Fr. Nate's Letter - August 18, 2024

As the days of summer fade away and the new school year is upon us, I know there are some kids who always look forward to this time of year. I can’t say I was one of those kids (I was always kind of sad to see summer come to an end) but when I hear their reasoning I can understand their excitement. With school beginning again, they can see friends who they have missed over the summer. There is often excitement (or fear) of beginning a new chapter at kindergarten or high school or university. Very soon our parish school and Religious Education program will be back in session.

Every time I have the privilege of administering the sacrament of baptism, I am always struck by a particular line that I say on behalf of all of us,  thanking God for the gift of the child that is presented for baptism. As the number of those baptized is increased, and sharing in the joy of the family, I am instructed to assure them that we “offer you our support in raising your child in the practice of the faith.” It would seem that there are two things being said there. First, this is a reminder to the young parents that they are the primary educators in the ways of the Catholic faith. The lessons they teach and how they live will be the first way that these children will learn what it means to “love God and their neighbor as Christ taught us.” Secondly, the words remind us of the promise that we make as a community to help these parents. We can’t do it all for them, but supporting Catholic education is one of the ways that we support the parents and the child. When Monsignor Dolan built the campus that we see today, his vision and the vision of the parish was that the religious education of the children was our primary mission - to serve God and to hand on the Catholic faith to the next generation. In fact, the first buildings erected on our campus were the school buildings, marking Catholic education as a priority from the very beginning. 

When I say those words of promise to the parents at the baptism of their child, it often occurs to me that in due course, sharing our faith is one of the ways the good people of this parish support those parents. For many families with children, our school and religious education program help them to fulfill their mission – and neither of those would be sustainable without the support of our parish. Even our students realize the importance of their faith-based education - you may recall last year they wrote so many thank-you notes to their parents and placed them by the doors of their classrooms. It’s always encouraging to see our children take a role in living out their faith.

As we went through the strategic planning committee meetings last year, Fr. Simon often reminded us that our goal here is to live the Catholic faith and to hand it on. This is why we exist. I think you and I would agree that it is always heartbreaking to see or hear of those who at one time or another had the seeds of faith planted within them, but those seeds seemed to have withered or maybe died altogether. Perhaps it was during a period of going off to college, or maybe experiencing peer pressure, or suffering a loss, or maybe because the seeds never took root and the whole faith piece got crowded out. 

So as a new school year begins, I’m reminded, “this is why we exist.” Our prayer is always that those who are off to the next chapter in their schooling, especially those who journey away from home, will continue to keep those seeds of faith alive, despite all obstacles. We pray that God might bless all our efforts to plant and nurture those seeds in this coming year to the next generation, as has been done for generations before us. 

And to all our students - don’t forget to bring your backpack for the backpack blessing next weekend at the 9 am or 11 am Mass on Sunday, August 25. I am sure an extra blessing or two won’t hurt…it can only help!

Wishing you all God’s blessings this week!
Keeping you in prayer, and say one for me!

- Fr. Nate