Before Dr. Bob speaks, I would like to address the topic as pastor. I take my cue from our Scripture readings. To the prophet Jeremiah God said, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you." God has a plan for each person, At the first moment our existence, at our very conception, He confers an incalculable dignity upon us.

Our Catholic school is based on the dignity of each child--not just to earn a living or to get along in the world--but the real source of our worth, that we are called to an eternal relationship with God, in Jesus. A public school by necessity kind of brackets that, leaves it to the parents--but a Catholic school wants to support parents in that aspect of their child's development, the one that really counts in the long run.

We also get some clue about Catholic education from today's Gospel. When Jesus returned to his home town, the people of Nazareth did not consider Jesus anyone special. They asked, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" He didn't study in India--or even in an Essene monastery in Qumran. His education was right there in Nazareth. He learned carpentry from Joseph and went to the synagogue school where the local rabbi taught the boys to read the Hebrew Scriptures. He gained practical skills, but most important--the Bible, God's word.

That's what our students do at Holy Family. They learn practical things, like math and computers. But more important, our Catholic faith tradition and prayer.

This is a slow process and sometimes we have to play catch-up ball, even on fundamentals. I was talking to a high school teacher who noticed that many of her students had not learned the basics of respect, good manners and courtesy. For instance that a younger person would open the door for someone older or a man for a woman. Once one of the boys plowed through a door in front of her and then let it just swing back in her face. She called the boy and showed him how to hold the door for an older person or a lady. It was a novel concept for the young man but after some practice, he grasped it. That kind of basic education does take time and patience.

A Catholic school exists to support parents in the education, the right upbringing of their children. Holy Family School in no way wants to displace parents, but to help them in their primary responsibility. To explain more about that I am proud to present this Sunday a great school principal, our own Dr. Bob Scripko.

From Archives (Homilies for Fourth Sunday, Year C):