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From the Director: A Reason for Hope

on Wednesday, 01 June 2011.

If you haven’t read Patrick McCloskey’s masterpiece, The Street Stops Here: A Year at a Catholic High School in Harlem, you’re missing out. McCloskey tells a moving story of the ups and downs of Rice High School, an all-boys Catholic school in New York City. With impressive academic results (each of this year’s graduating seniors have been accepted to college) and a proud athletic heritage, Rice has been a blessing to children, families, and the community since it was opened in 1936.

But despite its many civic and sacred contributions, and the heroic efforts of the entire school community, Rice will close at the end of this academic year. Similar to an alarmingly large number of U.S. Catholic schools over the last decade, the weight of declining enrollment and mounting debt have become too much to bear.

Even though Catholic schools are flourishing in many, many places (over 450 new Catholic schools have opened since 2000, and over a quarter of Catholic schools have waiting lists), other areas see increased and significant challenges. It can be easy to be discouraged about the future of our schools.

This past Sunday at Mass, we heard a beautiful line in our second reading: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15). So, what’s my “reason for hope?” Simply put: You are.

I have great hope that ACE Advocates will grow as a mobilizing force for prayer and entrepreneurial energy for Catholic schools. Our movement is calling energetic, intelligent, and faith-filled disciples into the mission of sustaining and strengthening Catholic schools. Your participation in ACE Advocates means that you are part of the solution, and that you are supplying hope to future generations.

Challenging times have always called the very best out of the Church. I’m proud to be standing next to you as we respond to the needs facing Catholic schools.

Gratefully,
Chuck

Regional Roundup

on Wednesday, 01 June 2011.

Boston

The Boston Advocates will host their first Trivia Night Friday, June 17, to benefit St. Rose Elementary School and Trinity Catholic High School. Come celebrate the end of the school year and support two local Catholic schools - all while having fun playing trivia with friends! Suggested donation at the door is $10. Pizza, beverages, and treats will be available for purchase. This event is for adults only (21+). Doors open at 6:00; trivia starts at 7:00. Come early to check out raffle and silent auction items! Maximum of 8 people per trivia team. The event will be held at Ancient Order of the Hibernians, 151 Watertown Street, Watertown, MA. If you have questions, email Caitlin Keeton.

Chicago

Chicago's Advocates for Catholic Schools invite you to four June events--for an overview, read on. For details, click here.

  1. Holy Trinity Cocktail Reception, Thursday, June 9 @ 6pm, led by Fr. Don McNeil, CSC. This is the only Holy Cross-run school in Chicago. Holy Trinity is located near the Blue Line at Division/Milwaukee and is accessible via the Division, Milwaukee, or Ashland bus.
  2. 4th Annual St. Ann Golf Classic, Saturday, June 11 at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge. Registration and lunch begin at 12:30pm with a 2pm shotgun start. Space is limited; sign up today! Registration Form. Sponsorship Form
  3. Mass with Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC, Sunday, June 12, @11am, hosted by Laura Cunniff, ACE 12. (1756 W Division, Chicago, IL, 60622). Lunch will follow Mass. RSVP to Laura Cunniff.
  4. St. Ann/St. Matthias Transfiguration Trivia Night, Saturday, June 18 @ St. Matthias Transfiguration School, 5-8 pm. All proceeds will go to support scholarship opportunities at St. Ann and St. Matthias Transfiguration. Cost includes beer, pizza, and trivia! 4910 N Claremont Ave, 60625,$35/person or $180/team of 6.

Dallas

Our advocates in Dallas ended the school year with time for retreat, reflection, and relaxation. The annual Spring Retreat was held at Lone Oak Ranch and Retreat in Gainesville, TX. An evening in late May found Dallas advocates and some new members enjoying a beautiful sunset at the Dallas Arboretum’s Cool Thursday concerts rocking to music from Beatles tribute band Hard Night's Day. The group's final May event was their 2nd annual Memorial Day Family Picnic, where they enjoyed a finger food picnic while listening to patriotic songs played by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

East Coast

The East Coast ACE Advocates retreat drew together a diverse group of Catholic school supporters for nourishment, friendship, and celebration. Held May 21st and 22nd on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay, the retreat was sponsored by the Washington, DC, Richmond, and Philadelphia ACE Advocates communities.

Retreatants drove up to four hours in order to reflect on the ways in which Christ nourishes their souls, and to ask God’s grace to “become what we receive” from the Eucharist, Scripture, and relationships. Regional leaders Danielle Webber, Maureen Kurz, and Michael O’Connor were assisted by Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC, Ricky Austin, and Chuck Lamphier in leading the retreat.

Hosting retreats in collaboration with other regions is a growing trend within the ACE Advocates. Earlier this year, the Seattle and Portland Advocates hosted their second annual joint retreat. Plans are already underway for Richmond, DC, and Philadelphia to host a much larger retreat next year which will be broadly advertised to Catholic school teachers throughout their dioceses. For more information on next year's retreat, contact ACE Advocates

Joining the East Coast Retreat were four first-year teachers of the newest UCCE Program from St. Joseph University in Philadelphia. It is a sure sign of the Spirit’s influence in our movement in service to Catholic schools that new individuals and institutions are becoming involved. Thanks to everyone who participated in an ACE Advocates retreat this year!

Catholic Schools Help Poor Kids

on Wednesday, 25 May 2011.

But show no advantage over public schools on student achievement

Maureen Hallinan and Warren Kubitschek*, both affiliated with the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity at the University of Notre Dame, recently addressed the thorny issue of gaps in student achievement.  Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of students from public and Catholic elementary schools in and around Chicago.  Via a powerful statistical technique known as hierarchical linear modeling, these researchers examined student-level characteristics such as race, gender, and poverty, as well as school-level variables including school sector and school poverty.  Some article highlights:

  • The article provides a concise yet comprehensive summary of the research literature on the relationship among school sector, school poverty, and student achievement.
  • Catholic school students had considerably higher mean test scores in math and reading than public school students in the same grade.
  • When comparing gains in achievement, however, public school students made larger gains in 6th and 8th grade reading and 8th grade math than Catholic school students.
  • Poverty in public schools was associated with lower mean test score gains, whereas in Catholic schools, poverty and achievement gains were not linked.
  • Given the mixed pattern of findings throughout the analyses, Hallinan and Kubitschek concluded that “no compelling evidence of a Catholic or public school advantage was found” (p. 166).
  • The authors carefully illustrated the complexity and challenge of studying the student achievement gap, noting that every gap “varies in size by grade, subject, and sector” (p. 159).


*Note: Warren Kubitschek, colleague and friend of many, passed away on April 3, 2011. Please see http://creo.nd.edu/news/19271-warren-kubitschek-in-memoriam/

Hallinan, M. T., & Kubitschek, W. N. (2010). School sector, school poverty, and the Catholic school advantage. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 14(2), 143-172.

Click here to access the complete article.

Thursday, May 4, is National Day of Prayer

on Wednesday, 04 May 2011.

2011 Presidential Proclamation of the National Day of Prayer

Throughout our history, Americans have turned to prayer for strength, inspiration, and solidarity.

Prayer has played an important role in the American story and in shaping our Nation’s leaders.  President Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”  The late Coretta Scott King recounted a particularly difficult night, during the Montgomery bus boycott, when her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received a threatening phone call and prayed at the kitchen table, saying, “Lord, I have nothing left.  I have nothing left.  I have come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”  Dr. King said, in that moment of prayer, he was filled with a sense of comfort and resolve, which his wife credited as a turning point in the civil rights movement...

The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a “National Day of Prayer.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 5, 2011, as a National Day of Prayer.  I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation.

Visit the National Day of Prayer Website.

The First Loves of Easter

on Wednesday, 04 May 2011.

A Reflection from Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC

Their names are what first catch my attention.  As we exult in these Easter days, we immerse ourselves in the Gospel stories of the Resurrection.  For all the “spiritual fireworks” that are about to erupt with the revelation of Jesus’ rising from the dead, these well-known stories of our faith all begin with simple, single, precisely identified, names – of a few women. 

They come, not to get front-row seats for the fireworks, about which they know nothing, but in fear, and love, to pack Jesus’ dead body with burial spices.  The story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ begins with simple names – people approaching a tomb tentatively, in darkness and fear, courage and love.

The evangelist Mark begins, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might anoint him.”  Buried within this simple statement of fact are numerous, profoundly interesting questions:  Given the violent revile with which the Jerusalem crowd had killed Jesus the day before, at what risk did these women expose themselves as his followers by bringing spices that morning?  After the gathering of fellowship at the Thursday Passover meal, so filled with intimate exchanges of friendship and camaraderie, where were the eleven remaining apostles?  With guards alerted that Jesus’ body might be stolen by his disciples so as to claim a resurrection, what opposition must these women have faced, surely from armed guards, as they made their way, alone and unarmed, to Jesus’ tomb that morning?  What courage stirred in their hearts and moved their feet toward the tomb, while others ran away in fear?

Matthew:  “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”  What was it like for two women to make their way through the streets, unaccompanied in the dark hours of the morning, almost begging to be identified as sympathizers of a publicly executed criminal?  Indeed, they would be identified as sympathizers, at best.  Co-conspirators, more likely.  And so, worthy, too, of execution, or at least imprisonment and other tactics of intimidation.

Luke:  “When Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross, the women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.”  Luke says they followed Jesus’ expired body from the time it was taken down from the cross, directly to his burial place.  Moments before, authorities and the crowd taunted Jesus, daring him to fulfill his claims that he was the Son of God by coming down from the cross.  Perhaps it is not hard to imagine what this same crowd asked of these women in the minutes after Jesus refused to come down, on their way to bury their failed Messiah.  Luke does not record the taunts and curses that surely were thrown their way, like stones at discovered adulteresses.  Luke, however, is clear about one detail:  they followed, to see where their friend – failed Messiah though he may have been – was to be buried, that they might return and take care of him.

These are the beginnings of each of the Resurrection stories.  And they are stories of love.  Human love.  Love for a friend.  Unconditional love, for – as far as they knew – their beloved’s mission had utterly failed.  Yet, at least for these disciples, they were not following an abstract mission.  They were following a person, a person whom they loved, and who had revealed Love to them.  And so they kept following, with no apparent hesitation, to face jeering crowds, armed guards, dark streets, the tomb of a publicly humiliated criminal.

The heart of the Resurrection is the love of God for his Son Jesus, and through Jesus, for all of us.  It is a love that is revealed on this Easter morning to be the strongest force in the universe – stronger even than the most inescapable power we know, the power of death.  The Resurrection is, ultimately, about the love of God.

But isn’t it noteworthy that the stories of the Resurrection all begin with acts of human love?  To whom would the Resurrection have been revealed, if no one had loved enough to go to the tomb?  To make the intimidating, failure-confirming, dark journey to the grave?  He loved us – yes, this would be confirmed, in the fireworks that awaited at the rolled-away stone.  This, surely, is our salvation.  And yet, something else important, perhaps essential, is revealed to us at the Resurrection, through these women who approach the tomb.

We love him.

Not an abstract love.  A love for a real person we have come to know, and believe in.  Who has stared into our eyes, and enkindled our hearts.  Who has engendered in us … love.

John:  “Mary of Magdala stayed outside the tomb weeping.  And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb.”  Who bends over into the darkness of death?  A lover.  A beloved.  One in whom the love for Christ has been deeply planted, and who has the freedom and courage to let it direct one’s actions.  It is from this reality – that we love him – that the glory of the Resurrection rushes upon us and renews the face of the earth.