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Go to Joseph

Our theme for the new school year,  “Go to Joseph,” invites us to draw inspiration and strength from
Saint Joseph, the steadfast guardian of the Holy Family, who faced life’s uncertainties with unwavering faith and quiet resolve.

Saint Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus and husband to Mary, serves as a model of perseverance and dedication. His life is a testament to the virtues of courage, commitment, and steadfastness—qualities we are called to embrace as we move through this school year. Just as Saint Joseph approached his role with resilience and grace, we are invited to reflect on how we can embody these virtues as supporters of our students, teachers, and the school community. Saint Joseph’s qualities resonate deeply with the role of a teacher. Our dedicated teachers nurture, guide, and protect our students, and they are an invaluable resource to our parish community. 

I am deeply honored to serve as your principal and am committed to two primary goals: doing what is best for our students and ensuring their safety. Our school’s mission of inspiring minds, developing character, and seeking Christ is not only our guiding mission for our educational approach but also shapes my daily work and personal conduct. It is this mission that guides me within our school community and beyond.

Meeting our families, students, and teachers during the first week of school has been a true joy. The enthusiasm and warmth with which everyone has welcomed the new year are extraordinary. Our youngest learners’ smiles as they hopped out of the car for their first day remind me of the childlike faith we all strive for. Our middle school students’ leadership is a testament to the strong education and character development at our school. I am excited about the possibilities this year holds and am inspired by the vibrant community that makes St. Dominic Catholic School so special.

I invite everyone to pray for our teachers as they take on the important task of educating and inspiring our students. Their work, much like Saint Joseph’s, is characterized by dedication, patience, and love. May his example of steadfastness and faith inspire us all to approach our roles, whatever they may be, with the same commitment and resolve.

Please know that my prayers are with our parish and school communities. Together, let us create an environment where hope and resilience flourish, so our students can thrive and grow in their own journey of faith and learning at St. Dominic Catholic School.

Take a Step Toward Sainthood

Sometimes when I hear stories of the Saints, especially those who have stories of heroic martyrdoms, I can feel discouraged, because I wonder how on earth I could ever live a life of that much virtue or a life of holiness that I could courageously die for my faith or suffer through chronic pain or emotional sufferings without complaining.  

Recently, a friend started to tell me the story of one of her favorite Saints, St. Cecilia, who was a second century martyr, and I was prepared to be overwhelmingly discouraged by her story. However, instead of telling the whole story, this friend shared with me one moment of the story that she had been meditating on. Because it was just one moment of the story, I found myself saying, “I can imitate that virtue in her! That one thing is not too hard for me today!” 

Sometimes prayer feels overwhelming too; there are so many hurting people in our lives, Scripture can be confusing, or maybe we don’t know where to start with the Lord.  

Today, the Lord’s invitation to Peter and Andrew is simple: “Come after me.” He doesn’t expect them to have it all figured out. He just invites them to take a step as they begin to follow him. St. Cecilia, when asked her name as she stood on trial for her faith, was able to respond: “my name is Cecilia, but my more beautiful name is that of Christian.” She probably did not have the courage to say those words on her first day of following the Lord, but little by little as she took one step at a time, she came to know the Lord and the great gift of her faith. Don’t be afraid to take one or two steps this week. The Lord is good and just wants to love you!  

Choose Life

While in graduate school, I spent a year serving as a crisis pregnancy counselor at a Christian organization that seeks to provide women and couples with the resources necessary to choose life. I had always been anti-abortion, so I saw this as an opportunity to do hands-on pro-life work. What I experienced will forever change the way I understand what it means to be “pro-life.”

I’m not really sure what I was expecting to encounter when I agreed to the opportunity, but whatever it was, the actual experience was a completely different reality. I encountered women who lived with abusive husbands, but were dependent on them for financial support or had other children with these men that they had to consider. I encountered men and women who had been laid off from work and were unable to find gainful employment to support this new child. Families whose jobs didn’t provide medical coverage so they couldn’t even afford prenatal care, let alone the exorbitant cost of child birth. Teen mothers who were kicked out of their homes when their parents found out they were pregnant. Women whose husbands walked out on them when they found out, and left them to face the pregnancy alone. I walked these women and couples through the process of procuring government assistance and saw, time and again, how it failed to meet their needs, how it provided only a fraction of what it would take to raise their child to maturity, how the abundant requirements for assistance disqualified people who desperately needed help. For all that the center did to provide aid, most of this assistance only lasted until the age of two.

It is because of this experience that I came to understand the totality of the Christian call to be pro-life. It was in walking with these women and seeing the enormity of what they faced that I realized how much work needs to be done, starting with birth and every single day after. It was there that I realized I couldn’t simply pat myself on the back for changing a mother’s mind; I then had to do the even harder work of electing leaders, supporting policies, and donating to charities that would continue to give her and her child the assistance they needed.

So today, on Respect Life Sunday, let us of course pray for an end to abortion, pray for all of the children we have lost to abortion, and all those we still stand to lose. But let us also be sure to remember those parents who feel like they don’t have any other option. Let us pray for them and pray for the creation of a society that makes it possible for every family to unequivocally choose life.