Dear Saint Philip Neri Families,
This adage reminds me of what it means to be a life-long learner. We need persistence, perseverance, and grit. These are qualities we encourage and applaud in our students while they work to gain more knowledge, skills, make improvements and reach goals. Faith works similarly.
Luke’s Gospel reading from Sunday's Family Mass described how after a long and unsuccessful day of fishing, Jesus’ apostles washed out their nets and listened to his lesson attentively. After his lesson, Jesus told them to set out their nets again. Simon explained that they had already tried and been unsuccessful, but they would do as he said. Simon and the others collected so many fish that their nets tore, and they worried their boats would sink.
Simon’s ability to reason based on personal experience informed him that they would not be successful, but he did as Jesus told him anyway. Simon’s faith, his belief in Jesus, was stronger than his own reasoning based on actual experience. By faithfully following Jesus’ direction, Simon and the apostles gathered an abundance of fish and more importantly greater confidence in following Jesus.
We practice our faith, and the more sincere energy we put toward our faith, the better we get at being faithful. We need persistence, perseverance, and grit. Sometimes we need to have more faith than reason, like Simon.
Warmly,
Julie Thomas
Interim Principal