Storm the Gates

In a recent conversation with a close friend, he offered an insight on Jesus's message to Peter before giving him the keys to the Kingdom " you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18).

Gates don't move. 

I had always taken this to mean that no matter what storms our King's castle, no force of darkness will be able to penetrate it. Subconsciously, this perspective offers a defensive posture. It presents an already established and fortified Church, limited in its reach and cloistered behind its walls, where members enjoy the comfort of being on the winning team.

Instead, Jesus commissions Peter as the chief contractor on the project of an ever expanding Church. And, instead of a passive stance that evil will not get in and win, Jesus sends us out on the offensive and no dark corner, no seedy establishment, no shady operation, no stronghold of evil will be able to hold onto its property rights. 

No gate of hell can withstand the truth, and way, and life, and power of Jesus Christ. 

But, we have to go out. We have to go out in search of the domains that our enemy has shackled with chains and mistakenly claimed as his portion and take back what belongs to our King. 

I frequently listen to the sermons of a Protestant pastor, Levi Lusko, as a way to supplement my faith life. He masterfully uses stories from history and connects them to scripture in meaningful and fresh ways. In a sermon from late 2022, Levi talked about the history of yacht clubs and how they started as rescue missions (14:55 - 16:30): 

Instead of elite places that keep people out, they were intended to be gathering places for those who would courageously go out in search of those in need of help. 

Jesus's Great Commission tells us, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt. 28:19-20).

He doesn't say sit and wait. 

He doesn't command us to stay put. 

Go. 

Storm the gates of hell with the promise that Christ leaves with us: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). 

The Holy Spirit courses through our veins. Endowed with the supernatural gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord, and emboldened by our unique charisms - the blend of favors that God bestowed on us at our baptism for the building of His Kingdom on earth and advancing it in heaven - let us take the truth, love, and life of Gospel into every corner of the world. 

Gates don't move.

But we do and they will when they open in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Excellence Happens on Purpose

The Psalmist declares that God created everyone in His image, and as such, with intention and for amazing things, “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!” (Psalm 139:13-14).

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:God2-Sistine_Chapel.png

We know that our Heavenly Father purposefully plans for excellence. His plan for salvation culminated in the person of Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all of the prophecies about Him throughout the Old Testament. Depending on the Biblical scholar cited, this amounts to over 300 prophecies about the Messiah that Jesus satisfied completely. 

Jesus’s life also demonstrates intentionality leading to excellence. Jesus declares the excellence for which He came, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Similarly, He understood and remained committed to His mission, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37). 

In Mark’s Gospel, we encounter Jesus “(r)ising very early before dawn, (leaving) and (going) off to a deserted place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35). In Luke’s account, Jesus tells Peter, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). Jesus’s life, ministry, passion, and death lead those of us called to be His disciples to purposefully lay down our lives, take up our crosses, and follow Him to the highest form of excellence: salvation. 

As ministers of Catholic education in the Diocese of Cleveland’s Office for Catholic education, we remain committed to our mission to “(l)ead and serve those who carry out the education mission of the Catholic Church.” Using this mission as our compass, we also purposefully consider our root beliefs in advancing this important goal. 

Therefore, we take time at the beginning of our meetings to collectively commit to our purpose, remember our root beliefs, and consider ways to actively bring these to fruition in our work. 

We incorporate these foundational statements in our communications, intentionally invoking them to infuse our efforts with direction and life. 

We share the rationale behind these guiding principles, use them during onboarding efforts, and periodically revisit them to assess our fidelity to them and make necessary adjustments to more closely align our actions to them. 

More than catchy slogans, our root beliefs and mission serve as the core of who we are and the engine driving what we hope to achieve. Through our belief that excellence happens on purpose, and our deep faith and trust in God, we purposefully add our efforts, “consciously and overtly, to the liberating power of grace, (becoming) the Christian leaven in the world” (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977, para. 84). 

But Him They Must See

A line from last Sunday's Gospel reading, the story of the disciples encountering Jesus on the road to Emmaus and one of my favorite stories, jumped out at me during my time of worship and has haunted me throughout the week. 

In Luke's account, the two disciples - prior to embarking on this seven mile walk of dejection and defeat - had talked to the people who had seen the empty tomb and encountered Christ. This inspired them to investigate the situation for themselves. 

They go to the empty tomb and find it as described: empty. 

However, and herein comes the line that struck me:

"...but him they did not see." 

As a result, they leave. They walk away from their fellowship with the other disciples. Not encountering the risen Christ for themselves, they turn away and "looking downcast" they depart. 

It made me think of our schools. Our students, families, and teachers - looking for the truth of Christ either actively or unconsciously - must go through our programs and see, encounter, and know the way, the truth, and the life of Christ.

How often though, do members of our communities come to our schools search and hoping for an encounter with Jesus Christ and find them empty? Do our students and teachers and families come to us yearning for the absolute truth of Christ only to find a watered down, moralistic therapeutic deism instead? Might stakeholders turn to us expecting to witness authentic discipleship, yet see no notable difference in our how we live our lives?

But Him they must see. 

Christ on the Road to Emmaus, Jan Wildens, 1640s

Perhaps these disciples walked away from the empty tomb because they expected to find the living among the dead. Their search had taken them to the wrong place. 

Maybe - like me - they needed the additional catechesis Jesus supplies as He accompanies them on their seven-mile journey to Emmaus, which Bishop Caggiano states means "nowhere." They couldn't absorb the truth of the resurrection because they didn't have a strong enough foundation upon which to build. 

Could it be that because the disciples had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the witness of those who had encountered the risen Christ earlier that morning stemmed more from fact than faith, thus limiting their testimony to the head and not also incorporating the heart?

So, we must make sure that our schools do not resemble dead places where people will never find the living - punitive and vindictive discipline policies, academic approaches that don't account for the process of learning, liturgical opportunities that go through the motions without moving anyone.

We must make sure that our schools pour the foundations of faith with rich study of Catholic theology, scripture, and doctrine, ensuring that our schools proclaim an unabashed and irresistible Catholic identity. 

We must take seriously our own discipleship, recognizing that we cannot give what we do not have, and that "(people) listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if (people do) listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."  

May we be the witnesses who allow all who interact with our Catholic schools to see, encounter, and know the way, the truth, and the life of Christ.

Because, Him they must see. Him they must encounter. Him they must know. 

Accompany. Inquire. Teach. Love. Send.

As Jesus did. 

As Jesus does.  

Serve With Love

At some point in the Spring of 2021, I stumbled across this reflection by Mike Donehey, lead singer of Tenth Avenue North who now has a solo musical career: 

In this interview, Donehey passionately argues that Jesus never told anyone to lead. Even Peter, the first Pope, was told to "Feed (Christ's) lambs", "Tend (Christ's) sheep", and "Feed (Christ's) sheep" (John 21:15-17). 

Feeding lambs and sheep presents as a much different posture than our typical images of leadership. 

The latter displays someone out in front with others following behind; the former unveils someone with outstretched hands, going toward others. 

Lowered. Humbled. Giving. Serving. Loving. 

The celebration of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, typically proclaims John's version of this Passover meal. In it, John positions Jesus at the feet of His disciples, washing their feet and offering a model of service and love that continues to echo throughout the centuries and across the world. 

Service done out of love - selflessly, sacrificially, humbly - has the power to change the world. 

In fact, it is the only thing that ever has. 

Feed and tend His lambs and sheep. Like Pope Francis urges, "(We) must be shepherds who smell like (our) sheep" not leaders who expect others to serve and cater to us. 

Like Christ, we must serve with love. 

Cooperators with Grace

"The proper and immediate end of Christian education is to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian, that is, to form Christ Himself in those regenerated by Baptism." 

-Pope Pius XI, 1929, para. 94

The Gospel from this past Sunday, the fifth Sunday of Lent, offered the powerful story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. 

Jesus commands, "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43), and this man who had been in the tomb for four days comes out.  

A relatively new song by the artist Judah Akers (lead singer for Judah and the Lion as well as his solo project JUDAH) captures the essence of Christ's power in his new song, "Anything is Possible":

Anything is possible / When it seems improbable / That’s when He is unstoppable / In His name any grave is robbable / Unthinkable / Unreachable / Unbelievable / Unpreachable / That’s just who He is / It’s too good to be true / But it is

Jesus didn't come to make nice people better. He came to bring dead people back to life. Dead in our sinfulness, doubts, fears, anxieties, brokenness, addictions, ideologies, and failures, Jesus intends to awaken us to the reality of being created in God's loving, powerful, and intelligent image and likeness.

Jesus desires that we experience fullness of life through a relationship with Him, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

This, ultimately, serves as the goal of Catholic education. "But (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). 

Pope Pius XI framed the goal of Catholic education in supernatural terms, "Hence the true Christian, product of Christian education, is the supernatural (person) who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ; in other words, to use the current term, the true and finished (person) of character" (1929, para. 96).

As Catholic educators, we cooperate with divine grace to carry out this important work. Much like the supporting cast in the story of Lazarus, we remove stones, untie hands, feet, eyes, ears, and mouths, so that others can walk forward in the light and faith of Jesus Christ. 

His Word saves. His love moves. We can create the circumstances and orchestrate the atmosphere for these transformative encounters with Christ to take place. 

So, continue to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in creating supernatural people who will emerge from their graves of ignorance, selfishness, and sinfulness and set out to "make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian" (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1982, para. 19).

Let us continue to cooperate with grace so that Christ can continue to do the impossible. 

Every Person is a Gift from God

Catholic anthropology views the human person as endowed with inherent and inestimable worth and dignity. Sacred Scripture declares this truth in the opening chapter of Genesis, “God created (humankind) in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them….And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good” (Genesis 1:27-31). God deems the other acts of creation as good; God finds His creation of humans, however, as very good. Every person bears the imago Dei, the image of our all-loving, powerful, and knowing God. 

Fundamentally good yet fallen because of original sin, humankind stands in need of a Savior. It is our Savior, Jesus Christ, Who reminds us of our goodness and value in the eyes of our Heavenly Father, “Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:30-31).

In addition to our inherent giftedness, God also bestows His followers with His grace, “the free and undeserved help that (He) gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons (and daughters), partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1997, para. 1996). 

This grace takes on supernatural forms through our baptisms and confirmations, wherein we receive our charism, the Greek word used in the New Testament for "favor" or "gratuitous gift." Charisms, or spiritual gifts, are special abilities given to all Christians by the Holy Spirit to give them power both to represent Christ and to be a channel of God's goodness for people (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1997, para. 799-801). 

In this way, we understand our giftedness both as something we are and something we are called to selflessly give away to others. 

Since every person is a gift from God, our unified collaboration provides a coordinated diversity of talents, multiplying the effects that any one of us can have alone. Recognizing our strengths, talents, and charisms allows us to meaningfully contribute to the collective mission of Catholic education. Being aware of both our and others’ giftedness empowers us to purposefully involve and partner with others in carrying out this important work. In celebrating the accomplishments of our teams, we also recognize the offerings of each individual. 

Because of this belief - that every person is in fact a gift from God - we presume the positive intentions of each other, tempering our frustrations and quickening our understanding. We hold each others’ well-being as sacred, investing time and resources in fellowship, faith-sharing, fun, and frequent check-ins. 

Honor the giftedness of each person we encounter in our ministries by seeing them as Christ and being Christ to them in turn, incarnationally serving all people with love, “...for whatever you did for (others), you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).  

Leadership Matters

"Without a vision the people lose restraint; but happy is the one who follows instruction."

-Proverbs 29:18

Leadership matters. 

Whether titled or assumed, the leader of a group determines its trajectory. Just as a rising tide lifts all ships, an effective leader can bring out the best in others and amplify the efforts of the collective. Similarly, leaders can create unnecessary tension, anxiety, doubt, and fear. 

The cart follows the ox.

As leaders within a Catholic context, we must take the yoke of Christ upon us and lead others to Him. In this way, our discipleship impacts our leadership. 

In turn, discipleship matters.  

Jesus' messages throughout scripture include, “Follow me”, “Go, make disciples”, and “Feed my lambs.” He gives the disciples “authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness” and instructs His followers to proclaim the kingdom of God, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse leapers, and to give without cost (Mt. 10:1-15). Christ gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven during his installation as the first Pope, declaring that Peter is the “rock” upon which Jesus “will build (His) Church” (Mt. 16:13-20). The apostle Paul describes himself as a minister or steward, recognizing that “God cause(s) the growth” behind our human efforts” (1 Corinthians 3:1-9). 

Catholic school leaders must understand that we are called to inspire others to follow Christ and establish His kingdom here on earth “making (social) structures more conformed to the principles of the Gospel…form(ing) human beings who will make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian” (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1982, para. 19). 

Research demonstrates the power of strong building-level leaders in schools: effective principals can yield an increase in student learning in reading and math of about three months (Grissom, Egalite, & Lindsay, 2021). Compared to the effects of a strong teacher, which remains confined to only the grade-level and/or subject of that educator, the positive gains of an effective principal affect the entire school community. Actions of these leaders include an emphasis on learning, building a productive climate, facilitating collaboration, and managing resources and personnel strategically. 

Additionally, effective leaders foster trust through humility, honesty, open and frequent communication, care for the human person, and following through on obligations consistently and with conviction. Strong leaders attract and surround themselves with dynamic teammates and they empower these members to use their gifts and lead others in turn. 

Finally and somewhat paradoxically, strong leaders embrace joyful and strategic servanthood, casting a vision for the future, designing systems and structures to bring it to life, and then selflessly offering his/her own gifts and talents to help others find success.    

Leadership matters. 

Discipleship does, too.