From yesterday's gospel: "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep."
De La Salle (Med. 33.1): "In today's Gospel Jesus Christ compares those who have charge of souls to a good shepherd who has great care for the sheep. One quality he must possess, according to our Savior, is to know each one of them individually. This ought to be one of the main concerns of those who instruct others: to be able to understand their students and to discern the right way to guide them."
The understanding of a good shepherd that Jesus provides was not a rational way of shepherding in Jesus' time. Losing one or two sheep to make sure that the entire flock was preserved was a simple and understandable cost of doing business. To know each one individually, as Jesus and De La Salle instruct, was a waste of time; just make sure you have the right count at the end!
That this staff has, since 2004-2005, done their utmost to ensure that each individual sheep is known and guided properly to the end is a tribute to each and every one of you and your desire that each student finds what is best for them. Every day, you lay down your lives for the children entrusted to your care in ways that cannot be measured except by the love that we see in the eyes of our students and hear in their voices. I would, without hesitation, want to have my children taught here (I suppose, in a way, that has happened). Our students are marvelous, but your shepherding guidance has polished their talents and brought them to the fore with a purpose. Sheep only wander aimlessly without a shepherd. Please accept my thanks for, in the words of Pope Francis, being "shepherds with the smell of sheep."
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!