November 6, 2009
OYAYA
Trust takes a lifetime to cultivate
BY STEVE DABROWSKI (Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry)
Talking to friends outside St. Joseph, Jasper following Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger’s blessing of John Paul the Great Catholic High School, a woman I don’t know said something that has greatly impacted me. “You know, I had 11 children,” she began, “and if I had it to do all over, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Trust takes a lifetime to cultivate.
The Mass and blessing ceremony for our newest Catholic High School were packed. I was stunned. Then again, I’m not sure why I was surprised; after all, many faithful men and women have labored to build Catholic schools throughout our diocese, and John Paul the Great is merely the most recent example of our trust in God.
I guess I was more . . . enthused. See, I can’t think of a single credible reason for there not to be a thriving Catholic high school in each of our deaneries. An ancestor of mine, Father Joseph Dabrowski, is often credited as being one of the founders of the Catholic education system in the United States, and some of his blood must still run through my veins.
Last week, I read, as did most of you, the horrifying story of the young girl who was brutalized at her high school dance in California. This story leaves me with tears in my eyes . . . and angry. Then again, why shouldn’t we expect some youth to act like animals? [Many public schools teach them not to pray, not to abstain from sex before marriage, and not to live a life accountable to anyone but themselves.] Isn’t this precisely the reason we want our young people to learn more than math, science and literature? Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life;” we Catholics want our students to learn The Truth, and we hope they will build their lives around him. This is Catholic education, and it stands in stark contrast to that shameful school in California.
Those who started Memorial and Mater Dei high schools knew this, and now, those who have labored to offer a sound Catholic education through John Paul the Great stand as witnesses to the Gospel as well. On Judgment Day, God will not ask whether we were on a state championship football team, but he will demand an account of how what we learned led us to live our lives. Our Catholic schools teach young people how to live in Jesus Christ, and this influences the way they participate in sports, work, raise families and relate with those around them.
It is not easy to trust that the sacrifice necessary to provide a Catholic education for our young people will bear fruit, but history shows us it will. And when our Catholic school graduates better our world, we’ll know that we wouldn’t change a thing about our efforts.
Trust takes a lifetime to cultivate.
May God bless the students, faculty and staff of John Paul the Great Catholic High School! Now, go study the Truth, and make him part of all that you do.