Each year at the end of January, Catholic parishes around the country celebrate ‘Catholic Schools Week.’ We do this for several reasons:
1. To thank all of our parishioners for their prayerful and financial support of this important ministry in our parish.
2. To promote the value of Catholic schools to those who may not be familiar with this parish ministry that helps parents pass on the faith to their children.
3. To help the school children realize the uniqueness of the Catholic education they are privileged to be receiving in a country that allows religious freedom.
Our own St. Clare School does a tremendous job of keeping a Catholic identity in its mission in the way it focuses on presenting our core Catholic teachings to the students. They also get involved in a wide variety of charity and justice outreach activities. Please consider joining us this Sunday afternoon for our Open House from 1:30-3:00 PM to learn why St. Clare School is so special.
We are also grateful to have two Catholic High Schools in our diocese that are relatively close to our parish that I encourage our parents to also consider for continuing their children’s faith formation. Althoff Catholic High School is in Belleville, and Mater Dei is in Breese; both schools are within a half hour drive. I know that some of our parents choose other excellent Catholic high schools in the metro area.
Of course, our parish also supports our parents who choose our Parish School of Religion on Sunday mornings or Catholic-based homeschooling. But for one week a year we make an extra effort of promoting our Catholic school for parents to consider as an excellent way to help them teach the faith to their children.
I want to personally thank all of you for seeing the value of our parish offering a Catholic school education and for your financial support of it through your weekly tithe.