SEARCH GO

QUICK LINKS

• Religious Education - Catechesis
• Catholic Schools
  • About Us
  • Mission Statement
  • Service in Education
  • Choosing a School
  • Office for Inclusive Education
  • CSO Newsletter
    • Letter from Dr. Claude Sasso
    • Catholic Schools Celebrate Lent
    • February 12th Catechetical Day
    • Catholic Schools Week
    • Our Journey of Hope
    • On Simplicity
    • Benediction and Exposition
    • November Catechetical Article
    • The Idea of a Catholic School
    • Father Ebach
    • Father Langner
    • Father Sharbel
    • Father Hoye
    • Father Steve Hansen
    • Father Will
    • Fr. Ron Elliott
  • School Locations
  • Report Card
  • Religious Education Outcomes
  • Graduate Profiles
  • Benchmarks
  • Catechesis
  • Job Opportunities
• Office of Evangelization and Catechesis
• Bishop Sullivan Scholarships
• Foundation for Inclusive Religious Education

The Catholic Key

Catholic Key Blogspot

Catholic Charities

Event Registrations

Weekly Podcast

USCCB

Missouri Catholic Conference

Cathedral

Callings

MyCatholicVoice

I was ordained a priest in 2006.  I admit, I never thought about the priesthood growing up.  I don’t recall anyone ever asking me (although Dad has since told me he asked when I was younger and I just didn’t seem interested). When I went out of state for college, I knew my Catholic faith was important to me and I looked for ways to nurture it.  A chaplain assigned to the college, Fr. Bruce, made a deep impression on me as someone who loved his life as a priest.  During that time I was also studying philosophy and encountered many individuals who seemed to be uncertain as to basic questions in life: “Is anything objectively true?  Does God exist?  Isn’t morality relative?”  I realized that I didn’t have to wrestle with these questions much…my faith, coupled with reason, gave me a grounding which many of my peers lacked.

When I was home for Christmas break my sophomore year, I went to Saturday evening Mass by myself and read an article in the bulletin.  The article asked: “Are you Catholic?  Are you male?  Are you single?  Are you between the ages of 18 and 45?  Have you considered becoming a priest?”  Answering the last question to myself, I said “No.”  And then I asked, “Wait…why not?”  I re-read the questions and realized that this was me.  This was who I was supposed to be.  I wanted to give my life to something bigger than myself, and what could be better than to be a “fisher of men,” sharing the Good News of God’s love?

I did not attend Catholic schools – at least not until I entered the seminary.  However, three of my four parish assignments – St. Therese North, St. Gabriel’s, and St. Mary’s in Nevada – have parish schools.  Being exposed to such a variety (from the largest to the smallest Catholic school in the diocese!) has iterated a fact that I think is often ignored in today’s world: education is not the same as formation.  There are many in our world who receives what the world would deem a “good” education, and yet who are impoverished in terms of their human formation.  Catholic schools focus on the foundations of formation that allow a good education to be effective in our world.  Society needs individuals who aren’t simply well-educated, but who are also well-formed.  For this reason, Catholic schools provide the emphasis on human formation – with one’s eyes on Jesus Christ – that allows an education to be employed in just, courageous and prudent ways.  Formation in these virtues, which Catholic schools strive to impart, enables an individual who receives a good education to produce great fruit.  This is a distinctive gift that Catholic schools offer to our world.