Think. Pair. Share. with Dr. John Staud

From graduation trivia and Roberto Clemente, Jerome Bettis and all things Pittsburgh athletics, to leading the revitalization of Catholic schools

Dr. John Staud, the executive director of the Alliance for Catholic Education program discusses choosing hope and the example of Christ and the body of Catholic Social Teaching as the radical animating principle guiding the work of ACE, as well as, laurel berries, mortar boards, and listening to The Who and Zeppelin at ten.

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Notable Quotes

  • “We are deeply committed to this… rather than see the work of DEI as somehow in conflict with Catholicism… we think it all comes back to the gospel. The example of Christ and the body of Catholic social teaching which tells us that every single soul is made in the image and likeness of God—and I can't think of a more in some ways in our own time—radical animating principle. And things like preferential option for the poor, solidarity, all this rich body of Catholic social teaching I think has so much to offer our country and really the world.”

  • “Maybe this is a call to the Church, again, it is to me, to go back to the Gospel to go back to the root of Christianity. You know the reason that church spread so well early is just everyone around looked and said, ‘Why are those people so filled with joy, I mean that's the question. I think we just have to be people of joy, even in the face of challenges and struggles. Because we know, in the end, beyond this world Christ’s cross and resurrection is one final victory. So you know as the old song says, ‘How can I keep from singing?’ We just have to choose joy and hope, even in the face of stiff headwinds. Do your best, that's all you can do, I suppose, but it's worth doing.”

  • "Find what you love and do it... And then contribute to the world. So, that's obviously what we try to encourage people in ACE to do, both with the Teaching Fellows program, with the Remick program, with all our programs, to honor the great joy of being an educator. You'll never wonder whether what you do is important. Even if you don't know that you're effective at it all the time, and Lord knows I can look back at many times I've been ineffective, at least I always knew it mattered."