Today was a long day, so this will be a short post. In conclusion, I work at the greatest high school in the universe. 

The very first thing our incoming freshmen (among whom is my daughter Olivia) heard from the president-rector of the school was this: “Our  goal for you at Saint Mary’s is that every one of you will leave this school having come into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Very. First. Thing. 

I have friends who would argue that this approach is too on the nose, that evangelizing kids requires more subtlety, etc. They’re wrong. Everybody needs to know they are loved, full stop. 

One of my favorite passages in scripture is Acts 17 where Saint Paul addresses the Athenians and tries to win them over by telling them all about the unnamed God they worship. (“In him we move,we live, and have our being. ..”) I have always liked this passage because Paul uses Greek culture to evangelize the Greeks. Their pagan poetry is now Christian poetry. That’s cool. 

BUT, he didn’t get any converts doing this. It wasn’t until he started preaching Christ and Him crucified that the conversions began pouring in. 

When I went in for my “pre-” screening for my former position at Saint Mary’s (TGHSITU) I was asked all kinds of questions about what I, as a woefully inexperienced administrator,  would do to strengthen the school’s Catholic identity if the faculty and staff were resistant to change. I said, “I will lift up Jesus Christ and He will draw men to himself.”

This is what we did and Jesus never disappoints. We have attracted the finest teachers and students you can imagine. It’s unbelievable to work in a place where every one is pulling in the same direction and that direction is toward Jesus, the love of my life. 

God is so, so good.