Holy is Always There to Be Accessed

by Jodi-beth McCain

As the staff prepare to welcome the children each year, we prepare the classrooms and atria, and we meet to plan and discuss so many important details.  We also prepare ourselves.  We go on an overnight retreat to W. Virginia; this year we together reflected on the gifts of the Spirit and the many gifts in our lives.

We also ponder anew the mission of CFMS:

We are a diverse community of parents, children and staff working together to provide an affordable Montessori school where children will be prepared to meet the academic, social and moral challenges ahead of them and grow in a loving relationship with God through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Remembering that the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was at the heart of the founding of our school and how it continues to be at the heart of our mission, I asked the staff how we can daily live into this mission of being a school where the children grow “in a loving relationship with God.” 

 I would like to share some of their wisdom with you. Members of the staff shared that we live into this mission:

• By inviting the children to say what they are thankful for before lunch
• By daily offering the Catechesis to children
• By providing Good Shepherd work in the classrooms as well as the atrium
• By offering the Catechesis to children beyond our school through our Afternoon Atrium Program
• By helping children to find their own way to talk and get in contact with God
• Through our all-school liturgies
• Through songs and art in the atrium and classrooms
• Through prayer services in the elementary; reflecting together on daily moral and social challenges and praying for those in most need of prayer
• Through constructive and peaceful resolution of conflicts; giving children these skills and aiding their use
• By sharing love and wonder as a community in the classroom on a daily basis.
• By being the presence of the Good Shepherd to one another

During our reflection, one member of the staff announced that the “holy is always there to be accessed.”

Giving thanks for the holy in the life of our school,

Jodi-beth