Tell the Story

"There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written."

-John 21:25

During the end of the Lenten season and throughout these first weeks of Easter, I have been thinking a lot about why the Gospel writers included what they did regarding their testimony about Jesus Christ and their belief in Him as the Messiah. 

The line above from the conclusion of John's Gospel leads me to believe that each of the four writers have supplied a cliff notes version of all that they saw and heard. They captured the most important, the most amazing and the most memorable events from His public ministry. 

That which they included must have been the interactions and occurrences that they thought would best convince others that Jesus was and is the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, the Word made flesh. While I would love to know more about the entirety of Jesus‘s life and ministry, I trust that what has been included in Sacred Scripture stands as the most compelling aspects of His teaching, preaching, and healing. 

Like most parts of my life, this reflection from my faith has intersected with my professional ministry. It has caused me to ruminate on what sets of data, anecdotal stories, experiences, and components of our schools are the most important. In other words, like the Gospel writers, and specifically John, we could collect, construct, and analyze many different types and forms of data. Similarly, we could tell volumes of stories about all of the different things that happen in our schools - can you imagine if the walls could talk?! 

But, which matter most? What numbers can lead to and/or indicate our success or lack there of? 

Which stories convey the identity and values of our communities? 

Which experiences allow others to more fully understand what an education from one of our schools entails? 

As catholic school leaders, we have the blessing, privilege, and responsibility to discern which numbers matter, which stories have value, and which experiences enable us to be the school communities we need to be. These are the data sets to pull into a dashboard, the stories that we need to tell and tell again, and the experiences we should prioritize and enhance for maximum impact. 

As we near the end of this academic and fiscal year, I invite you to consider what you will use to tell the good news of our schools. Let us use the inspiration of the four Gospel writers to purposefully select, craft, and tell the most important parts of who we are.

To drive home this point, think about the Gospel stories recounting encounters with the resurrected Jesus. He obviously appeared to more than just Mary Magdalene, the apostles in the upper room, Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus, and Peter and the apostles on the sea shore. But, these are the encounters selected, the ones divinely inspired and chosen to make our hearts burn, so that we would run away from the empty tomb, to see and believe, to turn around and run back to our call, and to experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ. 

Instead of filling books about our schools, write its gospel to ignite flames of faith, to inspire action, to instill confidence, to attract even more to our missions, and to convert hearts to Christ. 

Increase

In a 1992 pastoral letter on stewardship, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) defined a steward as: “One who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord.”

The last phrase hits deep.

Return the gifts I have received - with increase - to the Lord.

Almost four years ago, God called me home to serve in the Diocese of Cleveland. This call came with many gifts, namely the opportunity to work alongside Catholic leaders and educators and help to steward the resources and efforts of our diocesan operated Catholic high schools.  

Far from maintaining the status quo in areas such as faith, academics, finances, construction, enrollment, and support services, we have collaborated to enhance all aspects of the Bishop’s Catholic high schools.

While it might feel as though we’ve swung hard and fast from local-level autonomy to central office controls, our efforts have focused on “returning our schools with increase to the Lord.” As such we have anchored in and advanced the mission and unique charisms of our schools; used data transparently and meaningfully to inspire growth; clarified and created processes for hiring, performance monitoring, and temporal goods (among others); engaged boards and community members in strategic planning; used best-in-class tactics for philanthropy and advancement; and leveraged the collective power of the DOHS as a network of professional Catholic leaders and educators.

In the words of Bishop Ken Untener, “It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.” This perspective provides a view that can acknowledge areas in which we have improved and those in which we still have room to grow.

In this way, we might be able to point toward increases in enrollment or college acceptances or faith formation opportunities as the return on the Lord’s investment in us and our five schools. We can look at beautiful capital improvements or new curricular offerings or more sophisticated advancement techniques as the interest Jesus has earned through our efforts.

For sure, all of this deserves celebration and recognition. Success breeds success.

But, the “long view” can also allow us to admit that in Catholic education we play an infinite game. There is always work we can and need to accomplish. Our school community changes every year, if not more often. No matter how much we excel in any area, we can always get better and the best is always yet to come.

This long view also allows us to see that "(w)e are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs" (Untener, 1979). The vineyard belongs to the Lord. We are his stewards.

May we continue to receive God’s gifts gratefully, cherish and tend them in responsible and accountable manners, share them in justice and love with others, and return them - always and in all ways - with increase to the Lord.

God's Work, Done God's Way, With God's Supply

 “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

-Hudson Taylor

Throughout this school year, I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to spend so much time in classrooms across the Diocese of Cleveland. Doing so has clearly illuminated the ways in which teaching and learning will improve in the coming weeks, months and years. 

By focusing on core instructional practices - purpose, engagement, checks for understanding/progress - we will employ best pedagogical strategies to enhance students' knowledge, understanding, and abilities.

We exist as Catholic schools. Since we minister in the area of Catholic education, we must ensure that our schools function as Catholic AND as places of formation. These do not compete with each other, as if the education we provide stands in opposition to and/or only happens after matters of faith and religion. Similarly, the formation we must offer to students does not neglect research-based best practices.

In all instances, our embrace of our Catholic faith does not hinder our efforts. Instead, "(f)aith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know Himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves" (St. John Paul II, 1998, para. 1).

When we model our behaviors after Jesus Christ the Teacher, we confidently embark on doing God's work in God's way.

We incarnationally get to know and relate to our students - for God so loved the world...(John 3:16).

We ask more questions than we answer - What are you discussing as you walk along...(Luke 24:17).

We tell stories that relate to the content and/or skill at hand - All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables...(Matthew 13:34).

We engage students meaningfully - inviting them to actively participate in the learning process - Fill the jars with water...(John 2:7); Give them some food yourselves...(Mark 6:37); Take away the stone...(John 11:39).

We offer re-dos and second and seventh and fourteenth and...attempts - Simon, son of John, do you love me?...(John 21:16).

We create scholars and saints - "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).

Simply, when we do God's work (Catholic secondary education in the Diocese of Cleveland) in God's way (employing a pedagogy of Jesus Christ), God will provide (turning water into wine; feeding 5,000; bringing dead people back to life). He will bless and magnify and amplify and increase and use our efforts to do "far more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).

God's work, done God's way, with God's supply.

Lord, use us and Your will be done. 

It's About Time

"Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you came into the kingdom?”

-Esther 4:14

I came across this passage from the Book of Esther twice in the same day last week. It made me think about time - how we use it, how we organize it, how we maximize it.

It's about time.

With just about 45 days until the end of the school year, and 90 until the end of the fiscal year, it's about time.

With Spring Fundraisers coming quickly and maybe already concluding, it's about time.

With teachers getting contracts for next year, it's about time.

With teachers getting observed, coached, developed, and evaluated, it's about time.

With performance reviews providing affirmations and mid-year adjustments, it's about time.

With registration and re-registration filling up our classrooms for 2026-27, it's about time.

With budgets getting created and audits getting completed and construction projects getting planned and underway for Spring and Summer, it's about time.

With processes getting tweaked for greater clarity, effectiveness and efficiency, it's about time.

With strategic and accreditation plans getting created, publicized, advanced, and completed, it's about time.

With summer affording us opportunities to slow down more deeply engage in improvement projects for programming, personnel, and property, it's about time.

With Lent barreling toward Holy Week and into Easter, it's about time.

With asking our Father for His kingdom to come, and for Him to give us this day our daily bread, it's about time.

With us gathering together with colleagues and faculties and staffs to support each other and grow as disciples and professionals of Christ, it's about time.

With each of us being called to serve in our respective ministries at this time, in these places, to do this work of Catholic education where we currently serve, it's about time.

It's about time. Everything is about time.

Outside of our faith and each other, time is perhaps the most valuable resource and gift God has bestowed upon us. And alike the gift of faith that is meant to be shared, the commodity of time should be used in ways that benefit others and honor our great God.

Another day is one of the gifts God blesses us with every morning. Our gift back to Him and the world is what we do with the time that we have been given.

Keep doing this important work to which you have been called. Keep prioritizing your time so that we complete the most essential aspects of our roles. Keep inviting others to assist in advancing the mission of our schools, integrating and differentiating between and among the various duties expected of each person.

Keep believing that perhaps you have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this.

This time; it's about time.

Balanced on Purpose

I believe that striving for work-life balance constitutes an impossible pursuit. 

While I would like for these parts of my life to balance, I know that the amount of time required of me for my work consumes most of my awake hours throughout the day, leaving little time for life. This imbalance might become even more skewed depending on the day, week, month (thankfully, February is the shortest one!), or even year. 

Conversely, there are seasons of life that necessitate more time and effort away from work. From illnesses, to catching up on sleep, to joyous events - births/birthdays, weddings, graduations, sacraments, trips - to injuries, accidents, and even deaths, life can demand that we orient ourselves away from work and toward our health, our families, and our lives.    

As such, we must remember, "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Instead of striving for balance, we would do well to pursue purpose.

Why spend so much time and energy at work? 

Why is it important for us to make time for faith, family, and friends? 

What is the purpose behind these and other worthwhile endeavors?

How can we prioritize and organize our time and resources so that these purposes are fulfilled? Rather than attempt and fail at having the scales tip toward even, can we put first things first and fill our days accordingly? 

If my faith stands as the most important part of my life, what must I do to ensure that I treat it as such? 

Similarly, if my family clocks in at a close second, how can I block off time and resources to prove it? 

Using my God-given gifts and talents to build the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, a task that also provides for me and my family, requires focus and fidelity. In order to do my best, I need to get enough sleep and execute other healthy habits of living. I also need to remain diligent in my duties - meeting deadlines, following through on commitments, and delivering on the details of my job description. 

As I try to make consistent deposits into each of these domains of my life, not in equal amounts but in purposeful dosages, I must cling to and clarify the underlying convictions in each of these areas. 

As a disciple of Jesus, I need to spend time each day with my Teacher, listening to and reflecting on His Word, talking with Him through personal prayer, and receiving His grace through frequent reception of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. If I fail to do these things, I will also fail to grow in discipleship. 

As a husband and father and son and brother, I must recognize that my marriage and my children act as my primary pathways to heaven. Moving beyond presence, I need to connect and meaningfully engage with my wife and my children each day. And, if I'm to successfully pass on the message that family is important, I should do likewise with my mom, siblings, extended family, and in-laws. 

As an educator-minister, I trust that my work helps Catholic schools to become more accessible and excellent so that the world can flourish. From helping schools become more irresistibly Catholic, to pushing them to become more academically excellent, to managing them to become more financially responsible, to inspiring them to be more strategically vital, I know that our work is: 

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

All of this requires a baseline level of health and fitness. Watching what I consume - orally, visually, audibly, recognizing that muti-tasking (like work-life balance) is a myth, moving my body to sharpen my brain, resting, and recreating are all important considerations in order for me to be the best disciple of Jesus, husband of my wife, father of my children, and minister in the Office of Catholic Education that I can be. 

As we strive to be authentically human, let us strive for balanced purpose instead of balance. 

Instead of working to live or living to work, let us work hard at being purposeful so that we might come to fulness of life.

This is a pursuit and an end that's always in season. 

Servants of Christ, Stewards of the Mysteries of God

Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.

-Romans 13:1

I'm grateful for the celebration of Presidents' Day and the day off that it affords for many - though not all - of Americans. And, I'm taking advantage of the day to pray for the leaders of our country, that they would lead in ways that promote peace, justice, and charity.

Similarly, this day provides a chance to pray for leaders in all capacities that we would also lead in ways that honor our God - building the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

But, ever since coming across a reflection about leadership in 2021 in which I learned that Jesus never asked anyone to lead, I've reimagined my approach to leadership.

Simply, I've tried to serve instead of focusing on leading. In moments where I feel that my ministry runs into roadblocks, I ask myself how can I better serve God and those around me. I recognize that any leadership position or responsibility that I have has been entrusted to me by God. Instead of being in charge, I'm a steward, meant to faithfully use the gifts and resources given to me in ways that leave this part of the vineyard in which I work better when I leave it.

As we imitate Jesus Christ in all things, our leadership roles should be used to point others to Him. Our leadership should encourage others to follow Him. Rooted in service, our ministries as leaders should focus on doing the most good for the most people within our communities.

In other words, our leadership should stem from an orientation of service, laying ourselves down for the good of others. Like St. Paul told the Corinthians, "Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1).

The Curiosity of Wonder

 In yesterday's Gospel, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees (and us):

"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition...You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things." (Mark 7:6-8, 13)

As I read through these words, this message convicted me. How often do I follow my own interpretation of Jesus's teachings, clinging to my ways, and my routines, my practices - my traditions? In what ways do I nullify the Word of God - Jesus - through my stubbornness and pride, honoring Him with my lips but denying Him by my lifestyle?

No one of us has fully realized the truth of all things. As seekers, we see in part, we wander, we misinterpret, we stumble, we fail.

We hold fast to the fences in our lives, without even knowing the purpose(s) for which they were built (G.K. Chesterton). 

Instead of being curious, we approach the world judgmentally (Ted Lasso).   

Instead of imitating Christ, we idolize and brandish our names, images, and likenesses. 

What if today, we approached the world with wonder? What if we asked more questions than we answered, humbly recognizing and accepting our limitless limitations? What if we acknowledged that despite the number of truths we've attained, many more stand beyond our capacities, allowing us to join with others on this never-ending pursuit?

Ask why the fence was built in the first place. 

Invite others to "say more" allowing you (and them) to journey on this search for truth. 

Be curious - why do you feel that way, tell me more, what are you talking about, what sorts of things, how does this work, what am I not seeing, how else might we do this, what are you looking for?

And as we do this, with the curiosity of wonder, may we listen to and follow the words of Christ, "Come, and you will see" (John 1:39).