8/30/15 A Vision of a Catholic School at Epiphany Part 3

September 3, 2015

August 30, 2015

I n sharing with you the vision of a Catholic school, I wanted to take this occasion to describe the “big picture” of why we would pour our heart and soul into building a Catholic school here at our parish. If we understand the purpose of our faith, then we know that, simply put, its purpose is to help us love God. That is the whole purpose of our being, in fact—to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our being. But God is not unreasonable. He knows it’s hard enough to love him when we can’t see him or hear him or touch him. And he created us to love sincerely, not in word alone. And the way we truly love is by knowing the person. We love more those whom we know and understand. That’s why couples date before they fall in love—to get to know the other person. In terms of our relationship with God, He takes the time to “reveal” himself to us—that’s why we call Sacred Scripture, “Revelation.” God can reasonably expect us to love him because he has taken the time to reveal and show us who he is. In terms of the mission of the Church—the purpose for which the Church exists—God has charged his People, his Church “to go make of all disciples” by teaching the faith. That is why we teach the faith to our children, so that they can grow up knowing and loving God as they were brought into creation to be and do.
This explains, I hope, why every Church has a Faith Formation program for our children and our youth—to teach our children who God is so that they can grow up loving God and remaining close to him in this complicated and sometimes hostile world. But not every Catholic church has a school. True. Just like not every Catholic church has a St. Vincent de Paul Society—some do, but not all. Most churches only have an Outreach Program that helps those in our community who experience economic and material need. But a St. Vincent de Paul Society does that and more to help the poor. They assist them with paying their rent or electricity bill, if they qualify. They also visit families in their home—just like Jesus instructs us to do, bringing them donated items like furniture and clothes as they witness to Christ’s compassion and mercy.
As a lawyer, before I became a priest, I used to pick up the groceries from the donation bins at Randall’s after work, and then stock the shelves in the food pantry at my parish of St. Michael’s. I even remember the apartment complex of the families I delivered groceries to after Mass on Sunday. It is located near the Southwest freeway on Chimney Rock. I don’t get to do that on Sundays anymore. But I’m thankful for the volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul Society at our parish who are doing this. And because when we support the St. Vincent de Paul Society, whether by volunteering hours or by our monthly donations during the weekend collection, we are allowing those who have the will and the time to represent the people of Epiphany in doing the works of charity of our Lord Jesus by being his hands and his feet and his heart.
It’s similar to what a Catholic school would offer. It will support those among us who can and desire to teach in a Catholic school. A Catholic school is not meant to compete with the public schools, no more than a St. Vincent de Paul Society is supposed to compete with the local government agencies or the United Way. But the Church does not give up serving the poor just because other organizations also take on the same task. And just like not everyone in our parish boundaries needs help from our St. Vincent de Paul Society, not every family will enroll their child in our Catholic school. But it will be there to do the Lord’s will and accomplish the Church’s mission for those who seek this ministry from the Church.
Again, I go back to the image of the dystopian society in which there are no Catholic schools because the community believes that the government is best equipped to teach all of our children—yet not teaching them about God, not teaching the Sacraments, including the Sacrament of Marriage, not teaching of Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation. We are blessed to have a Catholic high school in Katy, Saint John XXIII, which was started and is administered, not by a Catholic church, but by Catholic families who recognized the need. Our school at Epiphany would be the first Catholic elementary and middle school in Katy. That is an exciting vision, the big picture of why the Church in her tradition and in her wisdom responds to Jesus’ command to make of all disciples, by building schools and teaching the faith in our community. ~ Fr. Tom Lam