Play and Work

Catholic theology is often focused on the “both-and” and usually avoids the “either-or.” All the Christological heresies of the early Church veered toward saying that Jesus was either God OR human, but the Church said consistently that Jesus is both “fully God AND fully human.” In Catholic moral theology, the human person is neither “good” nor “bad,” but “good", in that God’’s grace lives within us, but also “bad”, in that we are flawed by original sin. In terms of the end days, the “kingdom of God” is already among us, but it has not yet fully arrived. 

When we look at the “fun-factor” of a school, I think it’s wise to think in “both-and” terms as well. School is both fun AND hard. We celebrate together, we enjoy weeks like Homecoming week, we enjoy House games and competitions, but we also understand that it’s a bit of a grind, too—that there’s homework to do, that there are tests to study for, that some of our grades won’t turn out the way our children (or we!) hope. 

As far as the fun goes, I’ve asked two very creative, talented teachers here—Miss Smith (theology) and Mrs. Smith (Spanish) to make suggestions as to little things we can do over the course of the year to elevate our students' spirits here, to keep things fun and interesting. If you have ideas, please share them with those two teachers. I am not opposed to a little fun—it helps us with the day to day doldrums. 

At the same time, as principal of St. Michael, I have to remind students that school is sometimes hard work—and that being a teenager is hard. When a student has had a long day, and realizes he or she  has 2 hours of homework to do, it’s hard for him to sit down and do it. It takes maturity to grind his way through. I’ve told students many times over the years that if adults tell them “these are the best years of your life,” that they've forgotten what it's like to be a teenager and are idealizing the past. High school years are tough. There are better years ahead! 

A couple of years ago, I told students about a slogan that the Marine Corps uses with their trainees when they’re going through basic training. Basic training is the hardest thing these 18, 19 year olds have ever done. They wake up before dawn, run, do drills, are pressed to the point of exhaustion.  They’re yelled at, insulted, their grit and toughness are challenged. The Marines are doing their best to harden them, to make them tough soldiers, to instill the discipline they need in battle. That slogan is “Embrace the suck.”  

Embrace the suck!

One of the things I am proud about this year is watching our football team go through its first varsity season. People knowledgeable about sports agree that the hardest program to start in a high school is football, because it requires so many excellent athletes to be competitive. So yes, our guys have been taking it on the chin some. But all through out the season, I’ve never seen our players lay down and quit. They fight to the end, regardless of score, and show up at practice the next week and work to get better.  They’re handling themselves like men.  They are “embracing the suck.”  

Athletes understand this is the cost if they want to be successful. Our cross country team has been running hard all summer, in blistering heat and humidity. Many members of our volleyball team play club ball--in effect, practicing their skills all year. Our cheerleading team is excellent, but they've practiced their routines over and over and over. Now our basketball teams are starting their seasons, marked by a lot of conditioning. 

There's a lesson in all this for all of us. We need to remind our children that sometimes,  life is hard, not fun.   Let’s not let them back away from that challenge. They'll be better men and women for it. 

Open House, 2018!

These are my notes for welcoming prospective parents and students to our annual open house--St. Michael,  October 18, 2018.

Good evening, and welcome! 

We hope tonight will be fun for you—that you’ll ask a lot of questions of me, the teachers, and the student ambassadors who will show you around in a few minutes—and that you’ll go home tonight more at ease about sending your son or daughter to high school, more confident about who we are and what we do. 

But before we tell you what we do,  I want to focus on why we do it.  

What is the purpose of St Michael Catholic High School? 

In everything that we say and do—academic program, athletics, the arts, clubs, in our hallways— We want kids to hear this message: 

Never, ever settle for anything less than the excellence that God’s grace makes possible in your life. You’ll fail along the way; we all do. But don’t lower the bar of expectation. Get up, dust yourself off, seek reconciliation—never, ever settle for anything less than the heroism for which you were born. God has a unique plan for your life—something just for you—and your life long happiness will depend on finding this plan and following it, with courage and conviction.  

That thinking is what's underneath our mission statement, which says we’re aiming to build SCHOLARS (not just students), LEADERS (and not just followers) and DISCIPLES (not just some guy or girl sitting in the pew on Sundays). 

Unfortunately, our kids are growing up in a culture that is profoundly pessimistic about what teenagers are capable of achieving. It tells them they are not capable of scholarship (so schools inflate grades), that they are not capable of chastity (so we teach them safe sex), that they aren’t even capable of handling the truth that some kids are better at things than they are (so everyone gets a trophy). The worst part? They begin to believe these things about themselves. They begin to believe they’re not capable of more. 

We want them to believe the opposite! 

As parents, we love our kids, but we know they're not perfect!  We know that here, too! They're going to need help to get them where God wants them to be. It's a process! They need caring teachers who set achievable goals, who help them build confidence, who affirm them when they need it, and challenge them a bit when they slough off. 

So that's our "why!" Here's our "how" :

First, our academic program:

• Fantastic teachers, first rate professionals. We are blessed by them. 
• 8 classes/semester, gives students built in flexibility to engage in multiple pursuits
• Honors program (morphs into A.P. program as students get older. Students can take up to 8 A.P classes before graduating) and College Preparatory program. Placement based on previous grades, work ethic and placement test. 
• Four days/week, teachers are available to give kids extra help, 3:15-3:50 each day. 
• Aegis class, one period, available for students with documented learning disabilities. 
• Constant updates on academic progress—through progress reports every 4 weeks, through quarter report cards, by making every grade your child earns available to you on line via black baud. 

Second, we have an active life of faith here:  Weekly mass, every Wednesday, prayer before school starts, before ball games, in locker rooms before games, sometimes in what I tell them during weekly assemblies, their theology classes.  They’re going to be told over and over that our belief in their potential to be great is not founded on a polly-annish, naive optimism, but because of—as the song says, the  “overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God” in their life, which transforms and re-creates them each day. 

Third, we have a Renaissance emphasis for kids—we believe the human person thrives when all facets of their personalities are developed. We don’t want kids to be specialists—“I’m just a football player.” or “I’m a scholar, without time for anything else,” or “All I care about is my music—“ The time for specialization is later. High school is a time for kids to explore possibilities, new things, to walk through open doors and walk around in new rooms. Time for closing doors is later—maybe college, when they’re choosing a life long vocation. We emphasize "both-and," not "either-or."  So how, practically, do we do that? 

• 2 years of foreign language for all students (may take up to 4 years)
• 2 years of the Arts, begin in chorus or band, then either take a 2nd year or option to move into Studio Art in sophomore year. Capable of taking 4 years
• Athletic PE for athletes, each of their 4 years, so they can get bigger, faster and stronger, but because they can take that as one of 8 classes, it doesn't require them to come after school or before school for weight-lifting. This allows them to continue to participate in other things, like band, alongside a sport. Two games ago, we had the team captain of the football team meet at the 50 yard line for the opening coin flip,  then, walk to the sideline and play the trumpet with the band for national anthem to start the game. This is an example of our "Renaissance emphasis." 
• Our after school practices don’t start until 4 p.m. so as not to conflict with tutorials for kids needing help. Doing well academically should not conflict with commitments to excelling on the field!

Fourth, we have fun here, too:

• House system: New student orientation, students will be sorted into one of four houses, each named after one of the early bishops of Mobile: Portier, Quinlan, O’Sullivan or Allen.  This becomes part of their identity here, part of their social life, competitions for House Cup, awarded to the House with the most points in late April. 
• Every Friday, we have a school assembly, led by the president of the student government and the House Council. We play games, have pep rallies,  sponsor contests between houses, etc. There is a lot of joy in our hallways!
• We compete at the 3A level, as full members of the AHSAA (first year), with teams in 10 different sports. Just finishing up football, volleyball and cross country seasons, basketball teams have begun practicing,  cheerleading is on-going, bowling team and tennis teams are new to the school this year. Soccer, baseball in the spring.  In a small school, kids have the opportunity to play, contribute, be part of something larger than themselves. Helps make high school memorable! 

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Enjoy the evening! Ask a lot of questions tonight! Students on tours, teachers, students  and coaches available at the end to talk about clubs and athletic teams. 

When we reassemble in the gym, we're going to give you admissions information, tell you about priority admissions.

We think it's important to apply before Christmas to secure a spot--last year, we were full before Christmas and could only accept few kids in the spring after some of the early applicants told us they weren't coming. 

The Path Forward

“Sadness, Shock, Shame and Outrage.” These are the words Thomas Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile, used to begin his reflection on the scandal involving Cardinal McCarrick and the recent Attorney General of Pennsylvania’s report on clerical abuse.   I share those sentiments, but can only imagine how much harder it has been for good and faithful bishops like him, who are now “guilty by association” in the public eye. 

For these reasons, and because we live in a culture of immediacy, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops is under tremendous pressure to act swiftly to address these issues. But as important as it is to be proactive, I think it would be a mistake to respond to this horrible chapter in our Church’s story too quickly, especially if the response is exclusively the result of an internal action of the bishop's conference. 

In a recent talk with young people, Pope Francis said: “When we adults refuse to acknowledge some evident reality, you tell us frankly: ‘Can’t you see this?’ Some of you who are a bit more forthright might even say to us: ‘Don’t you see that nobody is listening to you any more, or believes what you have to say?’ (Crux, September 25, 2018) 

It’s a hard truth that many people in the United States feel that way about our bishops already. As revolting as McCarrick’s actions are, what is nearly as bad is the fact that people in leadership positions, who had the ability to engage in "fraternal correction,"  looked the other way.  In Pennsylvania, many of the bishops seemed more inclined to  “hide” the clerical abuse to protect the Church’s liability and self-image, rather than act out of concern for the victims. 

Coupled with the Vigano allegation that Pope Francis knew of McCarrick's abuse but allowed him to function as an influential Cardinal in the Church, a friend of mine--a life-long, faithful Catholic--recently said,  “My respect for our Church’s leadership is at an all time low.” 

For this reason, how the National Conference of Catholic Bishops responds to this crisis in their November assembly is almost as important as to the what they decide to do.  On the agenda currently is a vote over an “Administrative Committee” Statement, written by a smaller team of bishops on September 19, 2018, which recommends four actions:

1. Establish a third party reporting system which will receive complaints against a bishop and direct them to the appropriate civil and ecclesiastical authorities;
2. Direct a bishop’s subcommittee to develop proposals for restricting bishops who have been removed or resigned for reasons of scandal;
3. Create a “Code of Conduct” for bishops regarding sexual misconduct with adults or minors, or negligence in responding to issues related to sexual misconduct;
4. Support a full investigation of the situation surrounding McCarrick, including the abuse itself, who knew, and what people did or didn’t do about it. 

The statement ends by inviting brother bishops to join in acts of prayer and penance. It encourages other victims to step forward and promises them a pro-active and compassionate response. 

Regardless of whether this is a sufficient response in terms of the “what,”  it’s clearly insufficient in terms of a process. The bishops stand accused of covering over decades of abuse, “closing ranks” to protect themselves and their priests at the expense of victims. So having a small group of bishops make proposals to a larger group of bishops for a vote, “to protect the Church”, as one pundit phrased it, “from themselves,” will simply feed the narrative that this is a closed system which is not open to collaboration or real reform. 

For the good of our Church and the teaching authority of our bishops, we’re going to have to embrace a more inclusive process. 

I propose something akin to the Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on the Economy from the mid 1980’s. That process involved creating two “draft statements” from the bishop’s conference, each of which invited lay and expert response from across the country. Parishes were encouraged to host forums for discussion about each draft, and the results were summarized and sent to the bishop, who in turn would send them to the NCCB.  For each subsequent draft, a bishop’s committee would review the responses and incorporate key insights into the next draft, leading to a third and final statement, which ended up being the most widely read and I would argue, the most influential statement of the NCCB ever written. Perhaps the September 19 Administrative Statement, then, could be regarded as a “first draft” by the NCCB, and the bishops could invite lay reflection and proposals for a second draft, and then create a third and final statement. 

There is no doubt that extending out the process in this way will prolong the public discussion about abuse within our Church. There is also no doubt that many of the recommendations arising out of greater consultation with the laity will be more radical than the bishop’s conference might be inclined to make on its own.  I would expect, for example, a demand from the laity that they would have more of a voice in the selection of bishops, at least at the first stage of consultation. I would expect more scrutiny and a call for greater transparency in diocesan finances, with more oversight from diocesan finance councils.  I’d expect more details on what a “third party reporting system” looks like, and whether or not there was any ecclesiastical authority that could re-direct how reports of abuse were handled. I would expect, yes, renewed discussions about a married priesthood and the role of women in leadership positions in the Church. I’d expect a re-examination of priestly living, especially the question of whether it is healthy for men to live the entirety of their adult lives alone in rectories, vs. some sort of communal arrangement with priests from different parishes. 

I know that some of these issues are outside the jurisdiction of the bishops, and I suspect that most would prefer to define the scope of all this more narrowly.   But in light of the failings of too many, I don't think the NCCB is going to be able to dictate how all this unfolds, especially if they wish to regain the moral influence and authority they have abdicated. Before there is too much talk, there needs to be a lot of listening. 

In the mean time, let us pray for our bishops, most of whom are fine men doing God's work for our local churches.