Diocesan Catholic schools, like our families and parishes, are called to engage the season of Lent mindful of a call to conversion. In this Eucharistic Revival year, we are being led into a time of encounter and vigilance with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Lent is, in a way, a Eucharistic pilgrimage in which we attend to Christ, and His message of repentance, to learn from Him the way of love, culminating in His Eucharistic gift of self.

Learning how to love and become a gift of self for others is a central message permeating our Catholic schools this year, with the education and formation of our young people in Christian anthropology, assisted by the Ruah Woods curriculum. In all grades, students are learning about the beauty and dignity of the human person, called by God to live in His love and to share this love with others. This is applied in our efforts to transmit a culture of life by our interactions, prayer and sacrificial deeds.

Educating our students in their dignity and guiding them to see they are made by God, male or female, provides an essential foundation for understanding themselves and, in time, their personal vocation.  

Young people are learning that while all are called to holiness, each person has also received a unique, personal mission from God and a vocation to a state in life. Part of their formation as disciples of Christ is to see how others live virtuously and give of themselves, even in difficult times. We are grateful for the daily dedication of our administrators, educators and school staff who are committed to giving this Gospel witness of love and ongoing conversion to our young people.  

This year, our students are blessed by increased examples of priestly and religious vocations in their schools, from the apostolic experiences of the seminarians from the Pontifical College Josephinum to the presence of religious priests, brothers and sisters in over 30% of our diocesan schools. Let us pray for our young people, and those who form them, that they may know and do God’s will in their life. 

Lent provides many opportunities for us to remember the saving mysteries of Christ and to come face to face with the Gospel message of conversion. It begins with the message of our fragility on Ash Wednesday and a cry to repent and believe in the Gospel. It is a good time to ask, “How am I offering myself in return to God and in service of others?” God’s grace of conversion needs to reach every part of us, and is given not only for ourselves, but also for the good of others.   

The Church encourages repentance during Lent because we need it, and, like a good mother, she gives us the discipline we need to find our way in life. To help us live in a better union with Christ, we are to increase our prayer, fasting and almsgiving during these 40 days. An education in these three forms of penance also incorporates the need to practice the virtues of temperance, moderation, justice, charity, perseverance and humility.  

Liturgical seasons are a gift and means for fostering a Catholic culture in our schools and homes. Liturgical formation in prayer is enriched by sung prayer found in the sacred music and hymns of our faith. With a Eucharistic and Lenten emphasis, one could learn and pray with the Adoro Te Devote written by Thomas Aquinas, and its English translation, Godhead Here in Hiding, by Gerard Manley Hopkins.  

Sacred hymns enrich our worship and strengthen an awareness of the shared heritage we have as Catholics. Beautiful Marian hymns, such as the Stabat Mater Dolorosa by Jacapone de Todi, and its English translation, At the Cross Her Station Keeping, move our hearts and console us, knowing Mary accompanies us on our own way of the cross.

This year, as we journey spiritually through Lent in our school communities, we see many expressions of a Catholic culture with an emphasis on the sacramental life of the Church. All-school Masses on Ash Wednesday, dedicated times for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, adapted school cafeteria menus to keep the Friday abstinences, almsgiving for the poor, works of mercy for the unborn and their mothers, and praying the Stations of the Cross all reflect our need to turn to the Lord for grace.

May we know and see His grace abound in our schools. 

Sister John Paul Maher, OP is an assistant superintendent for Catholic culture in diocesan Catholic schools.