Last weekend, the Washington Area Catholic Education and Formation Steering Committee submitted their study recommendations and were accepted by the pastors of the area. These tenets give us a footprint of how to begin to create a stronger Catholic School System in the Washington area. The work over the next several months will be to develop these tenets in greater detail. I will let you know where we stand in the end. There will be some type of gathering of the parishioners and school families, too, when there is something to present.
One of the traditions in our Catholic parishes is a lot of pride and parish fidelity. This is particularly shown on the basketball or volleyball court or wherever there is competition. Sometimes we forget, though, that we are one Catholic Church working together to continue the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.
Parishes were established to make sure that the people of a region would be able to receive the sacraments and to have Mass regularly available for them to participate. Parish boundaries were set up so that there would be enough people to support that parish.
The new school mission for our area is to work together and also to provide programs which a single parish sometimes cannot provide. Please pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us on this journey to strengthen the faithful and the Church.