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