Letter for Catholic Schools Week

We are once again entering into Catholic Schools Week, which gives us a unique opportunity to renew ourselves in the distinct mission of Catholic education but also to celebrate the many ways which that mission is already being lived out in our parish’s schools.

God has blessed us with strong, healthy schools, which have become the schools of choice for a growing number of households in our community and beyond. We have strong leadership and vision in our administration teams, professionalism and sacrificial dedication among our faculty and staff, and a strong sense of Catholic identity, thanks to the efforts of our clergy and campus ministry teams, which imbues everything we do with the spirit of the Gospel. But we also have strong partners in mission with you. 

As our late Holy Father Benedict XVI said in a message for the World Day of Peace (2012):

Where does true education take place? First of all, in the family, since parents are the first educators… it is in the family that children learn the human and Christian values which enable them to have a constructive and peaceful coexistence. It is in the family that they learn solidarity between the generations, respect for rules, forgiveness and how to welcome others. The family is the first school in which we are trained in justice and peace.

We are grateful that you chose us and continue to choose us each day. With this, you entrust your children to us to not only receive a quality education that will prepare them for their life’s vocation, but also to be formed in those Christian and human values that define us, enable us to fulfill our God-given potentials, and direct education to its true end. This is our mission and I am grateful to you for partnering with us in this. 

If you haven’t yet experienced our Catholic school community in Somerville, I invite you to do so. Immaculate Conception School, which serves students in grades pre-K through 8, will hold an Open Home following our 9 am Catholic Schools Week Mass this Sunday, January 29 from 10 am until 1 pm; and Immaculata High School will hold a spring Open Home on Wednesday, March 22 from 6 pm to 8 pm. Both schools also offer tours and many other ways to experience our school community, so I encourage you to visit us, to ask questions, and to learn more about our family of schools.

Certainly, we have much to be grateful for and to celebrate as we enter Catholic Schools Week. But gratitude for what God has given to us and the celebration of the gifts entrusted to us for mission is not simply an event confined to a single week, it is a way of life to which all of us are called.

So, to all our Catholic school students and their families, our faculty, alumni, and supporters, and to those considering the value a Catholic school education could add to their child’s life and for their own family, I wish you a very blessed, happy Catholic Schools Week!