Building the Church
March 5th – March 9th
Reflection & Prayer by Patrick McClain
One of our purposes as a Catholic school is to build up the local Church. Our schools attempt to form young people into active and dedicated members of their local parish and diocese. Therefore, the school finds ways to open students to the life of the larger Church, to involve them in their parish, and to challenge them to assume their responsibility as lay leaders in the Church and to consider special vocations and ministries. Faculty and staff members, especially religion teachers, represent the Church to young people in a special way. It is through students’ experience in a Brothers of the Sacred Heart school that they gain an experience of Church which forms lifelong attitudes.
“…the school finds ways to open students to the life of the larger Church, to involve them in their parish, and to challenge them to assume their responsibility as lay leaders in the Church and to consider special vocations and ministries.” (EMM pg. 15)
Forming the larger Church is very important to me. So often teenagers and adults are very egocentric in their worldview.
“What is important in the world is determined by how it affects me.”
I find myself thinking this way often. Being involved in my home parish keeps me aware of the larger Church and the larger world and helps me break out of this mindset.
I want to make sure that teenagers in my care, whether they be math students at Brother Martin or CYO members at St. Cletus, know about the world beyond just what overtly affects them.
How do I try to involve my students in the larger Church?
How do I encourage their participation in their home parish?
Am I actively involved in my home parish?
Do I share that with my students?
Let us pray…
Lord, please help me build the future of the Church by fostering among my students a desire to participate in the Church, especially in their home parishes. And please help me to be a more than a math teacher to my students. Help me to be a model of a Catholic adult who wants to strengthen and grow the Church. And help my students to be inspired to do the same. Amen
Ametur Cor Jesu…Loved be the Heart of Jesus
