Blog

By Fr. Joe Corel

In early August, 2022 our administration and many of our support staff discussed job descriptions, roles and responsibilities within our school.  Follow up to this conversation continues as we welcome members from the chancery to help us flesh out details with our dedicated staff and offer an outside perspective.  While we met in August, I asked them to reflect with me on the number of changes that the parish, including the school, has gone through since July 2019. The changes we've seen over the last 3 years are numerous: three parishes transitioning into one parish; transitioning leadership from religious order priests to diocesan priests; moving from a traditional pastor and associate pastor model to pastors insolidum, and then back to pastor and associate pastor; looking at everything (yes, everything!) through the lens of the spirituality of stewardship; strengthening our emphasis on welcoming our Catholic parishioners to our school when many parents do not speak English as their first language;  navigating through a covid pandemic with two new school administrators, who first had to learn what we did as a school and as they learned it, transition it to meet the covid structures (while one of our administrators was learning the culture and customs of the United States, Missouri, Sedalia and Sacred Heart School). Any one of these changes is huge, putting them all together, it's miraculous that we are thriving and moving forward. It's further evidence God is with us!   
And, here we are! We enter into another week to celebrate our amazing Catholic School, always nimble enough to adapt to a myriad of changes , while giving the unchanging teachings of Jesus Christ to an ever new generation of believers and blossoming disciples.   We continue to learn what it means to be one parish with three chapels all supporting our mission of a Pre-K through 12th grade school.  We continue to learn what it means to be on this side of covid with different administrators than the ones who saw us through the pandemic. We continue to examine everything through the lens of the spirituality of stewardship. We continue to show and teach the message of Jesus Christ to all who walk the halls of our Catholic school.  We continue to show the positives of our school knowing this is the work of God and that we cooperate in strengthening the gift He has bestowed upon us.   
As we embark upon this Catholic Schools Week, let us have gratitude for what those who have gone before us have accomplished, continue to do great things, and cultivate and prepare this amazing Catholic School for generations to come.  We have much to be thankful for! Let us celebrate and let us work to make this school all God wants it to be, now and in the future.  This takes sacrifices, dedication, passion, skills, and resources from all of us.  Thank you for all you do to make our Catholic School what it is. Happy Catholic Schools Week!