Shrewd Simplicity

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves."

-Matthew 10:16

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike."

-Matthew 11:25

Countless distractions clamor for our attention. From vendors hoping for our business; to independent contractors vying for us to use their expertise; to members of our communities jockeying for time on our calendars to push a particular agenda; to interruptions due to issues with personnel, students, facilities, finances, boards, families, programs, policies, websites, field trips...; to algorithms pinging, ringing, flashing, and hoodwinking us to stay connected (how did YouTube know that my kitchen needs new window coverings?!); we overcome our environments and our own natures when we focus on something for longer than 47 seconds. 

47 seconds. This number represents the average attention span of adults. 

With so much knocking our doors of our minds and hearts, we owe it to ourselves and our communities to provide clarity on our areas of emphasis, while also designing systems and strategies to achieve and ensure success. 

Simplicity and Shrewdness. 

Shrewd simplicity. 

As Catholic school leaders, we create simplicity when we clarify the main objective(s) of our communities. Reinforce the mission. Anchor in the school's beliefs, values, charisms. Say no to lots of things so that you can say yes to the most important things. Point others - and remind ourselves - to our purpose and do this over and over and over and over and over again. 

Moving beyond catchy slogans, we employ shrewdness when we orchestrate programs, policies, and procedures that consistently allow us to attain success. Bringing order out of chaos, the shrewd leader can see a way forward in complex and complicated situations - oftentimes by returning to the simplicity of the school's purpose and staying close to its values and rooted in its beliefs. Shrewdness allows us to coordinate the many and various personnel and stakeholders in our communities, differentiating and integrating roles, responsibilities, and personalities in effective and efficient ways. Whether having meetings before the meeting or losing a battle to win the overall war (i.e. advance the mission) or collecting/constructing the right data to inspire change or maintenance, the shrewd leader engineers systems aligned to significance. 

While Jesus refers to those able to thread the needle of shrewd simplicity as "childlike" or serpentine doves, we live up to this high calling when we return to the foundations of teaching and learning - learning objectives, student engagement, and checks for understanding. 

We attain Christ's ideals when we remember the origins of our ministries and schools and allow these beginnings to guide us into our futures. 

We become the people and organizations worthy of the title Catholic when we courageously focus on the priorities of our schools - faith, academics, service - and dump the distractions that imprison us and create burnout instead of flourishing in students, teachers, staff, families, and benefactors.

As Catholic school leaders, let us have shrewd simplicity in all that we do, leading, guiding, and serving our school communities to that which is true, good, and beautiful, bringing them into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Anything else is just a distraction.   

One of the Most Powerful Means for Good in this Country

Last week on July 2, I had the honor of composing a reflection for FaithND, a daily email sent by the University of Notre Dame that features the gospel reading for the day, a reflection by a community member, and a prayer from a Holy Cross priest. 

Given the close proximity to the Fourth of July and our country's 250th anniversary of its declaration of independence from Great Britain, the story of Fr. Corby's Absolution Under Fire came to mind (see below). 

Fr. Corby's involvement in the Civil War as a chaplain stands as only one of the many ways in which the University of Notre Dame is "one of the most powerful means for good in this country" (Fr. Sorin, C.S.C., 1842).

Fr. Edward Sorin, the founder of the University of Notre Dame, famously penned those words to Bl. Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the Superior of the order at the time. Over 180 years later, Fr. Sorin's prophetic words ring profoundly true.

From the Navy training almost 12,000 officers on Notre Dame's campus during World War II, to Fr. Ted Hesburgh serving on the Civil Rights Commission for 15 years, to the Alliance for Catholic Education forming over 3,000 teachers and leaders that serve more than a quarter of a million students each year, to many, many, many more examples, the University of Notre Dame - in my opinion - has lived up to its founder's vision. 

May the Fighting Irish continue to be a force for good in the United States and beyond. Fight on. 

And my heart forever, loves thee, Notre Dame. 

Gospel from July 2, 2026

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."

At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"–he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."

He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

-Matthew 9:1-8

Reflection

On July 2, 1863, Fr. William Corby, C.S.C., offered Absolution Under Fire (the title of Paul Wood’s painting) to all of the troops during the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg. In the words of Fr. Corby, “That general absolution was intended for all—in quantum possum—not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.” Survivors who witnessed this powerful moment of prayer were struck with awe and glorified God, so much so that it has been memorialized on Notre Dame’s campus as well as the fields of Gettysburg. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus offers absolution to the person suffering from paralysis. This spiritual healing stands as the objective of Christ’s mission—to reconcile humanity to God. St. Paul echoes this focus on reconciliation, “(A)ll this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation…entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Jesus commissions his disciples to convey this message of reconciliation, to be agents of healing, to be peacemakers committed to building up the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Though only priests can offer absolution, all of us can bring reconciliation to those in our homes, churches, schools, workplaces, and communities. 

Inspired by Fr. Corby’s example, which took place during one of the darkest moments of America’s history, let us speak words of reconciliation on the battlefields of today, create civil discourse in places of discord, and repair relationships between and among people and God, seeking what unites rather than what divides.

Reconciliation carries immense power. It heals, evokes awe, glorifies God, and is the heart of our ministry as Christians.

Clearly, Again

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

-1 Corinthians 11:23-26

This past weekend, I had two opportunities to return to my alma mater, Benedictine High School, for celebratory events. Additionally, I edged my lawn for the second time in the past three weeks. Finally, yesterday's gospel reading, from Matthew 10, included a line from the gospel on the Feast of St. Barnabas, which took on special meaning during a meeting with leaders last Thursday (Mt. 10:5-8)

Jesus said to the Twelve: "As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."

At first glance, these three occurrences have little in common. However, all three afforded opportunities for repetition. And, these repetitions allowed me to clearly remember my Benedictine formation, literally becoming a member again of the Benedictine way: ora et labora (prayer and work). These repetitions allowed me to more clearly define the limits of my yard and keep the sidewalk path clear from overgrowth of grass and earth. These repetitions clearly illuminated a message Jesus needed me to hear - I am an apostle sent out on mission to do His work. Go do it.

Repetition stands as the mother of all learning. Good readers re-read. Fluency with math facts results from repetitive drills. Nailing a speech happens after challenging ourselves to remember the order, flow, and main points. Musical performances, dance routines, hitting a baseball, creating a piece of art rise to new levels of excellence when we practice and practice and practice and practice and practice.

Repeating our efforts to clarify the identities of our organizations (similar to edging more frequently than I typically edge) helps to eliminate and keep away the creep of bad habits, loose policies, and ways in which our behaviors misalign from our mission and beliefs/pillars/values/charisms. Much like the impact of brushing and flossing our teeth daily as opposed to less frequently, clarifying and reclarifying and overcommunicating who we are and how we behave makes it more likely for our communities to remember what's expected. Edging a second time took significantly less time and effort than my first go and it looked significantly better. 

Finally, opportunities to remember our foundation - my time in Catholic education started in at Benedictine High School and I've been in Catholic education ever since - help us to become members again of those ideals and values. Reunions, halls of honor, and retelling the stories of our heroes and pivotal points of our schools' histories brings us back to these pivotal moments of our lives, clearly reminding us again what we value, what we believe, and why we do what we do.

As often as we need to, let us remember, clearly, again.

Human Flourishing Through Catholic Education

 "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

-John 10:10

I recently learned that "authority" comes from the Latin word auctoritas which means to give growth, to augment, to help people flourish.

As people who have been given authority over Catholic schools, individually and collectively, we would do well to use this as our leadership frame: are those under our authority - faculty, staff, students, community members - better because of our leadership? Does our leadership help them to flourish?

In the podcast titled, Leaders in the Resistance, Rick Popp and Albert Faraj (from Acts XXIX) outline these three main tasks of leaders:

1. Impart identity
2. Speak with authority
3. Love unconditionally

Impart Identity

Imparting identity acts as the first task of a minister with authority - the responsibility to help others flourish. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the leader clearly communicates what gives the organization purpose and what makes it unique. From consistent declarations of the school's mission to explanations of what the various component parts mean (shared language AND shared understanding) the leader imparts identity by reminding the community exactly what has importance. The leader points members to the school's collective beliefs and values. These statements and their accompanying rationale provide the identity that proposes the school as unique: the manifestation of the school's charism(s), the inspiration and implications of school's patron saint, the school's stories, heroes, traditions and rituals that carry significant weight and meaning.

Through prayer, discernment and dialogue, the leader imparts identity by saying: this is who we are.

Speak with Authority

The leader, with the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, must make decisions about how the organization will operate. Most often this occurs during moments of tension - a community member misaligning with the school's identity, a policy not followed, what to do when two goods conflict (i.e. we believe that collaboration is a force multiplier AND that leadership matters). The leader speaks with authority by declaring we will move forward in this way. From budgeting to personnel and admissions/enrollment decisions to programming, procedures, and policies, the leader speaks with authority when they decide and act - in sometimes unpopular ways - this is what we will do.

Love Unconditionally

Loving unconditionally reorients the leader to helping others to flourish. When we lead with the authority given to us by God, we follow in the loving and selfless footsteps and example of Jesus Christ. We lay down our lives in service to those we lead. This unconditional love inspires us to approach our ministries with a service-orientation: how can I make others - those I lead - better? How can my leadership help them to flourish? We love unconditionally by offering clear and objective feedback on performance, one of the most loving actions of a leader "for the Lord disciplines those who He loves" (Hebrews 12:6). We provide supports - resources, formation, training, coaching - and patience to help others improve. We see every person in our communities as a beloved child of God and act accordingly - offering respect without first receiving it, biting our tongues after/while getting bitten, and loving despite how unlovable others might act.

As a leader with authority - the responsibility to help others flourish - let us impart identity, speak with authority, and love unconditionally.

And as we do, may we point our communities to the One who imparts our identities, speaks authority into us, and loves us unconditionally, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Substance and Symbols

 “Well, if it’s just a symbol, to hell with it!”

-Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor famously said this while attending a gathering at which someone said that the Eucharist was a symbol. We should absorb some of Ms. O'Connor's zeal for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Truly, if the Eucharist acts only as a symbol, it only holds the power that we give to it. If it is a symbol - and It is not - it works as a prop, gimmick, or even an idol - where the symbol becomes even more important than the substance it should represent.

As we near the end of the academic year and start the season of baccalaureate masses and graduation ceremonies, our schools become filled with symbols, rituals, and traditions that carry significant weight and meaning. From May Crownings to students giving flowers to parents/families to senior activities to caps and gowns to awards and recognitions, the symbolic abounds in our schools throughout these final weeks of the year.

Symbols play key roles in organizations. Mascots should embody the spirit of the community and evoke commitment and pride. We should adorn our hallways with symbolically relevant artifacts, messages, and images. The stories recounted at orientations, retreats, and in faculty meetings should inspire students, teachers, and community members to carry on the legacy of the school. Rituals act as conveyors of the school's culture - we slow down and gather together and devote time to things that matter.

In all of these cases, though, the substance underneath these symbols must remain known and continue to advance the school's mission. When they become defunct or self-serving or an appeasement to alums/donors or no longer appropriate, leaders must lead the community either back to the heart of the matter - the substance of the symbol - or in a new direction.

At times, this means we do away with the old. If the symbol lacks substance, we should lack the symbol. Doing something only "because we've always done it this way" is a great reason to no longer do it.

G.K. Chesterton, another famous Catholic author, gives us a way forward in this substance of the symbol discernment, "(W)e must try to recover the candour and wonder of the child...we must try at least to shake off the cloud of mere custom and see the thing as new, if only by seeing it as unnatural" (1925). Put more plainly, we should look at the familiar - the symbols across our schools - so that it becomes unfamiliar again.

This unfamiliarity should lead us to reclaim and proclaim again the symbol's substance - wow, that is why we do that! Or, these new eyes should allow us to see we've allowed the symbol to also be the substance.

And unless it's the Eucharist, it's just a symbol.

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.