From the first reading of the third Sunday in Ordinary Time: “Jonah had begun his journey through the city and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, ‘Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,’ when the people of Nineveh believed God . . . “

From the second reading: “For the world in its present form is passing away."

From the gospel: “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'"

Transformation. God’s message, conveyed by Jonah, caused the people of Nineveh to repent and believe in God. Paul’s message to the Corinthians is a reminder to us as well: living as part of the Body of Christ should result in a world transformed, different than its “present form." And the message of Christ in Mark’s gospel is clear: Change, repent, transform, now! The kingdom of God itself is right here! Be transformed!

How appropriate, then, that these readings come at the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, and particularly for us as Lasallian educators. For this is what De La Salle’s program for the Lasallian school was all about: “The person that the Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools wished to produce is the truly Christian person – or better, the true follower of Jesus Christ. That goes far beyond knowledge of the catechism. It is the whole life that is involved." This is what we do: transform our students for the Body of Christ. Have a hard time believing it sometimes? This last Saturday was just a simple proof: students willingly here for hours for a Student Life workshop, or to work on a children’s story, or the yearbook, or to go to mass and a meal, or sharing their learning at the University of Arizona. Even simpler examples: the student who finally speaks up in class, the failing student who finally got the problem right on the first try, a freshmen who smiled for the first time all year, last year’s lost transfer student who is now helping younger students. And in our participation in these simple miracles, the joy we feel, the inspiration these student examples give us – we are also transformed.

By my quick count, there were over fifty eighth graders here taking the HSPT Saturday. If they didn’t sense that the Kingdom of God was truly here, on our campus, with the opportunity for transformation, why were they here?

Happy Catholic Schools Week – Transform, Jesus, our hearts forever!!