January 27 2025 - St. Angela Merici - Faith, Excellence, Service in Catholic Schools

 Happy Catholic Schools Week everyone! Each year, we set aside this time to celebrate the distinct mission of our Catholic schools—a mission that cannot be found just anywhere. Yes, you can learn reading, math, and science in many different places, but Catholic education offers something more: the chance to grow in Faith, strive for Excellence, and foster a spirit of Service.

In reflecting on these three pillars—Faith, Excellence, and Service—we find a perfect model in St. Angela Merici, whose feast we celebrate today. From her own life story, we see how a deep love for God overflowed into compassionate service toward others.

First, Faith. St. Angela Merici was a woman of profound faith. Even at the young age of ten, the age of our fifth graders, she consecrated herself to God, choosing to live a life rooted in prayer and dedicated to serving God. Again, at the age of 10, she was concerned with how the young children of her neighborhood were so poorly educated, they couldn’t read or write, so she took it upon herself to teach. She gave regular instruction to the young neighborhood girls. And she continued this work throughout her life.

In our Catholic schools, our starting place is the same as St. Angela’s. Faith. Our Catholic School exists because people of faith started a parish, and started a school. They wanted a place where the children of this neighborhood could come to learn about God, and learn the skills that would be needed to flourish. 

The second pillar is Excellence. 

St. Angela’s life also shows us the meaning of true excellence. She saw a pressing need—children who lacked religious training—and rather than despair, she devoted her energy, talents, and organizational skills to address it. She founded a group of women—eventually known as “The Company of St. Ursula”—who taught the faith to girls, ensuring they would receive strong moral and intellectual formation. Angela Merici did not settle for mediocrity but sought to give her best for the glory of God.

In our Catholic schools, “excellence” goes beyond academics. Yes, we strive for high standards in reading, writing, science, and math; yet we also aim for excellence in character, discipline, and love for one another. We work on our intellects and our hearts. We train our minds and our wills so that each student can become not only an intelligent person but a kind, selfless, and faith-filled disciple of Jesus.

The third pillar is Service. St.  Angela Merici reminds us of the power of service. At every stage of her life, Angela put her faith into action by serving others. She did not simply complain about the lack of religious education for children—she responded with courage, gathered like-minded friends, and transformed her small efforts into a movement. A movement that has shaped the world, for St. Angela’s “Company of St. Ursula” also known as the “Ursulines” have taught and shaped generations of Catholics around the world, and even here in Cleveland. Many schools and universities have been staffed by Ursulines and those formed by them.

Service is precisely the call of Catholic education: to form servant-leaders who bring the light of Christ to every corner of society. We want our students not only to excel but to channel their gifts into service—whether by caring for a classmate in need, volunteering in the parish, or reaching out to the marginalized. In this way, you, students of St. Ignatius of Antioch school, will have a positive impact in our world. 

As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, let us take her life to heart. May we be: People of Faith, rooted in prayer and trust in God; People of Excellence, striving to give our very best for the glory of God; People of Service, always seeking ways to lift up those in need. St. Angela Merici, pray for us! For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

4th Week in Ordinary Time 2024 (School Mass)- Unbinding through education

 The image in the Gospel is a powerful one. A man possessed by a demon had been bound, shackled, and chained because that demon caused him to thrash about and cause harm to himself and others. Because of that demon, that evil spirit within him, he could not control his body, he could not control his words, he could not control his actions. 

And then Jesus draws close to the demon possessed man. And through his divine authority as God in the flesh, Jesus commands the demon to depart from him. And free from the demon, he regained used of mind, his body, his words, and his actions. The chains could come off and he could return to his family—to pursue the goodness for which he was created.

Again, what a powerful story: Jesus offers freedom from the spirits and ideas and behaviors which cause us harm. Jesus offers us freedom from evil, those sorts of evil which take root in our minds and hearts, which can lead us to harm the people we love, and even ourselves. The sort of evil that causes us to act more like wild animals than children of God. Evil that keeps us from peace and joy and goodness.

What a powerful story. One that contains a promise. Draw near to Jesus. Allow Jesus to draw near to you. Be willing to allow Jesus to free you from all the forms of evil that shackle and chain and cause self-harm and harm to others.

A powerful story for any day of the year for us to consider, but also one that is absolutely perfect for the beginning of Catholic Schools Week.

Why do Catholic Schools exist? Education. What is education? The word education comes from the latin – educare – to lead a person out of something. To lead a person out of something. Out of what? Out of ignorance. The sort of ignorance that can cause harm to ourselves and to others. An uneducated mind can cause real harm in this world. And so education leads us out of ignorance. Out of Ignorance, but also it leads us into, the higher realm of Truth and Life and Goodness. And that is where happiness lies. 

When we are young we put training wheels on bicycles so we do not harm ourselves or others. But through the training and practice education offers, those training wheels can come off and we can ride further and faster and freer and happier.

Students, let your teachers teach you. Because in a Catholic School, Jesus is at work through them to lead you out of ignorance.

But teachers, your responsibility is great, to allow the Truth and Goodness of Jesus to animate your vocation. Education is not simply accomplished through words, words, words. But how you conduct yourselves, your prayerfulness and patience and gentleness and generosity and faith. 

The evil spirits and errors of our world are legion, they are many. But the goodness of Christ can free all those who want to be free. And children need examples of those who live in the freedom of Christ. 

May this Catholic Schools Week help us to recommit to the learning and teaching Jesus wants for us, that we may live in the freedom befitting the children of God for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

4th Week of Ordinary Time 2023 - Monday - Catholic Schools Week - Faith, Excellence, Service

Today in the diocese of Cleveland is the first weekday of Catholic Schools Week. Whether your child attends a Catholic School or is homeschooled, Catholic Schools Week is a good opportunity to reflect on the importance of Catholic Education. And the theme this year for Catholic Schools Week is a pretty good one: “Faith, Excellence, Service”.

Catholic Education, again whether in a formal school or in the home, takes place in an atmosphere of faith—faith which helps young souls stay awake to welcome the bridegroom, to know him, love him and serve Him in this life, so to be happy with Him in the next; faith, which is founded on the pillars of Catholicism, right doctrine, participation in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church, moral formation grounded in the Lord’s teachings, and a vibrant life of personal prayer.

Catholic education, whether in a formal school or in the home, also strives for excellence; excellence of course not merely academically, but to become excellent in all aspects of life—intellectually, morally, spiritually, emotionally, physically. Excellence does not just happen, it requires effort. And Catholic Education is an effort of the Church of Jesus Christ to transform mediocrity, selfishness, laziness, rudeness, and immaturity into excellence, selflessness, virtue, industriousness, resourcefulness, and kindness. 

And that leads to the third part of our theme for Catholic Schools Week: service. Catholic Education helps us to become people of Christian service. Serving others is profoundly more excellent than being self-centered, selfish, or greedy. Catholic Education—in the truest sense of the word education—which from the latin means—to lead us out of something. Catholic Education leads us out of the darkness of selfishness to become people of the light, who strive to serve God—to love God with our whole heart, mind, souls and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is the greatest commandment of Christ.

For in the end, Catholic Education ultimately revolves around Christ—Catholic Schools are aimed at forming genuine disciples of Education — well-educated people who know him, love him and serve him.

So, please pray this week, for all those involved in Catholic Education, at this parish and throughout the diocese. Through the intercession of St. Martina whose feast is today, and all the saints, we pray for all parents, first teachers of their children; we pray for all students, that they may be granted wisdom, knowledge, and diligence in their studies, for all teachers, that they may help impart faith with patience and competency, and for the Church as a whole, that through education we may grow in virtue, and excellence, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of OT 2020 - Wednesday - Christ the Teacher and his teacher Saints

During this Catholic Schools Week already we’ve celebrated two saintly teachers. First, St. Angela Merici who taught the young children of her neighborhood and went on to found the first religious order of women primarily dedicated to teaching, the Ursulines. That religious Order of teachers spread throughout Europe then to our North American shores, and can now be found in nearly every corner of the globe, teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The second teacher we honored yesterday was the great Angelic Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, whose clear, systematic teaching of theology has shaped the minds of generations of Catholics, not to mention, the texts of our Sacred Worship. Thomas’ writings and teachings are clearly motivated by his love for God and his love for others, wanting to help them to understand our wonderful faith.

These teacher Saints reflect the mind and heart of Christ the Teacher. Throughout the Gospels and in particular our Gospel today, we discover Our Lord who loves to teach. He teaches in synagogues, in teaches in the streets of Jerusalem and on the temple steps, he teaches at dinner tables full of sinners, he teaches in the plains and on mountain peaks.

His most notable method of teaching was his use of parables: using common symbols often taken from common life to convey deep lessons touching upon the most profound realities of God, eternal life, the human soul, love and forgiveness, sin and salvation.

Today’s parable is one of my favorites because it is a parable about parables, a parable which explains what he teaches, why he teaches, and different human responses to his teaching. When our minds and hearts are clogged with sin, or unwillingness to change, his teaching will be lost on us. When our minds and hearts are open, and committed to change to adapt to his teachings, something new grows in us.

St. Angela, St. Thomas and all of the great saints become great teachers and great paragons of holiness because their minds and hearts and souls were rich soil for the word of God to take root and bear fruit. They became the greatest of teachers because they allowed themselves to be taught. In a sense, they become the parables of Jesus, which Christ the teacher uses to teach his disciples and save their souls. May our hearts and minds be as receptive as theirs, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Church leaders will faithfully proclaim Christ’s love and truth to the world.
That our parish families and the families of all of our school children will be places where the Christian faith is believed, followed, taught, and cherished.
For the students, teachers, staff, and alumni of St. Ignatius School and all of our Catholic Schools.
For the sick and suffering among us, for those who care for them, and for all of our beloved dead, especially X, for whom this mass is offered.

January 27 2020 - St. Angela Merici - Catholic Schools Week

We begin Catholic Schools Week this year celebrating the feast day of one of the great Patron Saints of Catholic education, St. Angela Merici. St. Angela lived about 500 years ago. Out of love for Jesus, she consecrated her life to him from a very young age—promising never to get married and to live a life of prayer and service and she convinced her sisters to do the same.

Around the age of 10, Angela’s parents and one of her sisters died. So she moved to a nearby town to live with her uncle. One day, she was out in a field, when she had a vision of heaven. She saw angels and young women coming toward her singing and surrounded by light.  One of the young girls was Angela’s sister who had died, and she told Angela that God wanted her to form a group of women consecrated to the Lord for doing God’s work.

After her vision, she became deeply concerned for the religious education of the children in her native town. She was saddened because they did not love the Lord Jesus as they should, so she took it upon herself to give regular religious instruction to the children. She was soon joined by other women from the neighborhood who shared a similar calling.

Together with these women, St. Angela formed the Order of Ursulines, the first religious order of religious sisters in Church history dedicated primarily to teaching. St. Angela and the Ursulines dedicated their lives to teaching children about Jesus. St. Angela’s Ursulines spread throughout Italy and France and eventually throughout all of Europe and they were the very first Catholic nuns in the United States.

When Catholics spread to Cleveland, our first Bishop, Bishop Amadeus Rappe knew that establishing Catholics schools was a top priority. He invited the Ursulines to Cleveland to start the Catholic school system here in northeast Ohio. St. Angela’s Ursulines have been a blessing to the Church of Cleveland for over 170 years.

St. Angela knew the importance of helping people to know, love, and follow Jesus which is the primary mission of Catholic Schools. She was a woman of action whose efforts changed world history. When she saw the ignorance of the children in her neighborhood, she didn’t just wring her hands or complain, she went out and taught them.

She is a wonderful saint to celebrate and imitate during this Catholic Schools Week.  Now she prays for all Catholic school children from her place near God in heaven and for all of us, that we may learn everything we can about Jesus, that we may love him and follow him and spread that faith to others, for the glory of god and salvation of souls.

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As we begin Catholic Schools Week, we pray for all students, that the Spirit of God may grant them the gifts of wisdom and understanding, and that teachers may share their knowledge with gentleness, patience, and competence.

For parents, the first teachers of their children, that by their faith and love, they may be blessings to their families, and for a strengthening of all families in faith.

In Thanksgiving for the Ursuline Order, for their efforts to instill faith in our Diocese over the decades.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

Jan 28 2019 - St. Thomas Aquinas - Catholic Schools Week (School Mass)

[School Mass]

We begin Catholic Schools Week this year celebrating the feast day of one of the great Patron Saints of Catholic Schools, St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest teachers in human history. Yet, he did not teach mathematics or geography. He did teach reading, in a sense. He taught Christians how to read the Bible, the most important book in human history, for the Bible is the book that deals with the most important subject, the salvation of our souls. Thomas taught that the purpose, end, and goal of the Bible is that “the truth necessary for salvation may be made known to us.”

And this is why Catholic Schools are so important: not just that they teach us math and geography and natural science. Catholic Schools are able and tasked with teaching the most important subject: how to get to heaven, how to live forever, how to become the people God made us to be.

The Bishops clarify the mission of the Catholic school, “The Catholic school is committed to the development of the whole person since in Christ, the Perfect Person, all human values find their fulfillment and unity.”

The mission of the Catholic school is to teach young people how to be perfect by helping them to know, follow, imitate, and open their minds and hearts to Jesus Christ, the Perfect Son of the Father. Math, science, language, art, music, physical education, all these things are brought into harmony by Our Christian Faith and put at the service of Our Christian Faith.

In other words, we learn in Catholic School that if you are going to be an athlete, make sure the Christian faith guides your career. If you are going to be a musician or a politician, or a lawyer or a construction worker or a mom or a dad, a priest or a religious sister, make sure the teachings of Jesus Christ guide you always.

On this festival of one of the greatest teachers in human history, Thomas Aquinas, our gospel passage says “call no person teacher, for there is but one teacher.” Students, this is a challenge for you, that as you sit in class, you listen in the words of your classroom teachers, for the words and lessons of One Heavenly Teacher, listen for the voice of Jesus teaching you how to become the person God made you to be.

Teachers, this is a greater challenge for you, as it’s a challenge for me: to never get in the way of what Jesus wants to teach these young people, but to conform our lives to Him through our own prayer and study, that He may teach them clearly, to know Him, to love Him, to follow Him.

Thomas Aquinas was the best of teachers because he was the best student. He listened to the Word of God, he knew intimately, through prayer and study, Christ the Teacher. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

[Morning Mass Homily Below]

Today begins Catholic Schools Week, and later this morning, I’ll be celebrating mass with our students and teachers. This year Catholic Schools Week begins with the feast day of one of the great Patron Saints of Catholic Schools, St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest teachers in human history. Yet, he did not teach mathematics or geography. He did teach reading, in a sense. He taught Christians how to read the Bible, the most important book in human history, for the Bible is the book that deals with the most important subject, the salvation of our souls. Thomas taught that the purpose, end, and goal of the Bible is that “the truth necessary for salvation may be made known to us.”

And this is why Catholic Schools are so important: not just that they teach us math and geography and natural science. Catholic Schools are able and tasked with teaching the most important subject: how to get to heaven, how to live forever, how to become the people God made us to be. This is something that public schools cannot do, which is why Catholics need to support their Catholic schools spiritually and financially.

On this festival of one of the greatest teachers in human history, Thomas Aquinas, our gospel passage says “call no person teacher, for there is but one teacher.”

I’ll be telling the children later this morning that these words are very important for them: that as they sit in class and listen to their classroom lessons taught by their classroom teachers, they need to listen for the words and voice of the One Heavenly Teacher, listen for the voice of Jesus teaching you how to become the person God made you to be.

And I’ll tell the teachers that there is a greater lesson for them, a challenge for them, as it’s a challenge for me: to never get in the way of what Jesus wants to teach these young people, but to conform our lives to Him through our own prayer and study, that He may teach them clearly, to know Him, to love Him, to follow Him.

Thomas Aquinas was the best of teachers because he was the best student. He listened to the Word of God, he knew intimately, through prayer and study, Christ the Teacher. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Church leaders will faithfully proclaim Christ’s love and truth to the world.

That our parish families and the families of all of our school children will be places where the Christian faith is believed, followed, taught, and cherished.

For the students, teachers, staff, and alumni of St. Ignatius School and all of our Catholic Schools.

For the sick and suffering among us, for those who care for them, and for all of our beloved dead, especially X, for whom this mass is offered.

Homily: 5th Sunday in OT 2017 - Salt of the Earth

I remember as a kid, my dad telling stories about working in the salt mines under Lake Erie when he was a younger man.  Morton Salt has about 3 miles of salt mines 2000 feet underneath our great lake.  This salt is an important source of revenue for the State of Ohio, and the salt is utilized in a number of ways: particularly as a seasoning for our food, and on our roads during the winter.

Jesus uses the metaphor of salt to teach his followers the Gospel. He says to his followers, you are salt of the earth. Salt, for Jesus’ listeners, must have evoked a number of images, just like it does for us.
Of course, salt is a seasoning. It adds flavor to an otherwise bland dish.  It’s not an entrée in itself; you aren’t going to sit down to a nice bowl full of delicious salt for breakfast.  Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.

Christians, fully alive with the life of Christ, are anything but bland. This week we celebrated Catholic Schools week, and daily over in the school, the students learned about some of the patron saints of Christian Education, saints like Thomas Aquinas, John Neuman, Angela Merici, Elizabeth Ann Seton, holy men and women who bristled with energy and joy and charity. Their saltiness has changed human history, has changed the way the faith is passed on to the young generations.
Not only do we look to them in great gratitude, but for inspiration for developing our own brand of Christian saltiness on our own lives. For each of us are called to be saints, to heroic virtue and selfless service.

How else is salt used? Salt is necessary for life. Even the most stringent nutritionists have to admit that salt is a necessary component of the human diet. The ancients, too, understood, salt was necessary for good health.  Similarly, Christians need to be salt in this way. The health of the church in a particular area can be measured by whether or not its Christians are living according to the precepts of our faith.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food possible for times of famine. Christians need to be a preservative in our culture, to preserve what is good and holy in creation against the spiritual corruption of worldly vices. Seeing many of the strong Christian values in our country begin to fade, Christians need to take up again this call to preserve. Christians must preserve the nation, marriage, family, the young from spiritual rot.

Salt is also a Purifier: The salt in the oceans of the world act as a natural cleaning agent, and most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed. Each of us too need to seek the constant purifying of our minds from the world’s corrupting influence. We purify our minds through study of God’s word, interiorizing the doctrines of our faith, the example of the saints.

Salt also has a destructive power.  As a kid, I’d run to the kitchen to get a salt shaker when I found a slug in the garden…a little morbid, yes.  In the ancient world, when an army would conquer their enemy, they’d knock down the walls, raise the city to the ground, then really to rub it in sometimes they would cast salt upon the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. Are Christians to be a destructive power in society? In a sense we are! We are to be a force against all manifestations of sin, all the ways in which human life is violated and discounted, all forms of hatred and violence, we are meant to interrupt them and get in their way.

Finally, as we know all too well, living here in Cleveland, Salt is used for the melting of ice. Salt makes things flow that are frozen.   The Church’s task is to loosen up a world frozen in its own self-regard, frozen in violent and perverted ways.  We have this melting influence, when we are faithful to Christ.  Think of the power of one saint, how he can melt hearts that have been frozen against Christ. Many souls have been converted to Christ because they saw holy people selflessly engaged in the acts of charity. Just like it’s used on our roads, in ancient times salt was also used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—promoting the teachings of Jesus on marriage, family, and morality, which give stability to civilization.

We look to our culture and see a lot of problems.  But when the Church is faithful, we can have that melting influence in a neighborhood or state or country to get things flowing in the right direction again.

You and I are called to be salt. But the Lord warns that salt can lose its flavor. Perhaps maybe you have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the Christian life, or your marriage has gone a little bland. Maybe you don’t feel like you are having a positive influence on your neighbors, or the fallen away members of your family.

The solution: Pray, pray, pray.  Only when we are united to Christ in a vibrant prayer life can we hope to bring his light and goodness and beauty into the world.  You cannot be salt without constant prayer.  A priest who does not pray is worthless, a bishop who does not pray is worthless, husbands and wives who do not pray will not have the strength and power to faithfully live out the Christian responsibilities of the marriage sacrament.  Young people who do not pray will not have the strength to withstand the nearly unending torrent of evil from our culture.

Salt: an ordinary substance with tremendous potential, many uses, vital to life and civilization. We must become salt by bringing Christ into our workplaces, into our conversations, into our civic life, in our family life. Be salt, my friends, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Jan 31 2017 - St. John Bosco - Work for the salvation of souls

Last Friday, were celebrated St. Angela Merici. How she showed heroic concern for the young people of her neighborhood—gathering together likeminded women of faith to catechize, to form the young people in morality and piety.

Today’s saint also worked with young people. He is patron of school children and juvenile delinquents. St. John Bosco was deeply concerned with the youth of his parish; many were being arrested for juvenile delinquency, and once in prison, they learned more about crime, and would be back in jail soon after their release.

So, he worked tirelessly with the young boys in his neighborhood, providing for them a solid education and formation in the faith.  “There are three things to stay on the path to Heaven, he would tell them, “Go to confession regularly, receive Communion often, and choose a regular confessor to whom you can unburden your heart.”

Through his love and care, many of these young boys, not only were saved from a life of crime, many of them entered seminary and become good and holy priests.  And at least one of his boys became a saint, St. Dominic Savio.

Don Bosco would say, “work, work, work for the salvation of souls.” This is a job not just for priests and religious. This is part of the vocation of every Christian. Listen to this beautiful prayer written by Don Bosco.

My God, fortunate is he who has tasted how sweet it is to work for the salvation of souls! He is not afraid of cold or heat, hunger or thirst, offenses or insults, no, not even of death. O Lord, give me crosses and thorns, persecutions of all kinds, if only I can save souls, and my own among them. Give me souls, Lord, and take all the rest. Only when I know that the devil has given up plotting against souls, shall I cease trying new ways of saving them from his deceits and snares. O Lord, I wish to make a complete sacrifice of my life to You, to work for Your glory until I draw my last breath, bearing patiently all adversities and contradictions in my work. Help me to spend all my strength for the salvation of souls.

Here is a perfect saint for Catholic schools week, who reminds us that the aim of Catholic schools isn’t to make star athletes or powerful businessmen, the aim of Catholic schools is to save souls and make saints.

Through Don Bosco’s example and intercession may we be faithful to the work the Lord has for each of us today and all days, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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During this Catholic Schools week, for all young people, for their teachers and catechists and parents who are the first teachers of the faith, and that the truth of the faith may be learned, cherished, and practiced in every Catholic school and Christian home.

For all young people who have fallen into delinquency, through their patron’s intercession, may they turn away from sin and crime, and develop a deep love for the ways of Christ.

For all those in prison, for those who struggle with addiction and mental distress, that the healing of Christ may bring them wholeness and the promises of Christ may bring them hope.

That the fire of charity may impel all Christians to work for the salvation of souls, for a spread of the Gospel, and the building of God’s kingdom of peace.