Good Priests, Good Men

I was recently on a zoom call of a national organization of Catholic school principals, and one principal lamented that the bishop had moved her “full time’ chaplain to “part-time.”  She took that as a sign of the Church’s diminishing commitment to Catholic education. 

That discussion reminded me of a meeting I had with Archbishop Rodi, the year before St. Michael opened in 2016. He told me that the pastors had been very supportive in the building and fund-raising phase of the school, and he wanted to keep them practically connected to the school once it was in operation. His idea was not to name any one particular priest the school’s “chaplain,” but ask each of the pastors of the parishes that financially supported the school to be “co-chaplains.”

Now there’s one school of thought, expressed to me by a friend of mine, that says “If you have 10 chaplains, you really have none.” I understand that sentiment. But I can say now, in this, our sixth year, the co-chaplaincy model is working VERY well. 

Each week, we have a school wide mass, and each week, we ask our co-chaplains to rotate through as lead celebrants. Frequently, they make themselves available during the lunch period which follows for confessions. They often attend our ball games at night. A few have agreed to be team chaplains, and pray with the team in the locker-rooms before games, and/or lead the fans in prayer over the announcements just before the game. Another has agreed to be on our advisory council. One co-chaplain comes to the school with holy water as we begin the school year and goes through each classroom, sprinkling both the room and the students in that room, praying for God’s blessings in the new year. One priest gathered together a few priest friends and seminarians, and challenged our basketball team to a scrimmage game in front of the student body during activity period. Our kids loved it. We had three priests show up to bless throats on the Feast of St. Blaise.  Our priests say mass with our faculty during professional development days, give talks, and often teach in our theology classrooms. 

Each priest, of course, is wonderfully different. Some are more cerebral, others more animated. Some love sports and use that as the basis of their homilies, where others may speak about their experiences abroad, or their love of music and the arts. Collectively, the diversity of their talents and interests match the diversity of interests in our student body.  If one priest doesn’t “connect” with a kid,  then there are others who probably will.

Archbishop Rodi leads on this front. Once a year he celebrates mass with the student body. In a second visit, he goes to each theology classroom and teaches every student in the school, taking him several days to do so. He teaches a lesson, then gives kids a chance to ask him questions. “Is it a sin to get a tattoo?” a student asked him recently.(“No, he said, “but are you sure you want that tattoo when you are a grandmother?”) “Why doesn’t the Church allow for divorce?” Do dogs go to heaven?” “How did you become a bishop?” He handles all of these with humor and delight—it is obvious to the kids that he enjoys being with them. And he does that in each of the three archdiocesan high schools—every year.

The result of this extraordinary commitment of the clergy is, I believe, a deeply immersive Catholic experience for our student body and teachers.  “There always seems to be a priest around here,” said a student within earshot of me recently. “Duh,” said his friend, “this is a CATHOLIC school—what do you expect?” 

But what these students DON’T understand— because it’s not their experience—is that even within Catholic schools, a priestly presence is an increasingly rare thing. 

What a blessing these men have been to our students. What a gift to St. Michael. What a gift to all of us!