Reflection for January 2023:
I realize that quite a bit of time has passed between now
and my previous reflection. Truthfully,
I’m not one hundred percent sure if that even matters. I’ve been having this feeling for quite some
time now given all the different things one can deal with as an administrator
at a Catholic school and how to balance the Gospel message of Jesus with a
society that seems anything but “Jesus-like”.
Because of this, it’s easy to allow negativity to creep in through the
cracks of our spiritual lives. Last
Friday however, something happened, the Holy Spirit I presume, came and shook
me a little bit out of this mindset and opened my ears to what I was getting
ready to hear. I would now ask you to open
yours, along with your mind, to reflect on what you are about to read/hear as
well.
I was sitting in our All-School mass on Friday morning, just
as I do every Friday, reflecting on each and every issue that was going on at
the time, trying to time-line in my head deadlines for the accreditation
documents, my son’s upcoming medical visits and procedures, my other son’s
senior-year events, the seemingly mounting issues piling up from family to
family and praying about “why the world, heck, our small community, is swimming
in negativity, gossip and division” when the Holy Spirit stepped in and forced
me to listen to something. Now, this
something wasn’t anything new to be honest, in fact, the action of it is
something we do in every mass we attend – The Prayers of the Faithful –
however, this one gave me the answer I was looking for. You see, generally when we do the prayers and
petitions during mass we are all asked to answer in a specific way, often “Lord
hear our prayer” as we all pray these petitions together. It was at that moment when two things entered
into my mind; 1. Are we actually listening to these petitions, and 2. Are we
actually prayer these prayers as an OLMC community? Let me refresh these prayers from last Friday
from the second-grade students:
“That world leaders and their intentions will always be on
justice for ALL the people they represent and not on personal power and
prestige…”
“For unity among Christianity and all churches throughout
the world…”
“For anyone who is struggling to deal with the death of a
family member or loved one…”
“That we may always remember to treat others the way we want
to be treated...”
“That our community will be united in love, justice and
compassion…”
“That our teachers may be lifted up and given the respect
and honor they deserve…”
“For our students and their families, that they always be
blessed by God in all that they do…”
“For our own special intentions…”
In each of these prayers that our 2nd graders led
us in, the entire church answered “Lord, hear our prayer.” So, I have to ask you, did you actually pray
these prayers and if so, are you actually practicing the prayers that you were
praying last Friday morning? If we are
actually doing this I have to believe that we should begin to see some kind of
change, that something positive must be brewing inside of each of us
right? “Unity among Christians, treating
others the way we want to be treated, united in love and compassion and
justice, give and given respect and honor, to bless and be blessed”, No? Maybe?
Something similar happened this morning at the 11:00 Sunday
mass as we kicked off Catholic School’s Week and Fr. Mark’s Homily spoke about
the Beatitudes. I looked around at an
unusually and wonderfully PACKED church building and thought “if we only lived
these things and didn’t just recite them”.
That’s when the Holy Spirit shook me again. You see, the changes we want to see begin
with US! Being nice isn’t predicated on
allowing evil to happen for the sake of not upsetting anyone. Don’t mistake kindness for weakness. God expects us to be kind, but not to be
weak. So, here it is:
It is time to stop talking and start doing; to stop coasting
and start working; to build and not break down; to believe and not detract; to
unify and not divide. It is beyond time
to act as Jesus tells us to or get out of the way. Wouldn’t it be amazing if a revival of
Christian works and discipleship exploded here at Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Church and School? I mean, all the
pieces are there, and have been, for something amazing to take place. Maybe, we just need to get out of our own way
and let go of all our ridiculous hang-ups and personal platforms and let God do
His will in our lives! We cannot teach our
kids to be disciples if continue to live only for ourselves.
Mr. Swann - Principal