From today's gospel: "So Jesus said again, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. . . I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.'"
From De La Salle (Med. 201.3): "Tell the parents also what Jesus Christ said about the sheep of which he is the shepherd and which must be saved by him: 'I came,' he said, 'that they might have life and have it to the full.' For this had to have been the kind of ardent zeal you felt for the salvation of those you must instruct when you were led to sacrifice yourselves and to spend your whole life to give these children a Christian education. . . ."
I believe that the successes that we have had as a school during this time of off campus learning can be attributed not just to the determination of our students, but to their willingness to listen to you, trust you, and follow where you are leading them in their education. Why else would young people, who could listen to, and follow, the siren songs calling them to indulge in many non-productive things during this time, do their reading, work math and science problems, and struggle to engage with difficult concepts? They trust that we will not abandon them, and that we will lead them where they need to go for the betterment of their own lives. During this Teacher Appreciation Week, let us be mindful that our zeal to instruct those entrusted to our care is best recognized in the responses that we have received from our students, especially in those short notes saying "thank you", "I miss you", and the good work that makes us sit up and say, "they get it!"
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!