Catholic Schools Week 2020 - For Our Nation

Throughout Catholic Schools Week 2020, we'll be sharing some of our favorite Catholic Schools Week reflections that ACE graduates, team members, and friends have submitted over the years. The below reflection is from John Schoenig and was originally published in 2014.

Perhaps the most sacred promise we make as a republic is the one that every generation is invited to renew for the next: that we will do whatever it takes to ensure that every child, regardless of color, creed, or socioeconomic status, has equal access to an outstanding education. This promise is in many ways as confounding as it is inspiring – and it serves as the bedrock of our foundational aspiration to form a more perfect Union.

As we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, we would be well served to reflect on just how far we have come (and how much farther we have yet to go) making good on the promise of equal education opportunity.

For those of us in the Catholic school community, I truly believe we now stand at a historic moment, one in which we are being called to renew our zeal for Catholic education, and to celebrate the unique role that Catholic schools continue to play as agents of human formation and social transformation. In so doing, I am convinced we will help author an exciting new chapter in American education.

Indeed, our schools matter a great deal to this country, regardless of one’s position towards general questions of faith. In a time of deep skepticism about the quality of K-12 education broadly, it is clear that Catholic schools are sacred places serving an essential civic purpose.

As missionary disciples invited to help the world hear and respond to the joy of the Gospel, we should take every opportunity to make clear just how instrumental our schools are in putting generations of children firmly on the path to college and heaven.

[T]he results of our pastoral work do not depend on a wealth of resources, but on the creativity of love. To be sure, perseverance, effort, hard work, planning and organization all have their place, but first and foremost we need to realize that the Church’s power does not reside in herself; it is hidden in the deep waters of God, into which she is called to cast her nets.

- Pope Francis

Looking for ways to celebrate our nation? Visit the NCEA's website for inspiration and ideas!