we need to anchor the messaging in the purpose for the practice - for mass participants to stand in solidarity with all gathered and to recognize the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? In everything, start with why (Sinek, 2009).

Do we remove the kneelers altogether? The Heath brothers call this shaping the path (Heath and Heath, 2010).

Should I just kneel, since that stands as my heart’s desire for those intimate moments with Jesus anyways?

I don’t pose this reflection to enact any sort of shift in practice within my home diocese. I understand my role. Instead, I offer these musings to align with the important work of shaping Catholic school (organizational) culture.

Strong organizational cultures will demonstrate strong alignment between and among (Schein, 2010; and Hatch, 2018):

• the group’s deeply held beliefs (celebrating the Eucharist acts as the source and summit of our faith; Holy Communion unites us to Christ and others),
• its stated purpose, expectations and values (the Rite of Communion from 1969)
• the organization’s lived actions, spoken words, and visible structures, signs and symbols (in this case, the normative behavior of standing during the Communion Rite)

Misalignment between or among these three levels - 1. the hidden, inner layer (assumptions); 2. the company line, official statement layer (beliefs, values); 3. the lived reality layer (artifacts) - will, eventually, result in a weak organizational culture and, eventually, a weak organization.

But, when our organization’s actions, spoken words, and physical spaces match what we officially say and publish about our organization and stem from the beliefs that we hold sacred in the core of our hearts, our organizations will thrive.

And, when our organizations - Catholic schools - thrive, so will the members of our organizations: students, teachers, families, alumni, benefactors, and the surrounding community.

In the end, if the culture of our community reveals what we stand for, then let us stand united for our students and for forming them in the Catholic intellectual and faith traditions. And, let’s consider those behaviors, like expectations during Mass, and how we can align between and among the three levels to build cultures that will stand tall.

Culture Wins

"From the first moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she ought to have the impression of entering a new environment, one illumined by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics. The Council summed this up by speaking of an environment permeated with the Gospel spirit of love and freedom."

- The Congregation for Catholic Education, The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School, para. 25, 1988

At the risk of giving sports too much credit, I offer the following quote from Riley Leonard, the University of Notre Dame's starting quarterback, for our consideration as Catholic school leaders.

After Notre Dame's win in the Orange Bowl last Thursday against Penn State, Leonard preached:

"What I think the country is learning about our program, I think the biggest thing is just culture wins. You see a bunch of talented guys across our locker room, but you can see that anywhere in the country. I think at the end of the day it's which guys are putting their bodies on the line and doing everything they can for the man next to them. Nobody is thinking about draft stocks or next year or anything like that, any type of individual glory. We're all thinking about the man beside us. I think we kind of proved throughout the season.”

Not only did Riley propose the reason for the team's success - that culture wins - but he described the type of culture that has the Fighting Irish in a position to win it's first national championship in football since 1988:

• The team and its success is more important than individual acclaim.
• People are more important than points, playing time, percentages, or products.
• Hard work beats talent.

Leonard also - another component of the team and university's culture - emphasized faith in Jesus Christ, ending his interviews on Thursday as he has throughout the season with the words, "Jesus bless."

Yes, one could attribute all of these polished and feel-good sound bytes to a competent public relations team and strong training sessions for a 20-something year-old college student who will have a microphone and camera in his face at the conclusion of just about every game. The fact that this type of advanced preparation undoubtedly takes place stands as another facet of a culture that wins: Excellence happens on purpose.

In a study of corporate culture and its impact on revenues, Kotter and Heskett (1992) found that over an 11 year period companies with strong cultures "grew their stock prices by 901 percent versus 74 percent...and improved their net incomes by 756 percent versus 1 percent" (p. 11).

Culture wins.

The same holds true for our schools. Schools with strong cultures will yield significantly higher academic achievement, improved behavior, higher employee satisfaction. The normative culture of a school - the ways we do things here - impacts academic performance, social behavior, and moral behavior (Hallinan, 2005). A strong culture acts as one of four main levers identified as the way that principals have a positive impact on schools (Grissom, Egalite, Lindsay, 2021). The other three include: high-leverage instructional activities, collaboration, and management of personnel and resources.

Again, culture wins.

In sports. In business. In schools. In Catholic schools. 

Culture wins. 

Flourishing

"It was a life-changing decision for me. In fact, it was a resurrection experience for me, and it was life-giving. This is what I pray for all of you. Jesus came not so that we might cope; Jesus came so that we might flourish. Jesus said, 'I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly' (Jn. 10:10)."

- Bishop Edward Malesic, A Flourishing Apostolic Church, p. 4, 2024

Merry Christmas - it's technically still the Christmas season through this upcoming weekend - and Happy New Year! I hope and pray that your Christmas break filled you with hope, restored you with joy, and rejuvenated you with love.

Emmanuel - God is with us!

Over the past few days we've celebrated the feasts of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1/4) and St. John Neumann (1/5), and the Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord (1/5). As such, I have reflected on the connection between and among these heroes of Catholic education, the great mystery of the Incarnation, and the Epiphany of our Lord.

A through-line: God sent us His only Son so that we might flourish.

Our Catholic schools should make Christ incarnate to our students. Students should encounter and develop a relationship with Jesus through our teachers and staff members. They should know the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of Christ through our classes and programming. They should hear Christ's call on their lives through faith formation opportunities at our schools.

In a sense, every interaction within our schools should be a sort of Christmas during which Christ bursts into the lives of our students and sets them on a new path. Every day within our schools should be an Epiphany in which Christ is "made manifest" to our communities.

Let us invoke the intercession of Sts. Elizabeth Ann Seton and John Neumann and the countless other women and men upon whose shoulders we stand in Catholic education. They acted as missionaries, visionaries, strategists, collaborators, analysists, and professionals that established and expanded the system of Catholic schools across our great country. May we follow in their footsteps as we seek to develop, implement, and tweak systems and structures in our schools so that we, too, can expand our reach and enhance our missionary impact on our communities.

The Christmas season may be coming to an end in our Church, but let us make every day Christmas day in our schools, where Christ is made known, loved, and served. Let us make every moment in our schools incarnational, where community members see Christ in each other and in every class, program, and activity.

Christmas may be coming to an end, but this is precisely when the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost,

to heal the broken,

to feed the hungry,

to release the prisoner,

to rebuild the nations,

to bring peace among the people,

to make music in the heart (from Howard Thurman's poem, "The Work of Christmas").

Merry Christmas, today and everyday, in our Catholic schools and everywhere. 

Never Stop Never Stopping

At a recent meeting with Catholic school leaders, I offered a framework that undergirds my work and our collective efforts to create systems, structures, programs, policies, and procedures that will help us advance the mission of our schools. Taken from a part of change management known as improvement science, I have been using cycles of continuous improvement to help direct and guide my efforts throughout my career. 

Chances are good that you have employed a similar system during your leadership as well.

As noted by the graphic, this cycle - or more appropriately stated - these cycles are intended to engage a number of leadership traits (missionary, visionary, strategic, collaborative, analytical, professional).

To start, we design a PLAN that is rooted in our mission, inspired by our vision for the future state of our school, and designed collaboratively with a specific strategy for us to employ.

Once crafted, we execute the plan with professionalism. We DO what the plan states with magnanimity, striving for greatness for our God, our students, our faculty and staff, our community, and ourselves. We rally others to play their part in this scheme, integrating, differentiating, delegating, and empowering across personnel and community members.

The next phase of one of these cycles demands that we humbly analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of our intended progress, helping us to identify affirmations of work that should continue and recommendations for how we can continuously improve. This STUDY must be thoughtful, so that the data we construct - leading vs. lagging indicators, low vs. high inference observations - actually informs us about how we are doing.

From there, we start the cycle again, taking ACTion to either stay the course while continuing to monitor our ongoing progress, or make adjustments with a new plan, implementation, and analysis.

This cycle of continuous improvement creates iterative improvements. While not intended to create instability across organizations, these cycles allow us to methodically and incrementally improve and enhance our schools.

As we continue to move throughout the 2024–2025 school year, may we CONTINUE to use this framework - Plan, Do, Study, Act - to propel us forward in advancing the mission of our schools.