October 18, 2020

Hello Falcon Faithful!

I hope you are having a blessed weekend. No school news today, just a weekend reflection.

Yesterday, I was praying about this past week at school, and all of its ups and downs. As the ups rose to the top and the downs faded away, I felt an incredible sense of peace and gratitude enter my heart. I was reminded how blessed I am to be serving the St. Christopher community and I asked the Lord if there were additional ways He might want me to serve Him.

My prayer immediately went to the life of St. Christopher. Christopher was not always a holy man. He followed many false gods in his pursuit of the one true God. When he finally found Christianity, He wanted to serve God in the best way possible, so he used his gifts of size and strength to become a ferryman who helped people cross a nearby river. Like St. Christopher, we must intentionally think about our gifts and talents, and discern how to best use them for God.

Yesterday was the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius said, “A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.” This goes nicely with today's Gospel when Jesus said, "...repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." Which of your gifts and talents belong to God? According to Ignatius, all of them. Deep down, we know this to be true, but we also know this to be difficult; so difficult, in fact, we often ignore the topic altogether.

As I evaluate my own commitment to the St. Christopher community, I am asking you to do the same. There are many ways to give back to the Lord through our parish and they do not all require money. Since, however, there were many questions this summer about tuition and potential remote-learning discounts, let's start with the financial piece.

St. Christopher Parish is the very generous sponsor of our school. Without the parish, the school would literally not exist. Last year, St. Christopher Parish contributed over $300,000 to the school which represented almost 30% of the parish's Sunday collections. While that is, indeed, a huge number, educating young people in a faith-based environment is a priority in our parish, and these resources are intentionally and willingly given to assist you in building a solid spiritual foundation for your children. Last year, tuition covered only 88% of the teachers' compensation, leaving the balance plus all instructional materials, overhead, maintenance costs and administrative costs to be covered by other resources.

This year, each parishioner student is receiving the Christ-Bearer scholarship of $1,574. In return for this award, you made a commitment to actively support the parish with your gifts and talents. By serving our parish, you not only develop relationships with fellow parish members, but you also set a powerful example for your children. You are the primary educator of faith for your children through your thoughts, words, and actions.

There are many other ways you can serve our parish. Here are just a few:

If you would like to learn more about the above or other opportunities, please email Mary Lauterbach at mlauterbach@scpchurch.org or text (937) 830-2325.

The subject line of this email is "Receiving & Giving". These two words are more commonly presented as "Giving & Receiving", but that seems incorrect...because we do not give in order to receive. We should give because we have already received. Literally, everything we have, we have received from God. So which pieces are we going to give back to God and in what quantity? I encourage you to take these questions to prayer and ask the Lord for guidance.

“The school of Christ is the school of charity.  On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian.  Charity will be the whole syllabus.” - St. Robert Bellarmine

Thank you for your time today. May the Lord continue to bless you in abundance.

St Christopher...pray for us!

Mr. O'

St. Christopher School Principal

937.898.5104