What drives you?
What makes you get up each morning?
For me - it's two-fold (and I'm somewhat ashamed that one answer isn't just simply God or my faith, but I am being honest):
1. My family. To care for and love them so that they can flourish, grow, and be holier.
2. The students and families of Saint Joseph.
Settling and complacency are our biggest enemies. Our Church was satisfied with full schools staffed by non-paid religious who enforced discipline with an iron fist amongst an American-izing Catholic population during a period of social change. Our leadership was satisfied with accepting clinical advice that abusers just needed some treatment and that their crimes could be hidden behind hush payouts and quiet transfers.
If our schools and our parishes are currently in a state of crisis it is because our forefathers and mothers were complacent.
If we are satisfied with where we currently are, we are setting up the next generation of Catholics to fail. Our faith is one that demands we consistently and constantly strive for betterment. Dante's depiction of Paradise as a series of spheres growing closer to the Al(l)mighty should serve as a model of our own progress. We should not be satisfied even with a basic holiness but strive for ever greater dedication to the Lord. We should not be satisfied with above average scores, or full classrooms, or a vibrant community; but higher scores, expanding buildings, inclusive communities, evangelizing students and parents. and more than I can ever think of.
Good is the enemy of Great
- Jim Collins
The day I say that I am satisfied with where Saint Joseph's is at is the day I should resign as principal.
